PRESS STATEMENT: CAIR-Chicago Condemns Threatening Hate Posters in Waukegan, Zion, North Chicago

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the recent threatening, hateful posters put up in Waukegan, Illinois, featuring “MAGA”, sharks labeled “ICE”, and alien characters drawn on target practice posters. These posters and similar gestures have appeared in Zion and North Chicago. 

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator and Waukegan Native Jordan Esparza-Kelley said: “These hateful posters are an extreme abnormality in our community. I expect the Waukegan Police Department, Mayor Sam Cunningham, and all other pertinent local government agencies to act swiftly in identifying who is threatening our community in this manner.”

Community organizer Julie Contreras, who has helped bring attention to this issue and work with those directly impacted said, “this is a direct threat to the undocumented, this person can be telling us here that he’s ready to shoot someone.”

The tri-city area (Zion, Waukegan, and North Chicago, IL) contains a large number of Latino residents, and the intentional design of these posters is directly threatening to this community that was one of the first targets of I.C.E.’s Operation Midway Blitz. This follows a disturbing trend of hate and targeting of immigrant communities across the nation as inflammatory and hateful rhetoric continues to come directly from elected officials in our local, state, and federal government.

If you experience or witness any acts of hate, bias, discrimination fill out our intake form at:

https://www.cairchicago.org/report-discrimination

CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote understanding.   

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CONTACT: Jordan Esparza-Kelley Communications Coordinator 224-627-1032, j-esparzakelley@cair.com; Ahmed Rehab Executive Director 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com