Politics
‘Abolish ICE’, ‘Caleb Chilliams’ Among Winners of Annual Snowplow Naming Contest
(WTTW News)
A push to name one of Chicago’s snowplows “Abolish ICE,” clearly linking the humorous pun to efforts to oppose President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, won the city’s annual snowplow naming contest, officials announced.
The other winners of the fourth annual contest were Stephen Coldbert, Pope Frío XIV, The Blizzard of Oz, Svencoolie and Caleb Chilliams, Chicago officials announced.
One snowplow in each of Chicago’s six snow districts will be named in honor of the winners.
Approximately 13,000 entries were submitted in this year’s contest, cast by 39,000 voters, officials said.
“I want to thank the people of Chicago for their unmatched creativity, sense of humor, and civic pride,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “We are grateful and inspired by the record-breaking participation in the contest this year.”
The mayor’s office awarded honorable mention to “Chance the Scraper,” which finished less than 0.3% behind the winners.
Johnson backed the push to name a city snowplow “Abolish ICE.”
Johnson said Trump had used federal immigration agents to “inflict terror and a great deal of harm” on Chicagoans and vowed to use the annual contest as part of his efforts to oppose the president’s efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
“Abolish ICE” has become a rallying cry for those who want to see U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, dismantled.
The rallying cry rose to prominence during the first Trump administration, when federal officials separated parents from their children after they crossed the border without permission, sparking an uproar.
While most of the agents that conducted the aggressive raids that swept Chicago in recent months belonged to the Border Patrol, the slogan has become a catch-all phrase for opposing the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
@BebopOtt, who identified himself to WTTW News as a “devout Chicagoan and Democratic Socialist content creator/gadfly,” spearheaded the effort to use the annual contest to signal widespread opposition to the president and his mass deportation effort.
The winning names join the rest of the named snowplow fleet, which includes Skilling It, Snower Wacker, Salter Payton and CTRL-SALT-DELETE.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
