500 signatures reached
To: Rahm Emanuel and Chicago’s City Council
Remove Immigrant Father from Gang Database, Review its Content
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Tell Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago’s City Council to remove Wilmer Catalan-Ramirez from the Chicago Gang Database. Wilmer is an immigrant father of three children from the Back of the Yards neighborhood who was taken into immigration custody after he was erroneously listed as a gang member by the Chicago Police Department.
Why is this important?
On May 1st, 2017 Wilmer Catalan Ramirez filed a lawsuit for the excessive use of force that ICE used when they raided his home, and the Chicago Police Department and the City of Chicago for wrongfully putting him in the gang database.
Chicago’s mayor and city council should be advocates for every city resident who falls victim to Trump’s deportation force, but especially for those whose physical well-being is in danger and those who the city has had a specific role in leading to his wrongful detention.
Wilmer's detention was part of a national immigration raid targeting suspected gang members. It is clear that ICE wouldn’t have targeted Wilmer if it wasn’t for the Chicago police department.
The police created the gang database at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request in 2012 as part of his efforts to be ‘tough on crime.’ But since then, it has proven to be like other lists of names compiled by police in other parts of the country: arbitrary, discriminatory, and with dire consequences for those whose names get entered.
Wilmer didn’t find out he was on the list until ICE agents cited it as the reason they broke down his door. He never had a chance to look at the evidence and defend himself.
Join us in asking Mayor Emanuel and the city council for the least they could do to correct this error and advocate for Wilmer’s release, and start to review the procedures and content of the Chicago gang database.