May Day Protests Draw Thousands in Chicago, Calling for End to Deportations

Thousands of workers and immigrant advocates gathered at Union Park in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood on Thursday in honor of May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, to advocate for labor and immigrant rights.

The protest, led by Consejo de Resistencia, comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests nationwide and targeted sanctuary cities like Chicago through newly signed executive orders.

Artemio Arreola, political director with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said he hopes to reshape the immigrant narrative under the Trump administration.

“We have taken to the streets to demand justice for immigrant workers, and what we want, number one, is to put an end to deportations,” said Arreola.

Chicago’s May Day protest is one of more than 1,100 events planned in nearly 1,000 cities across the U.S. May Day is an international celebration that can be traced back to labor strikes in 1886 in Chicago, when 35,000 workers walked off their jobs and demanded an eight-hour work day. In what became known as the Haymarket Affair, someone threw a bomb at a peaceful demonstration, and many were killed.

This year, organizations and protesters rallying against the Trump administration used the day to amplify messages focused on immigration, healthcare and workers’ rights.

For teacher Josué Velazquez, protecting immigrant rights was personal. His parents are immigrants.

“I want [my students] to have the best experience in education that they can have, while also making sure that no matter where they come from or where they were born, that they have access to everything they need and nothing is denied to them,” Velazquez said.

The march on Thursday kicked off several days of action, with immigrants’ rights advocates and labor unions planning to strike and boycott companies that support Trump’s immigration policies through Monday, May 5.

Gustavo Arreola, a warehouse worker in Bolingbrook, missed work to join Chicago’s May Day protests and boycotts for the first time.

“Many people who come here single, many of us have papers, many of us don’t have papers, but we really come here to work,” Gustavo said.

Gustavo added that it is crucial for immigrant groups to unite and support each other now as they have in the past.

Alec Ozawa, a volunteer with the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda, emphasized the importance of building unified resistance against Trump across political causes.

“We want revolutionary change and we want foundational systems to be in favor of the people and their demands,” Ozawa said. “Now is not the time to stand back in fear. It is the time for us to fight back. If we can do that, there’s power in numbers.”