Graciela Guzmán

The investments that we have made as a city and state in violence prevention have made us safer. We also know that our willingness to help, love, and organize with and for one another has made us more secure, even amidst this barrage.

Thanks to MSNBC for having me to discuss this.

We did this interview Monday morning, but what I said then, especially after all of this heartbreaking chaos, is still true. ICE is not making us safe.

This has to end. We have to find a way to hold ICE accountable. What happened yesterday was intolerable, unbearable, for families impacted and for the many organizers and volunteers who were on the ground for hours trying to help their neighbors.

We’re still finding IDs on the ground left behind by people who were stolen. We’re still trying to figure out who was taken.

They have committed serious escalations not just in intensity but in the way they continue to treat people, all the way from our most vulnerable to elected officials carrying out lawful monitoring and support in our communities.

Illinois lawmaker on fight against Trump's policies: We 'will not cave' to 'authoritarian will' Federal officials will face questioning by a judge over whether they violated a tear gas order. State. Sen. Graciela Guzmán (D-IL) joins Ali Vitali to speak out against the Trump administration's crac...

ICE was an onslaught in our communities across Chicago yesterday, nonstop from 7 a.m.

www.msnbc.com/ana-cabrera-...

You guys have heard me say that it has been a brutal several weeks navigating the violence and terror ICE has wreaked. But coming together keeps us going.

#NoKings #NoICE

We turned out in force because we know that the majority of this city, this state, and this country rejects authoritarianism. We will keep working to actually build a government that is responsive to you and responsive to us, from the hyper-local level to everywhere else.

Several elected officials, including Alderman Anthony Joel Quezada, Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez, Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, Representative Will Guzzardi, State Senator Graciela Guzman, and Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis stand in front of a large crowd at the No Kings protest.

A very very large crowd watches the program at No Kings.

It was solemn and joyful and painful and cathartic on Saturday to march with thousands of Chicagoans—and my elected family—and say with one voice: No Kings.

I was also grateful to stand with an administration at the city level that is pushing back against this.

Please continue to call in ICE sightings at 1-855-435-7693.

While things will change for my schedule while I am in session in Springfield for part of this month, I know the people power that we have on the ground is going to continue to carry our Rapid Response networks all around the city.

I got to go long on this episode into the intense and, honestly, extremely painful events of the last few weeks, from my community members and fellow electeds putting their bodies on the line to seeing how much ICE’s actions have impacted my constituents and loved ones.

Like I said there, I pretty much know how bad things are going to be in my district by 7:30 a.m.

State Senator Graciela Guzman--Testing Ground ICE manages to avoid Wrigley Field. Ben riffs. State senator Graciela Guzman talks about Trump’s invasion of Chicago. And Chicago as a testing ground for MAGA messa…

Thank you to Ben Joravsky for having me on earlier this month to discuss the situation on the ground in our communities with continued, heavy ICE presence.

www.thebenjoravskyshow.com/state-senato...

Stay safe. Take care of one another. Keep fighting. I’ll be right there with you.

My office will remain present and available in the District, and if there is anything you need, please reach out.

In love and struggle,
Graciela

This is not just policy: It’s survival. And I feel the weight of it every time I begrudgingly leave home to go to Springfield. But I do so with a fierce purpose.

Our movement is being tested, but our values are only sharpening.

- Deliver relief from crushing home insurance costs
- Pass a bold energy package that addresses skyrocketing utility bills
- And above all, continue to build towards a progressive revenue system, because revenue is our sword, and solidarity is our shield.

I’m in Springfield, not just as your legislator, but as your ally in this fight. So, we must:

- Keep ICE out of our courts, hospitals, and schools
- Protect and strengthen our sanctuary laws
- Fully fund our transit system

(continued)

Your bravery, your tears, and your efforts to love and protect one another are what I will take with me to the Capitol. I feel your pain. Your fury. Thank you for your trust.

ICE once again had descended on our streets, kidnapping neighbors, driving cars into crowds, injuring one person, and firing tear gas.

This week, as I prepared to head to Springfield for the veto session, instead of laundry and getting ready, I found myself on Rapid Response with over sixty of our community members.

They continue to seek to militarize our city and state as they advance authoritarian rule. But our community keeps showing up: organizing, documenting, watching, protecting.

Every day, we have been defending our neighbors against a violent, unaccountable ICE presence that is snatching people from their lives, leaving behind dance shoes, scooters, and cars as traces of those they’ve taken.

The graphic shows Graciela with a gas mask among other protesters and organizers at the Broadview ICE facility with a purple tinge and the words: STATEMENT: State Senator Graciela Guzmán on legislative priorities for October Veto Session amid ICE presence in the 20th Senate District.

Dear community,

I want to speak plainly and from the heart. These last few months have been some of the hardest of my life, as an organizer, a legislator, and a daughter of immigrants.

This moment has been so dehumanizing and so painful, but coming together, laughing, and drinking cider was so crucial.

Thank you also to the families for showing up in Wicked, Ms. Rachel, and Dolly Parton costumes. Grateful as always to work and build and love with you all.

It was beautiful to see neighbors come together Saturday to celebrate our babies, donate winter gear, bring in $3,900 in funds, and distribute whistles and ICE watch and Know Your Rights information.

A group of people sit at a table in front of a small person in a dragon costume. One person is wearing a red wig, one person is State Senator Graciela Guzman, and the other is wearing a Harry Potter costume, and the other is Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez.

Thank you so much to Making Great Strides for inviting us to be Halloween costume “judges” and to raise money for the National Immigrant Justice Center in Horner Park.

The Trump administration can keep seeking to do what it’s doing, from funding kidnappers to trying to rip our healthcare away. But, Chicago is going to keep doing what it does at its finest, which is to organize, to resist, and to come together.

These last days in District 20 and Chicago have been hard with ICE attempting to ravage our city. But we will continue to meet this moment together because we have to. I love you all.

Please continue to use the 1-855-435-7693 number to report ICE activity or to seek support.

I am so proud of our staff and our teachers and the way they are literally putting themselves on the line. I am so grateful to be a part of our school community.