On Friday morning, MSNBC Mexican-American host Ana Cabrera provided an unchallenged forum to a liberal Chicago activist to promote anti-ICE efforts and to cheer a new court ruling that requires hundreds of illegal aliens to be released from custody after all the effort it took for federal agents to arrest them in the Chicago area.
After a report on the ruling, Cabrera brought aboard immigrant rights activist Lawrence Benito to respond, leading him to cheer protesters who have worked to shield illegal alien "neighbors" in his state:
... this would not have been possible without ordinary people stepping up to take action to help their neighbors. People putting "know your rights" cards; distributing them so that people were informed; joining rapid response teams as well. So this wouldn't be possible without ordinary people stepping up and looking out for their neighbors.
Cabrera followed up by asking about Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino's vow to be more aggressive about arresting illegal aliens in response to the ruling: "We just played Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino talking about, kind of the backlash now to this judge's order -- that there will be a lot more arrests in the face of this order. What's your reaction to that?"
Benito called for more liberal activists to monitor ICE -- which often means stalking agents -- as he began:
Well, you know, Bovino may be leaving town, but the wreckage and going enforcement remains, and we need to ensure, and we're working towards the hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of people whose rights were violated are released. And so, moving forward, we're going to continue to look out for our neighbors. And we're going to continue to tell the story of -- because he may be leaving Chicago, but he's going to another city, and we need to put more eyes on ICE.
He then ranted about how immigration enforcement actions have been conducted so far:
This operation was violent, wasteful and dangerous not just for immigrant families but for citizens and noncitizens alike. And Congress should be looking at what happened here in Illinois, and everyone in the country needs to understand that Trump can order this to happen anywhere.
Last week, we saw voters across the country reject Trump's agenda, and, as we go into 2026, we need to make sure this pattern of lying to justify violence against our communities and conducting unconstitutional abductions is at the forefront because, the more Trump does the more he exposes his power grab.
Instead of pushing back, Cabrera went along with the premise that ICE needs more regulation by the courts as she concluded:
Well, we are seeing courts try to hold the administration accountable in the case we just mentioned here, and, of course, there was the other case involving Bovino called before a judge, Sarah Ellis, to answer to use of force. So we're going to continue to stay on this. Lawrence Benito, thank you for joining us today.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's Ana Cabrera Reports
November 14, 2025
10:54 a.m. Eastern
ANA CABRERA: And let's bring in Lawrence Benito -- executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrants and Refugee Rights. Lawrence, it's good to have you. Let's talk more about this judge's order to release hundreds of migrants starting today. Does your group have any information on who these folks are and when they could be free?
LAWRENCE BENITO, ILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: Well, we've been working closely with our legal advocates, and they're in touch with the families, but I just want to say at the start, this would not have been possible without ordinary people stepping up to take action to help their neighbors. People putting "know your rights" cards; distributing them so that people were informed; joining rapid response teams as well. So this wouldn't be possible without ordinary people stepping up and looking out for their neighbors.
CABRERA: We just played Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino talking about, kind of the backlash now to this judge's order -- that there will be a lot more arrests in the face of this order. What's your reaction to that?
BENITO: Well, you know, Bovino may be leaving town, but the wreckage and going enforcement remains, and we need to ensure, and we're working towards the hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of people whose rights were violated are released. And so, moving forward, we're going to continue to look out for our neighbors. And we're going to continue to tell the story of -- because he may be leaving Chicago, but he's going to another city, and we need to put more eyes on ICE.
This operation was violent, wasteful and dangerous not just for immigrant families but for citizens and noncitizens alike. And Congress should be looking at what happened here in Illinois, and everyone in the country needs to understand that Trump can order this to happen anywhere. Last week, we saw voters across the country reject Trump's agenda, and, as we go into 2026, we need to make sure this pattern of lying to justify violence against our communities and conducting unconstitutional abductions is at the forefront because, the more Trump does the more he exposes his power grab.
CABRERA: Well, we are seeing courts try to hold the administration accountable in the case we just mentioned here, and, of course, there was the other case involving Bovino called before a judge, Sarah Ellis, to answer to use of force. So we're going to continue to stay on this. Lawrence Benito, thank you for joining us today.
