Federal Agents Target Chicago Street Vendors, Day Laborers During Trump Administration’s Immigration Blitz
This is part of our series of daily recaps of ICE activity in the Chicago region. Have a tip we should check out? Email newsroom@blockclubchi.org.
CHICAGO — Day laborers, street vendors and construction workers are being increasingly swept up by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s enforcement operations in Chicago — which has purported to be aimed at dangerous criminals.
Since the start of operations Midway Blitz and At Large, federal agents have detained rideshare drivers, gig workers, independent workers and others whose work unfolds out in the open, the Tribune’s Talia Soglin reported. This stands in stark contrast to the absence of large-scale workplace raids in the Chicago area.
Street vendors selling food or goods at city corners, day laborers searching for work and construction workers who work out in the open are among the most vulnerable workers because they lack protections offered by employers, according to the Tribune.
These detentions and reports of random stops of U.S. citizens and immigrants are at odds with the mission of Operation Midway Blitz, which federal officials previously said would “target the worst of the worst criminal” undocumented immigrants.
Click here to read the Tribune’s full story.
Immigration Agents Canvassed Bucktown Friday, Arrested At Least One Person
Immigration agents were in Bucktown for several hours on Friday, patrolling the area’s residential streets and near local schools while detaining at least two people, according to neighbors and reports.
About noon Friday, Bucktown neighbor Allie McMains was in the middle of a class at a neighborhood music school with her 5-month-old daughter when immigration agents detained a man outside on Milwaukee Avenue.
According to photos of the incident, the man was wearing a construction hat and had a safety vest at his feet. There are at least two active construction sites on the 1800 and 1900 blocks of North Milwaukee Avenue, although it’s not clear if the man was employed at either.
CBS2 reported that federal agents detained at least two people.
“We were probably a little bit more than halfway through the class, and the teacher just stopped, and she was like, ‘I have to stop the class right now. Someone’s being taken right outside the window,’” McMains said. “It’s just so alarming. We were just sitting in a class, with the baby, singing songs … and then to see that, it broke everything up.”
Immigration agents were seen throughout West Town, Wicker Park and Bucktown on Friday.
A neighbor, who asked not to be named for fears of retribution from federal agents, said he has seen immigration agents pass through the neighborhood in the past few weeks, especially on Fridays. But this Friday was the first time he had seen them canvass residential streets “looking for people to snatch.”
The neighbor said the agents were also circling area schools in four or five vehicles, most of them without license plates.
After witnessing the man being arrested on Milwaukee Avenue Friday afternoon, McMains said she’s been researching Know Your Rights information and joined others during Friday pickup at a local school to keep an eye out for immigration activity.
“It was really nice to see all the neighbors doing that. And I think we need to come together and figure out what we can do as a community that’s going to help each other,” she said.
Bovino: 3,000 Arrests Made
Trump’s immigration crackdown has led to nearly 3,000 arrests overall, Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino told ABC7 on Monday.
Bovino is due to appear in court Tuesday for questioning as part of a lawsuit over immigration agents using force against journalists and peaceful protesters.
Bovino is accused of violating a federal judge’s order when he tear-gassed a crowd in Little Village during a standoff with neighbors Thursday. In the following days, federal agents used tear gas on three separate occasions in North Side neighborhoods.
Happening In Chicago
- Chicago Dad Of Teen Battling Cancer Is Being Illegally Detained By ICE, Judge Rules: Ruben Torres Maldonado was arrested by ICE one day after his daughter was released from a hospital where she spent 39 days receiving chemotherapy. A judge ordered a bond hearing for Torres Maldonado.
- Feds Tear Gas Northwest Side Street, Disrupting Halloween Parade For Kids: Two neighbors, including a 70-year-old man, were arrested after allegedly interfering in the arrest of another man by immigration agents, neighbors said. Agents also threw a woman, 67, to the ground.
- Hundreds March Against Immigration Actions After Little Village Standoffs: Roughly 200 peaceful demonstrators marched on 26th Street in Little Village to protest recent federal operations in the neighborhood that have seen agents detain, tear-gas and shoot pepper balls at neighbors.
- At least one person was detained Monday morning at a McDonald’s on East 95th Street and South Jeffery Boulevard, according to the Southeast Side Rapid Response team. The group reported immigration agents were near McDonald’s and spotted Monday morning in a black SUV in East Side, at East 105th Street and East Ewing Avenue, according to a social media post.
- The family of an Uber driver and father detained by immigration authorities Friday is raising $12,000 for his legal defense. Diego, whose last name was not shared, “is a kind, hardworking man, a present father for his daughter Alana, and someone who always does things right,” according to the GoFundMe page. He is seeking political asylum and despite showing documents, he was taken by federal agents “without justification,” according to the GoFundMe.
- The family of a construction and landscaping worker detained by immigration authorities Saturday is raising $15,000 to support his family and legal defense, according to his GoFundMe page. Luis Villegas was taken by immigration authorities while “working in construction on a house that was left unfinished,” according to his GoFundMe. He “is a very strong, independent, hardworking man who was always working hard to provide for himself and his family,” according to the GoFundMe.
- A 17-year-old U.S. citizen is raising about $16,000 to reunite with her mother, who was taken by immigration authorities while walking to get groceries on Oct. 16. Jennifer Jimenez and her mother, who was not named, were walking to get groceries when they were stopped by immigration agents, who forced them into a van in an “aggressive and frightening way,” according to the GoFundMe. Jimenez, who is a U.S. citizen was separated from her mother and later released.
- The family of two brothers taken by immigration authorities is raising $10,000 to support their families and legal defense. Eduardo and Manuel were detained by immigration authorities on their way to work on Oct. 11. The brothers have three young children “who still need them in their lives,” and the family is working to keep them together, according to the GoFundMe.
Happening In The Suburbs
- At 7:50 a.m. Monday, one person was detained in the 600 block of North Cuyler Avenue in Oak Park, the West Suburban Action Project’s rapid response team said in a social media alert.
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