Group Of Moms Arrested During Peaceful Protest At ICE Detention Center
The mothers sat in a circle holding hands as they were arrested one by one.
Over a dozen moms from the suburbs of Chicago were arrested on Friday morning in an act of peaceful protest at the Broadview ICE detention center in Illinois. The group was protesting increased ICE activities in the Chicago area in recent weeks and months.
The protesters, who were chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” were zip-tied and taken away by police one by one as they sat in a large circle in front of the facility while holding hands with one another.
The group, which appears to have a social media account called Resist and Repeat, explained why they were speaking out.
"We have all seen the power of parents connecting together to care for everyone’s children and to keep each other safe,” the group says in a statement on Instagram. “We know that community is the key to holding our government agencies accountable for their actions. We cannot continue to let our government traumatize children, neighbors, teachers, laborers, and anyone else in our community who is now on constant high alert."
"It is worse than you can imagine out on the streets right now, and it is because of the federal immigration enforcement we're seeing every day. Our communities are living in abject fear, and it's time for people that look like us to take a stand and put our own physical bodies in front of those bodies, because it is unacceptable," Ellen Toobin, who lives in Oak Park, told Yahoo News.
The protest came two days after a preschool teacher was forcibly removed from the Rayito del Sol daycare center in Chicago by ICE agents in front of the children they served. Teacher Diana Galeano is now being held at the Broadview center after being taken away by federal agents in an unmarked car. According to CBS News, DHS confirmed Galeano has a work permit based on a pending asylum application — although that does not necessarily prevent detention by ICE.
The Resist and Repeat group, taking credit for the peaceful protest today, shared their statement and message on a new account just a few hours ago.
“We are moms from the Chicagoland area channeling alarm into action to protest what’s happening in our community and the facilities in Broadview,” they wrote in one post.
"Everyone has a sphere of influence, no matter how small,” another caption reads. “You need to start speaking up in yours now, before it’s too late. No one else is coming to save us. We have to build power together to keep us safe and put an end to the injustice being perpetrated in our communities by the current administration.”
Scary Mommy reached out for a statement from Resist and Repeat and is waiting for a response.
