Chicago protest calls for ICE tactical units to stand down
Immigration advocates held a protest in Chicago Thursday afternoon, calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactical teams sent by the Trump Administration to stand down.
The activists were amassing at Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive at the entrance to Grant Park at 4 p.m. Many held signs calling for immigrant rights and the abolition of ICE, while some wore keffiyehs in solidarity with the pro-Palestinian cause.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights organized the protest, but representatives of other groups — including the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Illinois and the Arab American Action Network — also spoke at the rally.
At 4 p.m., as protesters were gathering, at least one counterprotester came to the scene, prompting angry chants to erupt from the main protest.
A man was seen waving a handwritten sign reading, "ICE is welcome in Chicago," and a flag reading, "Jesus." The man was confronted by anti-ICE protesters. The man yelled, "Freedom of speech!"
He was later seen lying on his back, yelling on the stairs near The Bowman and The Spearman statues at the entrance to Grant Park, as two police supervisors stood by. The man later got up and resumed waving his flag before being escorted away by first responders.
By 4:50 p.m., the protesters were on the march.
The group headed north on Michigan Avenue past the Art Institute of Chicago, chanting in English and Spanish in support of their immigrant neighbors. Uniformed Chicago police officers walked their bicycles alongside the protest march, seeking to ensure no cars entered the route.
Dump trucks were also posted at east-west cross-streets to make sure no vehicles got through.
On Tuesday evening, a car came barreling at protesters downtown. The maroon sedan was seen barreling down the street as the protesters marched at Monroe Street and Wabash Avenue, and one woman said she was struck and left with fractures.
Security was much tighter Thursday than it was for the protest Tuesday. Meanwhile, while protesters Tuesday fanned out all over the Loop and the Near North Side, the organizers of the Thursday protest said they planned to keep it more disciplined.
Limited southbound traffic continued to run on Michigan Avenue downtown.
The group went on to march north across the Chicago River to Trump Tower, in a deliberate effort to send a message to President Trump and his administration. The group then turned back south and headed down State Street.
The group then returned to Michigan Avenue, and dispersed in Grant Park.
ICE tactical teams were one of the catalysts for the protests in Los Angeles that have lasted nearly a week now. City officials confirmed Trump had given these teams 48 hours' notice to be ready to be deployed to Chicago, with mini-tanks and riot gear, to target undocumented immigrants.
Advocates and community leaders said they've already received word as of Thursday morning that ICE agents have been spotted at a Loop Metra and Amtrak station.
They say ICE is not welcome in the city.
Leaders of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights also gathered ahead of the afternoon protest Thursday morning, calling for ICE to stand down and condemning arrests by ICE agents in the South Loop last week.
The city said tactical ICE operations could begin as soon as today. The purpose is to target undocumented immigrants wherever they are, including at work.
Some community leaders are advising people to call if there are any suspected ICE sightings. They spoke passionately about why action is needed amid these widespread roundups.
"Hundreds of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, are on the line," said Antonio Gutierrez, co-founder of Organized Communities Against Deportation. "Our democracy and freedom is on the line."
Saturday, Chicago's "No Kings" protest will be held in Daley Plaza at noon. Thousands are expected to attend.
