Politics
Chicago’s Latino Communities See Surge in Grassroots Activism as Immigration Operations Continue
Federal officials said “Operation Midway Blitz” has led to more than 500 arrests since it was announced earlier this month.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reports more than 2 million people have left the country since Jan. 20. The agency said it is on pace to deport nearly 600,000 people by the end of President Donald Trump’s first year back in office.
In response, organizations across Chicago have staged protests — including outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview — and launched resistance campaigns.
Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, which operates in one of Chicago’s most densely populated Latino communities, said he and others have begun handing out whistles so residents can alert each other of ICE sightings.
“We have a couple of members patrolling the neighborhood, and some of them have kicked out ICE by starting to blow the whistle,” Enriquez said. “We save families from being kidnapped by these ICE agents. So we are asking the community to learn that if they hear the whistle and they don’t have a legal status to go the opposite way, close your doors and stay safe.”
The Community Council runs patrols that watch for ICE activity from as early as 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., with volunteers rotating in shifts.
When volunteers spot ICE agents, they blow their whistle. If volunteers spot someone being detained by ICE, they are asked to nonviolently gather the person’s name and a family member’s contact information.
“We’re counter-attacking this administration by educating our community with knowing their rights and with a small whistle. It’s only 26 cents,” Enriquez said. “Our goal is for the whole city of Chicago to have whistles.”
Organizations are working outside the neighborhood, too. In response to reports that ICE is targeting individuals at common places of work, the Latino Union of Chicago is enlisting volunteers into its worker support networks.
These volunteers accompany day laborers at street corners where they often wait to be hired by contractors or others seeking workers. If ICE targets those street corners, volunteers will already be there to serve as witnesses, according to Miguel Alvelo Rivera, executive director of the Latino Union of Chicago.
“These volunteers take different shifts at the different corner hiring sites, and they’re there in case there’s any potential ICE presence,” Rivera said. “The quicker that we can have witnesses in place, the quicker we can mobilize rapid response networks and community support for folks, and the harder ICE’s job is going to be.”
Legal support is also being provided to undocumented residents of the city. Organizations like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights have created “Know your rights when encountering ICE” documents.
Berto Aguayo, who received his law degree from Northwestern University in 2024, was one of nearly 30 attorneys who attended last week’s Mexican Independence Day Parade in Little Village to provide legal support.
“I think it allowed us to just make community members feel comfortable attending the parade and celebrating it,” Aguayo said. “I think the unity and community that people saw gave people a sense of safety in the face of these attacks. And so that meant that more people came out.”
Aguayo, who has organized for immigration rights since the first Trump presidency, said fear has intensified in Chicago’s Latino communities, leading some workers to stay home.
He emphasized a widespread and connected approach to ICE resistance that combines legal support with other forms of activism.
“It’s really an all-hands-on-deck approach that’s necessary to build community and to counteract these attacks because it’s not going to be just one strategy, one tool,” Aguayo said. “We have to use all of the tools that are the traditions of peaceful protests that we have in this country.”
The Little Village Community Council hosts “Know Your Rights” workshops and gives out orange whistles every Wednesday at the Arch at 3100 W. 26th St.
