An Illinois state representative was handcuffed after he staged an hours-long sit-in following a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Chicago.

Democratic congressman Luis Gutierrez came to the 10am meeting with about 22 advocates, attorneys and community members.

Gutierrez discussed specific cases including that of Francisca Lino - a Mexican immigrant married to a U.S. citizen and mother to four U.S. citizens who is due to be deported in July - and ICE officials' conduct.

The official and seven others then stayed behind and demanded no future raids and reconsideration of specific deportation cases. Gutierrez wants Lino's deportation to be cancelled.

Scroll down for video

Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic state representative for Illinois, was handcuffed after staging an hours-long sit-in after he felt he received lacking answers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials about ICE conduct and specific deportation cases at a Chicago meeting

Gutierrez, pictured with the seven other individuals who joined him in the sit-in, was not charged with any crime and was released. Federal Protection Services were called to the meeting to remove the individuals but stopped short of arresting them when ICE reneged

Spokesman Douglas Rivlin said Gutierrez 'decided that he did not get the answers he was looking for from the ICE regional director and he's going to be staying inside until he gets answers, even if that means risking arrest,' NBC News reported.

His spokesman added: 'Low priorities for deportation are being removed from the country and the congressman wants to get answers from the staff here, and he has not been

He was briefly handcuffed around 1.30pm, but his cuffs were later taken off and he was not charged with any crime.

Gutierrez has been called the 'Martin Luther King of immigration reform' for his championing of immigrant rights and his fights for individuals such as Lino and Army veteran Miguel Perez Jr, who has a green card but served time in jail for a drug conviction.

An ICE public affairs official said that when Gutierrez 'sought actions and assurances that ICE officials couldn't provide,' he began the sit-in.

The official said the group staging the sit-in was warned by Federal Protection Services called to the meeting room three times and each time refused.

The spokesman said: 'They were briefly placed in flexible plastic restraints before ICE officials relayed that they no longer wanted the individuals removed from the building.'

Gutierrez, pictured at a town hall meeting last week, was asking about specific deportation cases including that of Francisca Lino, who is due to be deported in July despite having a US-citizen husband and four children who are US citizens

Gutierrez's spokesman compared ICE's alleged lack of transparency to the situation following Donald Trump's first immigration ban, when officials often could not answer basic questions about what the policy was or how it was to be enacted.

Gutierrez said he was also banned, along with fellow members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, from a meeting with the acting ICE director in February and that he was prohibited from attending an invitation-only meeting by a Paul Ryan aide.

Gutierrez has been arrested before for civil disobedience related to immigration reform, including at a 2013 rally in Washington.