DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott confirms there was an action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a business in Cortland early Friday afternoon.
"There was a law enforcement, Federal Law Enforcement action that carried out at the 200 block of West Lincoln Highway in Cortland today," Sheriff Scott said. "Our office assisted today by providing a perimeter of security for them briefly and now, to my knowledge they have left the county."
Word spread through the community and on social media throughout the day, with unconfirmed warnings of raids on other businesses and road blocks. A DeKalb attorney specializing in immigration says several people were taken into custody at Alfredo’s Iron Works in Cortland.
Pastor Rosa Lee of Cortland United Methodist Church, located at 45 West Chesnut in Cortland, says their door will be open to anyone in need of support after the occurances this afternoon. Lee also said that she has seen increased police activity in the area.
Meanwhile, on Friday, people rallied at the U.S. District Courthouse in Rockford against the federal policy separating immigrant parents and childen. Immigration attorney Sara Dady says the ICE action caused some employees to leave businesses across the area.
"Increased enforcement of bad laws doesn’t make the law better, it just gets us more bad results," Dady said. "We have 11 million workers here who never had a right way come, who are fully integrated into our communities and who need a fair opportunity to apply for legal status."
WNIJ Reporters Victoria Lunacek and Susan Stephens contributed to this story.
