Brothers await their mother as Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Jonathan Jackson try to tour ICE facility
Wearing their Illinois National Guard uniforms, Axel and Andres Reyes arrived with their mother at a South Loop immigration office on Tuesday morning.
The men, 19 and 24, watched their mother, who was born in Mexico and has been in the U.S. for more than 24 years, enter the office where at least 10 people were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement just two weeks ago in what federal agents justified as "executable final orders of removal." And the brothers waited.
“We fear her being detained and us not being there,” Andres Reyes said of his mother, who is seeking citizenship and is currently in the country on a work permit. “We can’t really do anything about it or get involved in that, but we just always want to be with her.”
Ultimately, their mother was not detained. The brothers left with her around 1 p.m.
The Reyes brothers came to the facility as U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Jonathan Jackson, both Illinois Democrats, tried to tour the building at 2245 S. Michigan Ave., where those detained on June 4 were sent text messages summoning them for a routine immigration appointment.
The visit came as President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he would scale up deportation efforts in Democratic-led cities.
The lawmakers were at first denied entry — then let in, only to be escorted out by Chicago police officers, whom ICE agents had requested. Both lawmakers said they spoke with people inside, who were there for scheduled appointments.
Earlier on Tuesday, Democrat Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is also running for mayor, was arrested at an immigration courthouse in Manhattan after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain.
Last week, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security news conference in Los Angeles. And U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was recently indicted on federal charges alleging she assaulted and interfered with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center while Newark’s mayor was being arrested after he tried to join a congressional oversight visit at the facility.
“We made it through the double doors into the facility. We talked to an ICE officer who refused to identify himself. He was wearing a mask to obscure his identity. We asked for his name. We asked for his badge. He refused,” Krishnamoorthi said. “He then called Chicago police to evict us from the property as trespassers. This is [federal] property. We should be able to conduct oversight here, and we’re going to insist following this visit on doing just that.”
Jackson said police officers were “gracious and kind,” and he called them “conflicted.”
“What you’re beginning to see is the officers are conflicted. He was calling the police on two members of Congress and said that we were trespassing,” Jackson said. “This is a federal contractor in the 1st District, and there’s been some really slimy and scammy things that have happened with text messages and people being picked up. We came here simply to ask.”
According to Krishnamoorthi's office, a man was arrested and detained by ICE agents in Elgin on Monday. The man had no previous criminal record and had lived in Elgin for 12 years, his office said. Jackson said two constituents have reached out to his office about missing family members.
Krishnamoorthi, who is a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that he and Jackson plan to write a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“We have every authority to be able to insist on inspecting premises,” Krishnamoorthi said. “So we’re going to write a letter now to, probably Kristi Noem, and basically demand that we be allowed to see what’s happening and to learn what’s actually taking place here in Congressman Jackson’s district.”
Krishnamoorthi, who is running for Dick Durbin’s seat in the U.S. Senate, said he’ll continue efforts to have Noem and other members of the Trump administration testify before the committee.
“We’re going to be moving to subpoena" Noem, Krishnamoorthi said.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly are also seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for Durbin's Senate seat.
Contributing: AP