CHICAGO — Immigrants rights activists are calling on the City of Chicago to do more to help protect undocumented residents from ICE raids.
Community groups are expressing growing frustration after a series of raids targeting day laborers.
Activists say many of those detained were picked up from informal hiring corners, outside Home Depot locations.
A crowd of people gathered Monday outside the Back of the Yards Home Depot to support community organizations like Raise the Floor Alliance and the Latino Union of Chicago, along with elected officials, as they condemned recent ICE raids.
They’re calling it an escalating crisis, impacting immigrant and working communities across Chicago.
Operation Midway Blitz, a large-scale crackdown targeting immigrants in and around Chicago, has resulted in more than 500 arrests, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Raise the Floor Alliance reports that since September 16, ICE has detained about a dozen day laborers at several Home Depot locations throughout the city.
Rapid response teams say the first confirmed raid happened on Sept. 16 at the Home Depot on 87th Street, a well-known hiring site for day laborers.
They describe multiple ICE vehicles blocked entrances and exits, and agents moved in to detain labor workers.
Similar raids followed on Sept. 17, Sept. 25, and Sept. 26, targeting additional locations, including the Home Depot on 47th Street and the Cicero and Armitage area.
Community organizers say these enforcement actions are creating fear and uncertainty throughout Chicago’s immigrant and working communities, calling for urgent action to protect vulnerable workers.
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