On February 8, hundreds of community residents and activists gathered on a cold and rainy Saturday in Little Village to demand a stop to President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts.
Demonstrators with colorful handmade signs denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity converged at La Villita Park, 2800 S. Sacramento Ave. People waved Mexican and American flags as organizers spoke and led chants through a crackling megaphone to the rhythmic beat of a Powwow drum.
The looming threat of deportations cast a shadow over Little Village in late January, with the neighborhood’s typically busy commercial corridor, 26th Street, falling quiet as news spread that Chicago was a target for mass deportations. Businesses saw fewer customers, families altered their routines, and an air of uncertainty settled over the neighborhood, Block Club Chicago reported.
The community mobilized and has fought back with protests and rapid response networks to protect their neighbors and preserve the long-standing immigrant enclave they call home.
The protest, which was followed by a march down 26th Street, was organized by the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Legalization For All Network. Local organizations in attendance included Casa DuPage Workers Center, Familia Latina Unida, and Chicago Community and Workers Rights.
Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd Ward), who was at the rally, told South Side Weekly that following Trump’s inauguration, Little Village schools saw dramatic drops in school attendance.
“We had grammar schools that are normally in the 90th percentile of attendance, across the board in my ward, they were more in the 70th percentile,” Rodriguez said. “High schools normally in the 70th percentile were in the 50th.” Rodriguez acknowledged local businesses that have seen a drop-off in sales along 26th Street. “I have anecdotally spoken with food vendors on 26th Street who were having a hard time,” he said, but added a note of optimism. “While there was a momentary pause in action, it seems like the resiliency of the community has shown through.”
The rally unfolded just blocks from where an ICE arrest was recently captured on video and photos––a father taken into custody on January 29, shortly after his wife dropped their child off at school, rapid response groups and ABC 7 Chicago reported. Video and pictures show the man being pulled over, his red pickup truck surrounded by five unmarked vehicles, and detained in handcuffs by at least three ICE officials and ATF agents. Despite local residents responding and filming at the scene, their efforts to stop ICE from detaining the father were unsuccessful.
Speaking to a group of demonstrators and residents at the rally, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), whose ward is nearly thirty-five percent immigrant, said, “They grab a father. They grab a neighbor. That’s who they grab. And we got to know that the next one will be one of us.”
Sigcho-Lopez also added the man arrested January 29 had no criminal record. He said that ICE raids have created a state of terror that has impacted small businesses, has kept children from going to school and caused people to miss medical appointments.
Lifelong Little Village resident and organizer with the Little Village Community Council, Graciela Garcia, attended the rally. She is also a volunteer for a neighborhood-based response group that patrols Little Village to look for ICE activity. She said that she has felt the impact of ICE enforcement action in her community and even in her own home.
She cares for an undocumented person with medical needs who has refused to leave their home and has skipped medical appointments due to the fear of being deported.
What is more, Garcia’s ten-year-old daughter lives in fear despite being born in the U.S. She said her daughter has asked her, “Mommy, are they going to deport me? Are they going to come get me?”
The increased threat of ICE raids that target undocumented workers has led to labor unions taking steps to protect workers.
In a webinar that took place on Feb 7, Chicago Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Don Villar said the AFL-CIO has negotiated safeguards into its contracts so that employees are not left in the dark when ICE shows up at their workplace. “One of the provisions some of our unions have gotten into their contracts is that anytime ICE or DHS has contact with the company, they are to inform the union immediately,” Villar said.
Laborers made their presence known at the rally as well.
Jorge, from Pilsen, is a member of a group of undocumented workers called the Resistance Council. Due to his immigration status, he asked to be identified only by his first name. Alongside fellow laborers at the rally, Jorge and others held up signs demanding immigration reform and reminding the Trump administration that immigrants simply want to work.
Jorge said the group began to advocate and meet together out of necessity once Trump took office again. “How can the government treat us like criminals when we are human beings?” he asked. “We are simply workers. We should not be treated like criminals.”
According to Antonio Gutierez, co-founder of Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD), recent ICE enforcement activity has caused an increase in calls to their family support hotline, which provides support to those detained by ICE. “We have seen from 100 to 150 calls on some days. Compared to prior to inauguration and even the election, we were getting maybe five calls a week, if not a month,” he said.
Gutierrez said there are twenty-three neighborhood-based active rapid response groups with more than 800 volunteers verifying ICE activity and supporting impacted families across the city.
Trump’s so-called border czar Tom Homan expressed frustration that Chicagoans are “well-educated” about their rights in an interview with CNN on January 28. “They call it ‘Know Your Rights.’ I call it ‘How to escape arrest,’” he said. On February 6, the Department of Justice sued Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois over laws that prevent state and local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE.
OCAD and its legal partners sued to block ICE raids in Chicago, arguing that the Trump administration’s actions were illegal retaliation against sanctuary cities and violated First Amendment rights.
However, OCAD later withdrew the lawsuit, citing concerns about Trump-appointed judges and potential conflicts with the DOJ’s case against Chicago and Illinois. Instead, Gutierrez said they are focusing on filing individual lawsuits for detained individuals who may have been unlawfully targeted.
Marchers pressed forward down 26th Street. The rain turned into light snow flurries. Police vehicles blocked off traffic. Onlookers peeked from behind store windows. And along the sidewalks, local residents stopped to watch, some nodding in solidarity.
The voices in that crowd carried the global anthem of resistance: “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” they shouted. “The people united will never be defeated!”
José Abonce is the senior program manager for the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative and a freelance reporter who focuses on public safety, politics, race, and urban planning issues. He is an incoming apprentice with The Investigative Project on Race and Equity and a recent New York University Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism graduate.