Activists Protest Deportations at Gary/Chicago Airport
Activists gathered to protest deportations at the Gary/Chicago Airport on Friday, where a few busloads of people who entered the United States illegally were to be flown to Brownsville, Texas, before being deported. "We feel connected to them, because they were with us when we started our struggle, so we want to be here as they continue their fight against these flights,” said Richard Aguirre, coordinator of the Coalition Against the Elkhart County Immigration Center. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency began using the airport in Gary for detainee removal flights in 2013, and since then more than 12,500 people have been flown out of the location. They are bused to the airport from a detention center in Broadview, Illinois. Demonstrators chanted “smash racist deportations working people have no nations" and "love, not hate makes America great,” from a barricaded section of the parking lot while officers—some equipped with tactical gear—looked on. "Did you really envision spending your life creating misery for people?" said Aguirre. "Is this what you imagined doing with your life? Because, a handful of criminals that you are deporting, you can feel good about.” (Chicago Tribune)