Chicago alderpeople called for more aggressive action to oppose federal immigration activities in Chicago during a committee meeting Thursday, arguing the Trump administration is violating due process rights with detainments and deportations.

The City Council Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights heard from activists and city officials on immigration enforcement actions in Chicago and the steps the city is taking to protect immigrant rights. The hearing was sparked by a resolution (R2025-0017562) introduced by committee Chair Andre Vazquez Jr. (40) and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33).

The resolution, which the committee did not put up for a vote on Thursday, calls for the Committee on Health and Human Relations to examine “recent alleged violations of free speech and due process rights” and explore ways for the city to protect residents’ rights.

Rodriguez Sanchez said the resolution was inspired by reports that immigrants are being detained indefinitely and deported to foreign prisons, including to El Salvador, without due process. Under President Donald Trump, arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have doubled and detention numbers have skyrocketed, according to NBC News.

On June 4, a group of immigrants who were part of a federal monitoring program were told via text to come to a downtown immigration facility for a required check-in. When they arrived, immigrants were detained and separated from their attorneys, and some are still being held in detention, alderpeople said.

The incident has sparked calls for an investigation into whether the Chicago Police Department violated Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance by aiding ICE operations. An ICE spokesperson previously told The Daily Line that CPD was not involved with any ICE operations.

“We’re here because we need to act, and we need to act now,” Rodriguez Sanchez said. “Our state, our city, our country. We all have a role to play in standing up for these fundamental rights. We need to make sure everyone in our community has strong legal protections, push back against federal overreach, and rethink how we spend our money, putting people and vital services first.”

The committee heard from Ed Yohnka, the director of communications and public policy with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, and Cecilia Mendoza, the associate director of government relations with the National Immigrant Justice Center, about the legal process faced by immigrants in Chicago and nationally.

Mendoza said ICE has arrested and detained immigrants indefinitely without granting them due process or allowing them to speak to an attorney. Many of those detained, she said, were in legal proceedings to have their residency adjudicated.

“As a nation we are seeing unprecedented levels of executive overreach, with the administration piloting some of its most egregious authoritarian tactics in the immigration context, including violating court orders and constitutional rights,” Mendoza said.

Asked by Rodriguez Sanchez what the City Council can do to push back against the federal administration’s enforcement actions, Yohnka said the city and alderpeople should continue to join amicus briefs in lawsuits challenging the government’s deportation actions and authorities. He said the City Council should call on Chicago’s federal lawmakers to push for more oversight of ICE and to tour detention facilities. He also said they should call on federal officials to support the VISIBLE Act, a bill in Congress that would require ICE officials to identify themselves when they’re carrying out immigration enforcement.

“ICE is now being funded at a level that makes them akin to France and Germany’s army,” Yonkha said. “I think that means it’s going to be critical that we have ample oversight of the way that those resources are being spent.”

Vazquez said the committee, with Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22), has introduced a resolution calling on the state to pass a law banning federal agents from wearing masks and requiring identification.

State Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurura) filed a bill this week in the General Assembly to limit the use of masking by law enforcement officers.

Ald. Anthony Quezada (35), asked Mendoza what resources legal groups like National Immigrant Justice Center need to meet the rising demand for legal services for immigrants. Mendoza said the group needs more funding to ensure immigrants have robust representation in court, including those who don’t have options to file for temporary protection.

“Being creative about how we can get representation to folks broadly is one of the things that are needed, and just really the funding to be able to do that,” she said.

Chicago Chief Equity Officer Carla Kupe and Jesus Del Toro, the director of policy and strategic initiatives with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights, gave an overview of the steps the city has taken to push back on federal deportations and protect immigrant rights.

The city has filed lawsuits against the Trump administration’s terminations of a grant that reimbursed the city for migrant sheltering costs and a grant that funded anti-terrorism activities in the city. It is also opposing an executive order to crack down on sanctuary jurisdictions. The city has also written amicus briefs opposing Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship and strip legal protections from migrants.

“These lawsuits have already generated wins including two orders temporarily stopping the Trump administration’s illegal practices and the lifting of the freeze on our anti-terrorism funding,” Kupe said.

Also during Thursday’s meeting, Vazquez reviewed recent efforts by the committee to support Chicago’s immigrant communities. The city has held 15 “know your rights” trainings in 2025 for alderpeople, nonprofits, businesses and community members, as well as monthly briefings on immigration actions. Vazquez said there have been outside attempts to report the rights training dates and locations to ICE, and the committee is reviewing ways to strengthen security at the training sessions.

The committee has set up a guide for people to report on ICE activity and find out information on individuals who have been detained. The guide advises on submitting an inquiry with a detained person’s congressional representative and provides legal support resources.