Carlos Ballesteros

Rep. Underwood demands answers over alleged ‘reckless’ ICE activity in Joliet U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood wants answers about alleged federal immigration enforcement activity in Joliet that she says flagrantly violated law enforcement standards and recklessly put people at risk.

"Multiple witnesses reported on July 9 that 'an unmarked black, extended-cab truck taking part in ICE enforcement actions' had rammed into the rear of a civilian vehicle and trapped it near the intersection of Cass and Arch streets in Joliet."

Bad news roundup from the last 24 hours:

- ICE will deny bond to captured immigrants and cage them in prisons and jails until they’re deported
- IRS is building a database with taxpayer data for ICE
- ICE prosecutors are withholding their names in immigration court

Fascism debate is over it’s here

sign of a healthy democracy:

masked, anonymous secret police working with anonymous government attorneys to disappear people

every single Dem who acts like broad public opposition to immigration is just an immutable fact of life is committing an act of gross moral and political malpractice.

Dangling the threat of arresting the opposition-party mayor of a major city because she asked ICE etc. to stop a photo-op of paramilitary police storming a park, where the worst thing was a soccer game.

Now yelling abt protecting gangs.

No longer "if you saw this in another country." We're them.

Online: Property tax foreclosures in Cook County - Chi Hack Night Since 2019, more than 1,000 Cook County homeowners have lost their homes and home equity to investors — called tax buyers — through property tax foreclosure. Collectively, these homeowners owed $2.3 m...

Join us online tonight at 7pm to hear from @injusticewatch.org. Reporters Emeline Posner and @cb-312.bsky.social will discuss their joint investigation with the Investigative Project on Race and Equity into property tax foreclosures.

Find full details here: chihacknight.org/events/2025/...

Kilmar Abrego Garcia describes ‘severe beatings’ and ‘psychological torture’ in Salvadoran prison Abrego submitted a harrowing and detailed account of abuse after the Trump administration illegally deported him.

NEW: In first public account, Kilmar Abrego Garcia details weeks in Salvadoran prison CECOT. Says he was subjected to 'severe beatings,' psychological torture & soiled himself. Also says jailers confirmed his tattoos have no gang meaning. w/@kyledcheney www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

Family sues Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart over ‘brutal’ jail death The family of a man who died in Cook County Jail last year after he was beaten by guards is suing Sheriff Tom Dart alleging civil rights violations and

"The family of a man [Cory Ulmer] who died in Cook County Jail last year after he was beaten by guards is suing Sheriff Tom Dart alleging civil rights violations and demanding punitive damages."

"An additional 30 county employees are named defendants."
#Illinois #USA #Incarceration

‘Ticking time bomb’: Ice detainee dies in transit as experts say more deaths likely Guardian reporting reveals confusing and contradictory events surrounding death of Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado

A 68-year-old Mexican-born man has become the first ICE detainee in at least a decade to die while being transported. Experts warn there will likely be more such deaths amid the current administration’s “mass deportation” push across the US. ca.news.yahoo.com/ticking-time...

It turns out that running on a platform that addresses the out-of-control cost of housing is a winning idea.

High housing costs are not only the biggest driver of homelessness, but they are also the biggest strain on most people's budgets.

Pay attention, Dems.

Fewer than 1 in 10 of over 185k immigrants booked into ICE custody since October were convicted of serious crimes such as murder, assault, robbery, or rape. Over 75% had no criminal convictions other than immigration or traffic-related offenses.

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Trump administration evading judicial review of disputed immigration practice, judge says The government is using a method to remove people from the country that is likely unlawful and is doing so by evading judicial review, a judge said.

NEW: The Trump administration is using a method to remove asylum seekers from the country that is likely unlawful and is doing so by evading judicial review, according to an Arizona federal judge www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

I've been writing about CPD tactical teams for over a year now because of the terror they inflict upon Chicago's south and west sides.

The way these agents jumped out of their cars at people—same cop behavior. Sending these teams deeper into urban communities will get people killed.

In Baltimore's drug war, 'public safety' comes before public health. Nearly everyone impacted is Black At first glance, it may seem that the War on Drugs has all but disappeared in Baltimore. The decades-long campaign decimated Black neighborhoods and fueled mass incarceration in the city under the…

"The Beat's analysis covered tens of thousands of misdemeanor and felony drug arrest records obtained from the Baltimore Police Department."

