Editor’s note: In July 2021, the Chicago City Council created a citywide seven-member Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), intended to give civilians a new role in oversight of the police. The city also created 22 District Councils. The District Councils were elected by Chicagoans in 2023, three people from each Chicago police district. The 66 District Council members nominate people for the CCPSA, and the mayor then chooses from among those nominees to appoint the members of the CCPSA. According to the CCPSA website, the commission has the authority to “draft, review and approve Chicago Police Department policies and goals,” and can recommend appointment and removal of the police superintendent. People in Chicago had been pushing for months for the CCPSA to hold a hearing on whether the CPD has been cooperating with ICE raids in Chicago. The CCPSA made no decisions at the hearing, and plans another one in February that will include CPD representatives. – People’s Tribune
The long-awaited Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability public hearing discussing interactions between Chicago police officers and federal immigration agents was held Jan. 8, bringing hundreds of citizens and many local representatives to Thalia Hall in Pilsen.
District Council Member of the 10th Police District Elianne Bahena—who helped obtain the 2,000 signatures that triggered the CCPSA to hold the special hearing—said, “Through this process, we felt that this certain issue was not being treated with the seriousness or timeline it required. While our communities were experiencing real harm in real time, we felt the communication wasn’t clear and disconnected from what we were seeing in the community.”
Bahena said that she first submitted a formal request to CCPSA to discuss this topic on Nov. 13, 2025, but it wasn’t until the 2,000 signatures triggered the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance that the meeting was scheduled.
“This process was triggered by community power,” she said.
Residents stepped up to the mic one-by-one to share their stories witnessing Chicago police officers offering assistance to ICE through arresting protestors, escorting ICE vehicles and blocking traffic to allow ICE free passage.
One resident shared his experience having ICE call CPD for assistance; ICE claimed he was attempting to ram into their vehicle while he was doing rapid response and following their activity.
“They [ICE] are being protected by the police, and who protects us?” he asked the commissioners.
Many argued these actions violate Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which restricts local police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
[Andres A. Chavez is a Venezuelan journalist, photographer, and visual artist based in Chicago. Zoë Takaki is a multimedia journalist based in Chicago who covers a wide range of beats, including local politics, social justice and arts and culture.]
Zoë Takaki is a multimedia journalist based in Chicago who covers a wide range of beats, including local politics, social justice and arts and culture.
