Chicago advocates teach immigrants about handling their financial assets if they're deported
Some Chicago area immigration advocates have described recent activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as "quiet" — but that does not mean they have stopped preparing.
Groups like The Resurrection Project have been helping immigrants buy their first homes in the U.S. Now they are telling those homeowners what to do if they are told to leave the country.
A total of 40% of those The Resurrection Project has helped buy a home, CBS News Chicago is told, have been undocumented.
The organization is also focusing on things like credit cards and car payments — which would not disappear if someone were deported.
Lizzette Carretero, director of financial wellness for The Resurrection Project, explained what happens to people's financial assets once they are deported.
"You still own your belongings. If you're on Title VIII, if you have a mortgage, you want to make sure that mortgage is continued to be paid," said Carretero. "Essentially, when you are deported —regardless of where you stand in the world — you continue to be the owner of your belongings."
The organization is making a push to teach people what to do if they are separated from what they own.
"What happens to your home? Do you want to keep your home? Do you want to sell your home? Is your family going to stay here?" Carretero said. "Those are the questions that we each start having with families just so they start preparing a plan."
CBS News Chicago has tried to accumulate data to show just how many people nationwide have been impacted by recent immigration enforcement efforts over the first two weeks of the new Trump administration. There were more than 8,000 arrests across nearly two dozen cities.
ICE has not released any recent data or answered CBS News Chicago's request for numbers, as immigrant advocates report fewer arrest than they had anticipated because of President Trump's promises of mass deportation.
But preparations have not slowed down at The Resurrection Project.
"Our educational efforts are going to continue because we've seen the impact, and we've seen the aspects of being able to have a defense mechanism in place," said Carretero, "and really is a priority."
Meanwhile, people's trepidation has held constant.
"Just general fear — fear of going to work, fear of getting to an appointment," Carretero said, "so our appointments, our education activities have been impacted because they are in person."
In another symptom of the lingering fear, The Resurrection Project has Hhad had to move some of its instruction from in-person to virtual, so as to accommodate some in the undocumented community who worry they may be approached by ICE if they gather in one place.
