Even the British Soldiers Were Given a Fair Trial

Everyone deserves the right to a fair trial, even those widely viewed as “bad” actors. In a society that claims to value freedom and civil liberties, due process cannot be selectively applied. It must extend not only to the privileged, but also to the most vulnerable members of our community.

I spoke twice with Nubia Willman, Chief Programs Officer at Latinos Progresando, a nonprofit serving Chicago’s Little Village and Marshall Square neighborhoods. A former immigration attorney and Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Willman now oversees legal immigration services and community-based programs in one of the country’s largest Mexican-American communities.

Our first conversation took place in May, when Willman described widespread fear and a noticeable decline in local business activity. When we spoke again in October, she said that this fear had intensified amid the Trump administration’s expanded detention efforts. She pointed to a widespread misunderstanding and erosion of due process as one of the most persistent problems shaping immigration policy today.

May 2025

As this Trump administration shows more and more hostility to immigrants and people who they don’t consider ‘American,’ how are you changing your own practices and advising the community?

“With the legal team, not much has changed. Either you’re eligible for immigration relief or you’re not. Outside of the legal sector, at the beginning of the year, we saw a 40% decrease in our small businesses. People were just scared to go about normal life — scared to walk their kids to school and scared to go shopping. 

“Because of this, we’ve started doing more Know Your Rights workshops — community sessions that explain people’s basic legal protections, especially around due process and interactions with law enforcement or government agencies. There’s always a due process concern, and everyone should know their rights and feel comfortable enforcing them.”

How are the fearmongering tactics impacting the immigrant community? Are people closing in on themselves and isolating, or are they still willing to ask for help and self-identify?

“There has recently been tension between Mexican-American community-members and the new arrivals who were bussed from the border. The people from the buses are primarily South American, but in our community the majority of Latinos are Mexican and Puerto Rican. The long-term residents believe that ICE will only go after the new arrivals from the buses. 

“Even with this tension, we haven’t seen any hesitancy with people coming to us — in fact, we had to restructure our legal department in order to meet the increased need. Latinos Progresando has existed for 27 years, so the community knows us.”

October 2025

After the Trump administration increased ICE detentions over the summer and attempted to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, I met again with Willman to discuss how these policy shifts were affecting Chicago’s immigrant communities. We also spoke more about due process and how changes in enforcement practices over the summer had broadened who was being swept up by immigration authorities.

When we last spoke in May, you mentioned widespread fear and a 40% drop in small business activity in your community. What does the situation look like now?

“It’s gotten considerably worse. In Marshall Square, we have seen many businesses that have either shut their doors or cut down hours. The community isn’t going outside or going shopping, but also some of the businesses’ workers are concerned about their status.”

You mentioned tension between long-established Mexican and Puerto Rican communities and new arrivals from South America. How has that dynamic evolved over the summer?

“This idea that they’re only going to go after new arrivals has dissipated. People were surprised, but now there is a better understanding that the Latino community at large is being targeted. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here — they’re coming after everyone.”

Have the policy changes and enforcement trends over the summer changed what your legal team is seeing day to day?

“There has been a 25% increase in people wanting more information and guidance about what their rights are. Also, across the country there have been, I think, over 100 U.S. citizens detained by ICE. We knew that the government was not going to be precise — we are seeing a fast and furious approach that is neither precise nor accurate nor at the level required for a country that values due process.”

How would you describe the Trump administration’s approach to due process?

“This idea that certain rights should only apply to people who are ‘good’ is really dangerous and it’s a misinterpretation of the history of America’s justice system. Even the British soldiers were given the right to counsel. For any leader to come in and say, well only this group gets due process and this one doesn’t, is a very slippery slope because suddenly even if you’re receiving your right to due process now, tomorrow they could say, well now your group doesn’t get due process anymore.”

Where do we go from here? What reform do you think is most important in terms of the way the United States handles immigration?

“Everyone needs to understand the importance of their right to due process. Everyone is entitled to this, even if they are a ‘bad’ person. It’s a slippery slope — if you allow someone who is labeled bad to have their right to due process stripped from them, then in the future the same could happen to you if you are labeled bad.

“If our country is free and has liberties, then that’s something that we have to collectively support. The right to due process is a bedrock foundation of our country. Even the British soldiers during the Boston Massacre were afforded an attorney.”

The image featured in this article is licensed for reuse under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license. No changes were made to the original image, which was taken by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service and can be found here.