Group holds anti-ICE protest at Hoffman Estates police station

An immigrant-support group protested at the Hoffman Estates police station Friday afternoon, eventually taking their complaints inside where they demanded — unsuccessfully — to speak with the police chief.

Protesters criticized police for not resisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in the village since last fall.

The demonstration focused on a video showing ICE agents arresting a young woman Oct. 10. Cristobal Cavazos, executive director of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, mentioned concerns about the agents' presence at the police station and the absence of signs against ICE using public property.

“We’ve seen ICE in Hoffman Estates about 40 times,” he said. “We’re convinced there’s still a problem in Hoffman Estates. We just want to keep track of the humanity of that police department.”

Police Chief Kasia Cawley, Mayor Bill McLeod and state Rep. Fred Crespo contend police do not obstruct ICE, but instead comply with the state’s TRUST Act, which limits collaboration with the federal agency.

The video recorded from a home window shows ICE agents stopping a sedan and forcibly removing an 18-year-old woman. As she protests, they push her to the ground and put her in a vehicle.

A Hoffman Estates patrol car briefly appears and drives away during the incident. ICE agents later stopped at the police department's parking lot, where Crespo and his daughter, Jennifer, were present.

Cawley explained the agents came to report being attacked by protesters but left before completing it.

Crespo, who helped free the young woman and a young man from ICE custody, initially questioned Hoffman Estates’ role in the incident. However, he was satisfied with answers he received eight months ago.

“I felt (Hoffman Estates) police did what they were supposed to do and were following the law,” Crespo said. “I was there and managed to get this girl and another kid released, and that’s what matters.”

He believes efforts should focus on the judicial system, where cases against ICE overstepping its authority are winning.

Crespo said signs suggesting ICE can be prohibited from places only create a false sense of security for people they may target, but Cavazos disagrees. He argued signs have diminished ICE activity in places like Elgin and Carol Stream.

“When signage is created, it shows that a town loves its people,” Cavazos said. “The consensus in the Latino community is that signage is not only a symbolic victory but substantive. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Before the protest, Cawley attempted to contact Immigrant Solidarity DuPage but had no luck. Cavazos admitted he hadn’t returned her calls.

“She called me a couple of times,” he said. “We don’t like to talk to the police before events. We want to meet with her face to face.”

More than 90 minutes into Friday’s protest, after 5:30 p.m., the demonstrators entered the police station demanding to see Cawley. They booed and chanted in the lobby after being told she wasn’t available.

While Cawley said the police department has been mischaracterized by the group, she affirmed its right to protest.