Joint Response from JACL National and JACL Chicago Chapter Regarding Immigration Raids and Possible National Guard Deployment

This year has already been unprecedented in the deployment of National Guard Troops to major cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., under the guise of fighting crime and protecting federal agents or buildings. Chicago has been identified by the Trump administration as one of the next possible targets for the National Guard to be deployed. The JACL, including our Chicago chapter, vehemently opposes the deployment of troops in American cities, especially the possibility of deployments in Chicago. The use of military personnel and resources in US cities is not only a waste of taxpayer dollars and government resources, but it also puts American citizens, especially communities of color, at greater risk for violence or unjust targeting.

The announcement of possible deployments in Chicago comes on the heels of heightened ICE and CBP activity in the city. This so-called “Operation: Midway Blitz” is currently underway, and as with the other immigration raids, the city and state governments were given no advanced notice of such actions. These raids follow similar tactics being used in Los Angeles and Southern California, as ICE agents go after family-owned businesses, immigrants appearing for their voluntary hearings, and more, without warrants or probable cause.

These tactics have continually been called into question. While the United States District Court for the Central District of California found that ICE and CBP agents in Los Angeles had been racially profiling people, the Supreme Court recently granted the Trump administration’s application for an emergency stay of this ruling. This stay allows ICE and CBP to continue their inhumane and racist tactics until the case makes its way through the federal courts.

The Chicago chapter of the JACL urges the Nikkei community, in Chicagoland and beyond, to show up in this moment to protect immigrant rights and immigrant communities. Many JACL Chicago members have a family history of incarceration without due process during WWII. According to JACL Chicago program director Rebecca Ozaki, “My own grandfather shared the horrifying memory of how two FBI agents showed up to their home in 1942 and detained his father. They didn’t know where he was for months, and he didn’t see his father for years. Their family was separated when they were forced into incarceration camps. He was just a child, paralyzed from fear, and there was no one to protect his family or the 125,000 others of Japanese ancestry who were forced into prisons without due process during World War II.” JACL Chicago believes that no human should face this reality, regardless of citizenship status. We are proud that our city will continue to fight against racist immigrant detention and deportation to keep our people safe, even with the threat of a US president declaring “war” on our city, and urge the Nikkei community to join us to take action.

“We find ourselves once again witnessing the actions of the administration making decisions that risk immigrant communities becoming subjected to racial profiling, detainment without due process, and family separation - reminiscent of what my own family experienced 80 years ago. At the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, my late uncle was diagnosed with Down syndrome. He was subsequently separated from his incarcerated family to be institutionalized at the age of 3. I can't fathom the fear and uncertainty both he and his family felt, unable to see each other for the duration of the war. It is crucial that the Chicago Nikkei community stands up to make our voices heard and send a clear message that no one should have to experience this.” - Ben Nishimura, JACL Chicago Chapter President

The continual overreach of the administration in its deployment of federal law enforcement and the National Guard is a dangerous precedent that conjures disturbing imagery of authoritarian dictatorships and fascist regimes, which should have long been relegated to the pages of history. Our legislative and judicial bodies must do everything in their power to keep the executive in check, as was designed by our nation's founders, to ensure nothing like this ever comes to pass. In the meantime, organizations like the JACL and countless others continue to stand against these continued attacks on our communities. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote while in Birmingham Jail in April 1963, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We must continue to fight to prevent these injustices from continuing, and we must do so together.