Aurora Mayor Reinforces Stand Against Threatened ICE Raids

AURORA, IL — Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin released a statement Saturday after the Trump administration threatened raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in major cities throughout the U.S. Although Aurora is not on the list of 10 targeted cities, Mayor Irvin said he stands by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in "prohibiting the use of our resources to aid or support ICE in its enforcement activities."

Irvin went on to say that "While Aurora does not have any jurisdiction over federal actions, including the pending raids, I fully support our immigrant and refugee families who live in Aurora and object to any such raids that will separate families and traumatize entire segments of our community."

In his statement, Irvin vowed that Aurora Police will continue their practice of declining to ask for a person's immigration status. He said, "the City of Aurora will not enter into a ‘287g Agreement’ with ICE and deputize our officers to engage in immigration enforcement work."

Trump had initially threatened to employ ICE to deport undocumented immigrants on Sunday in 10 cities, including Chicago. Trump later announced that he had postponed the ICE raids for two weeks to "see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border."