It’s not enough that ICE agents grab mothers with their infants outside a Chicago day-care center without ascertaining their identities, these brave agents threw tear gas canisters into a school playground and at a group of small children having a Halloween gathering at a city park. Obviously, going after the “worse of the worst.”
Wait! There’s more, ICE agents throwing tear gas canisters into suburban and busy Chicago streets, endangering motorists who could neither see nor drive. ICE has not stopped these tactics despite an order from U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis.
What do we do when the government disobeys a court order? Greg Bovino, the ICE operations head for this operation, claims his agents are threatened by violent crowds. Sure they are. Little kids in devil and dragon costumes are a real threat. But the real question is: what do we do when the Executive will not obey a court order?
Prayer for the Day
Looking ahead to a celebration of our Nation’s birth,
We wonder what we have become in this day and age;
Knowing our Founders took on unconscionable use of power,
We wonder what needs to be done now.
Guide us, O Lord, in these times of uncertainty,
For we feel unsure and cannot deliberate with certainty.
In the name of the One who is our Guide,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Generally, these kinds of crowd-control devices are reserved for truly dangerous situations. I cannot think of a good parallel for what the administration is doing right now.
Kevin Fee, Illinois ACLU legal director
It was like the world had just been flipped upside down. Like somebody just takes the rug out from underneath you. It was surreal. I didn’t recognize my city
Jennifer Crespo, legal observer, tear gassed at a quiet protest
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
So that the mountains would quake at your presence—
As when the fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil,
To make your name known to your adversaries,
So that the nations might tremble at your presence!
Isaiah 64:1-2