Mauricio Pena/Borderless MagazineAfter back-to-back raids, Southwest Siders show up to warn neighbors and denounce agents’ actions.
After the tear gas had dissipated Thursday morning, some more Little Village residents were gone — taken near the Discount Mall in unmarked cars for the second day of immigration raids by federal agents in the neighborhood.
Multiple people, including one high school student, were detained in the effort led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino at the Discount Mall, according to officials. The caravan of agents on the Southwest Side sparked an immediate community response, with residents using whistles to alert neighbors to the presence of border patrol agents.
By afternoon, fewer people were visible along 26th Street, a historic port of entry for Mexican immigrants and a corridor known for its economic significance to the city.
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Leslie Bobadilla and Odalys Rios stopped by the Discount Mall only to find most vendors had gone home.
“It’s sad that you have to stay home because you’re scared to stay home when you’re just working,” said Bobadilla, who grew up in the neighborhood.
In recent days, immigration agents have continued widespread raids across Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.
In several encounters, Border Patrol and federal agents have used military tactics and deployed tear gas that caused a car crash and prompted protests from rapid response groups. ICE’s latest raids have left communities on edge, but residents and elected officials are standing up for their communities.
Rios was horrified by the latest raid on the community where she grew up. “They’re violating human rights, they’re grabbing anybody,” she said. “They’re grabbing citizens, non-U.S. citizens.”
Trump targets Chicago’s immigrant communities
When President Donald Trump was re-elected, his embattled border czar Tom Homan eyed Chicago as ground zero for their mass deportation efforts. But in the weeks after Trump’s inauguration, Homan acknowledged the impact of Chicago’s Know Your Rights efforts to challenge the administration’s goals of arresting noncitizens.
Local officials, immigrant advocacy groups and activists doubled down on Know Your Rights trainings in the months that followed. The groups widely distributed pamphlets and cards at grocery stores, laundromats and public libraries to prepare noncitizens and citizens for enforcement efforts.
By early June, federal immigration officials ramped up efforts in Chicago. Throughout the summer, masked agents without badges drove into neighborhoods in unmarked cars, detaining people at restaurants like Don Pedro’s in Pilsen, outside of immigration courtrooms and during immigration case check-ins.
“We try to stay alert so we can help each other and the people around us,” a Don Pedro employee told Borderless in June. “Our bosses protect us and care about us a lot, so we always try to give our best, even without knowing what may happen next.”
When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched “Operation Midway Blitz” last month, officials said they were targeting the “worst of the worst.” But in the weeks that followed, a picture emerged of indiscriminate racial profiling of Latino citizens.
The tactics are similar to those carried out during Operation Wetback in the 1950s. The federal government used military-style tactics to deport hundreds of thousands of Mexican laborers. During those sweeps, immigration officials filled three planes with immigrants and flew them weekly from Chicago to Mexico, often to “unfamiliar parts” of the country, according to historians.
Since launching “Operation Midway Blitz,” federal agents have killed a man in Franklin Park, shot a woman five times in Brighton Park, carried out a raid on a South Shore apartment — zip-tying residents, including small children — and tear-gassed and shot pepper bullets at protesters and journalists at the Broadview Detention Facility.
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Bovino told WBEZ last month that agents were making arrests based partly on “how they look.”
Federal agents’ use of military tactics has sparked lawsuits, prompting federal judges to issue temporary restraining orders against the government. One judge recently ruled that federal agents who aren’t undercover are required to carry visible identification, wear body cams when available and not make warrantless arrests. They also said agents couldn’t use tear gas on journalists and protesters.
Over the last week, agents have defied judges’ orders, continuing to wear face masks and disperse tear gas at crowds. Despite the standing order, Bovino was captured throwing tear gas at a crowd of protesters Thursday morning at the Discount Mall in Little Village, according to Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th).
Videos shared with Borderless Magazine show federal agents chasing people through the Discount Mall parking lot, as crowds of community members start to form. “Get out of Little Village,” people can be heard shouting at agents.
In another video, Bovino is seen holding a weapon while another agent has an unknown canister.
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) spokesman Steven Bansbach alleges protesters threw rocks and other items at officers. “Border Patrol agents repeated multiple warnings to back up and that chemical agents would be deployed if warnings were ignored,” Bansbach said.
Bansbach did not share any evidence or body camera footage with Borderless Magazine to support their claims.
A day earlier, Bovino and CBP agents stormed through the neighborhood and detained eight people, including 22nd Ward Ald. Michael Rodriguez’s chief of staff, Elianne Bahena. Rodriguez said his staff members and other citizens had since been released, but they were unsure of the status of noncitizens who had been detained.
Earlier this week, Illinois State Rep. Hoan Huynh alleged that federal agents pointed a gun at him and a staffer in Irving Park. Ald. Rossana Rodriguez (33rd) and her chief of staff were also stopped and confronted by ICE officers while warning neighbors of ICE in Albany Park, prompting a masked agent to issue a warning for “impeding an operation.”
