In the months of September and October, there has been a surge of ICE operations happening around Chicago and in the Hispanic community. Operation ‘Midway Blitz’ is an ICE operation that “target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois”.
Although the first few ICE raids happened during January, within the last few weeks these past ICE raids have been the most impacting to Chicago and its communities.
These ICE raids primarily were meant to detain those who came here illegally and have a criminal record. However, over time, ICE began to target Latinos or people who appeared to be Latino. A Sept. 8 Supreme Court ruling gave permission to ICE agents to continue their sweeps in Los Angeles based on race, accent, job and location in what “critics and federal judges said amounted to racial profiling” according to USA Today.
The people who are mainly affected by these ICE raids are people who are out working low paying jobs but also people who “look” Latino even if they are a US citizen. They are the one affected by this because there is a possibility that they get detained while at work or from simply walking in the streets all because they fit the description of an immigrant. This is a big problem because immigrants have limited job opportunities compared to those that are U.S. citizens.
There are several rapid response teams around the Chicagoland area that people can call if they encounter ICE. A rapid response group, Pilsen Unidos por Nuestro Orgullo (PUÑO) holds training to teach members of different communities how to record and respond to an ICE arrest. Although this group is primarily in Pilsen, it is a training that can be attended by anyone who is interested in learning how to be prepared in case of any ICE arrests happening in their area.
In Avondale, the community has gotten together to record but also warn fellow neighbors to be aware of ICE. Communities like Avondale come together and have found ways to report these arrests. For starters, the community has put up flyers with a number people can call in case of any ICE sightings. People in the community have also started to carry whistles with them at all times including after school to ensure that everyone stays safe and children are able to get home safe. The community also has groups of volunteers that can walk children home in case they have any fear of walking home alone. During the past few weeks, there has been an increase of more people being on high alert in case of ICE sightings and arrests. Another thing that the Avondale community has been doing is putting up signs in businesses to let people know that they are an ICE Free Zone.