"[N]early all people arrested and charged with drug crimes in Baltimore are Black."
#Maryland #USA #Policing #Drugs

Fuerza responds to scenes where alleged ICE enforcement is reported. If officers are indeed with ICE, they hit record and spread the word. They also speak directly with those being detained.

They are part of a growing scrappy network of volunteers protecting neighbors from ICE. bit.ly/4lgke5N

ICE targets Chicago’s immigration court for deportations - Chicago Reader Plus: The Illinois Secretary of State’s office decries the “illegal” use of license plate readers

in this week’s make it make sense:

👉 a dispatch from chicago’s immigration court, where masked federal agents have been disappearing immigrants & targeting protesters

👉 the illinois secretary of state hits local cops for “illegally” using license plate readers (via @juggaloreporter.bsky.social)

Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.

28-year-old Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who has no known criminal record, was accused by Texas police of being in a Venezuelan gang because they found a photo of him posing with another man with tattoos, his lawyers say.

From ProPublica partner @texastribune.org:

A day after Dem officials were denied access to another ICE facility in Chicago, they gave a guided tour to House Speaker Mike Johnson plus favored media.

Pilsen tenants followed the law in withholding rent. They were forced to move out anyway. By the time three Pilsen tenants began writing letters to their landlord requesting repairs in May 2023, water was dripping from the ceiling of a

Mind-blowing from @writeralejandra.bsky.social: tenants in substandard apts assert their legal rights, landlord retaliates, tenants sue over retaliation, landlord files evictions anyway. Then, to drop the evictions, landlord requires tenants to sign NDAs.
www.injusticewatch.org/civil-courts...

The Number of Unhoused Young Children Is at Crisis Level. It’s Set to Get Worse. Nearly 447,000 US kids under 3 were unhoused at last count. Trump’s budget bill threatens to make that number skyrocket.

"Homelessness among newborns, infants, and toddlers skyrocketed from 2022 to 2023, impacting 446,996 newborns, infants, and toddlers."

"23 percent increase in the number of unhoused children under the age of 3 since 2021."
#USA #Housing

We’ve seen multiple ICE detentions from Chicago’s immigration court, some that happened in front of attorneys.

Every time we’ve heard attorneys ask for an administrative warrant, ICE had none, or refused to show it. If attorneys pressed more, they were threatened with arrest or removed from court.

Protesters are back this morning outside 55 E Monroe in Chicago, blocking the garage entrance & exits used by ICE to access immigration court.

For weeks now, agents have been arresting immigrants showing up for their hearings.

Last week, protesters’ presence shut down court twice.

"They’re taking Shirly": An Army sergeant thought his family as safe. Then ICE deported his wife. For tens of thousands of US service members with undocumented family members, there’s no guaranteed protection from immigration raids.

“I find it unconscionable that someone could step up to serve, voluntarily, in our military and be willing to sacrifice their life for our country only to have their families torn apart.”

This article first appeared @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social

Illinois’ property tax sale system has been called the “most abusive” in the nation by experts. Why is that? Senior reporter Carlos Ballesteros breaks it down.

Important piece from @writeralejandra.bsky.social about the challenges Chicago tenants face in court when asserting their rights 👇🏼

Happening now: a small group of protesters are once again blocking ICE agents' vans outside immigration court in Chicago.

Masked agents with handcuffs are threatening activists with arrest and intimidating photographers.

Situation is tense, we'll update as we can.

Illinois is the last state to unlawfully strip wealth from homeowners caught in tax foreclosure This is a joint project of Injustice Watch and the Investigative Project on Race and EquityWhen Cook County sheriff’s deputies burst into the Maywood home

NEW: Illinois’ property tax foreclosure process strips generational wealth from Cook County residents — disproportionately impacting Black senior homeowners. Read our latest investigation with @raceandequityproject.org 🏠

Powerful reporting by @cb-312.bsky.social of @injusticewatch.org and Emeline Posner of @raceandequityproject.org. Some Cook County residents are losing their homes over an original tax debt as low as $110. Investors flip the homes for huge profits. The original homeowners are left with nothing.

Green social housing ordinance introduced at City Council meeting The city would own a majority stake in the mixed-income rental buildings developed, a first-of-its-kind role for the city.

Very excited to take the next step in this--grateful to be able to keep working on it at Impact for Equity, and to DOH, Center for Public Enterprise, ILGND, and everyone who's contributed to this www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/19/g...

complicity is not the right word for this behavior.

*Lockland and Evendale police welcome neo-Nazis, give them tour of possible targets*