“If they can pull a gun on an elected official and try to bash in my window, there’s no end to the terror they will continue reigning on our communities,” Huynh said.
Advocates and legal experts have been raising alarms over ICE’s aggressive tactics across the country, stating they are “different in scale” than previous operations.
“We’re seeing a much more coordinated approach from DHS to ICE and CBP on specific locations and to ensure they’re heavily-armed,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University. “One of the things that is coming to light is just how quickly DHS officers are to deploy violent force of one kind or another, which is not something we’re used to seeing.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order Thursday establishing an independent commission tasked with collecting videos and creating a public record of federal agents’ abuses to hold the federal government accountable for their military-style operations in Chicago and Illinois.
“The federal government is pushing the boundaries of [its] authority to terrorize our communities while disregarding all legal and moral accountability in the process. We will not meet intimidation with fear — we will meet it with truth,” Pritzker said in a statement.
Illinois politicians say federal agents are trampling on the Constitution
A few hours after CBP raided Little Village on Thursday, a few dozen elected officials and community leaders came together at the Discount Mall parking lot in unity to denounce yet another raid on the community.
Ald. Sigcho-Lopez condemned the latest detentions, including a security guard from the Discount Mall, who asked federal agents for a judicial warrant to enter. He called today’s actions a clear violation of judge rulings that called for an end to warrantless arrests and the use of tear gas.
“It’s illegal. It’s immoral. It’s wrong,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “I’m calling an end to this siege and occupation.”
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia said Bovino and Trump were attempting to instill fear in the community. They returned because we stood up to them, he said.
“The community pointed out how morally bankrupt this operation is,” Garcia said.
The congressman called ICE actions across the country a “trampling of the Constitution,” but the community would not go into the shadows and remain “silent.”
“I’ve lived here for 57 years and never seen this type of shameful practices and tactics employed by ICE and other federal agents,” Garcia said. “Cowardly. That’s why you cover your face. Cowardly. That’s why you cover your name.”
On Friday, about 20 members of Congress will come to Chicago to “document what has transpired” under Operation Midway Blitz, Garcia added.
“I’m mad as hell because I’m a proud Little Village resident,” said State Sen. Celina Villanueva.
People’s civil, constitutional, and human rights are being trampled, she said.
“What I witnessed this morning was a community fighting back with nothing but its words and the belief in the Constitution of this country,” Villanueva said. “Our neighbors should not be treated like combatants in their own homes. Children should not wake up to the explosion of gas on their streets. Families should not fear that walking to the store or standing on their block could lead to abduction or violence,” she said.
Villanueva spent the morning and afternoons distributing masks so her constituents wouldn’t inhale tear gas deployed by federal agents. “That’s state-sponsored violence,” she said.
Amid the back-to-back ICE raids, Ald. Rodriguez was turning his office at 4035 W. 26th St. into a triage center for families impacted by federal agents’ detention of loved ones.
For 48 hours, his staff, along with staff from Congressman García and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, would offer support to community members.
“We will stand ready to fight back,” Rodriguez said.
Community rises up
For months, community members have been organizing and forming Rapid Response teams to counter the military tactics used by federal immigration agents. The watchdog groups have proliferated as ICE continues to carry out indiscriminate raids across the city.
When agents arrived in Little Village for a second time on Thursday, neighbors came out, running towards agents, blowing whistles to alert residents of ICE’s presence.
Organizer Rosemarie Dominguez was among those who arrived to notify residents and make sure community members weren’t hurt by federal agents.
“Despite all of this going on, it’s absolutely beautiful to see people stand up for their neighbors,” she told Borderless Magazine. “People are rising up together to fight for what’s right.”
Enlace Chicago Executive Director Marcela Rodriguez said the community would continue to come together with all immigrant communities against federal agents’ raids.
“We are in solidarity with each other and will continue to be together,” she said.
While residents have rallied against ICE enforcement, others have seen the toll the raids have taken on the Little Village community.
“Many of our young adults are balancing work, school, and family responsibilities, all while dealing with the stress of right now,” said David Rojas Jr., founder of Little Village-based nonprofit Alliance98.
Rojas mentions that his staff has volunteered to help parents who are afraid to take their kids to school. He adds that while he applauds the work of local officials, he says he wants to see more people step up to protect the community.
“We need more people to get involved to support them, to be there,” he said.
For Bobadilla and Rios, showing up for the community and supporting local businesses is essential now more than ever.
We came out to eat and shop at local businesses, and help as much as we can, Bobadilla said.
“If you lose your community, you lose everything,” Rios said.
Tara Mobasher, Camilla Forte, and Lucy Baptiste contributed to this report.
Mauricio Peña is Borderless Magazine’s chief of staff. Email Mauricio at [email protected].
Hillary Flores is Borderless Magazine’s deputy editor. Email Hillary at [email protected].
