Federal immigration enforcement escalated in Chicago the week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4, including agents using chemical irritants outside a Home Depot in Humboldt Park and handcuffing Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) at a local hospital.
The crackdown has spanned from the Northwest Side to South Side neighborhoods like South Shore and suburban Broadview, where the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility is located.
The Department of Homeland Security has claimed as many as 900 people have been detained in recent weeks in Chicago, striking fear among immigrant communities citywide.
In response, local elected officials at the city, county, state and federal levels are vowing to push back, while community groups are mobilizing neighbors to step up in support.
At an Oct. 3 press conference, elected officials from City Hall to Congress, shared what they’re doing to fight back—and how neighbors can support immigrant communities right now.
City of Chicago
Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce de León, speaking on behalf of Mayor Brandon Johnson, said the city is drawing on every tool available to resist ICE.
“We are using all of the powers that our city has, including litigation, filing lawsuits [and] joining lawsuits that are fighting against the many unconstitutional actions that our federal government is taking,” Ponce de León said.
She pointed to recent two executive orders, including one reaffirming Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, ensuring that Chicago police will not cooperate or assist ICE.
Johnson also signed the Protecting Chicago executive order, which states police cannot be masked or unidentifiable, states the city is using FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests to obtain more consistent and accurate information from the Department of Homeland Security, Ponce de León said.
The order also strengthens Chicago’s commitment to constitutional policing and strengthening peoples’ First Amendment rights to protest against ICE, she said.
The city also launched the Protecting Chicago initiative, which created the Chicago.gov/protect web page where people can find information on these executive orders and Know Your Rights materials and resources for immigrants, Ponce de León said.
“And we will continue to partner with the City Council to strengthen our Welcoming City Ordinance and other ordinances that protect us,” Ponce de León said.
Within the City Council, Alds. Anthony Quezada (35th Ward) and Ald. Fuentes introduced an ordinance that would expand the Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s oversight of any potential collaboration between the Chicago Police Department and ICE.
“We are making an appeal to every single person in the city of Chicago and across our nation to stand up. We need you in this moment,” Quezada said.
Cook County
Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez, who represents the 8th District, said the county board just passed a resolution demanding notice from Cook County officials whenever ICE enters a county building or is on county property.
The board is also calling on Chief Judge Timothy Evans to sign an administrative order banning civil arrests in courthouses.
“We’re also working to close any loopholes with third party data brokers so that our information—not just immigrants’ but all Cook County residents’—our information is safe and is not being shared with this fascist administration,” Vasquez said.
Illinois State government
State Sen. Graciela Guzmán (20th District) said communities across her district have been organizing every day in the face of ICE, and state lawmakers need to meet that urgency.
“So what I’m committing to in veto session and in 2026 is an agenda that takes into account—it’s why we’re going to be working to keep ICE out of our courts, out of our health care institutions, child care institutions [and] higher education,” Guzmán said. “And it’s why the Trust Act, which is what makes our state a sanctuary state, why we’re going to fortify it.”
Federal government
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, who represents Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District, said she is working with colleagues to advance federal legislation curbing ICE.
One bill, the No Secret Police Act, would require law enforcement officers and agents of the Department of Homeland Security engaged in border security or immigration enforcement to display or wear certain insignia and provide identification.
“Every single member of Congress—every Democrat should be on this bill,” Ramirez said. “So colleagues of mine, if you’re not on the bill, get on the bill.”
She added she is co-sponsoring the Sensitive Locations Act, which would prohibit ICE agents from showing up at hospitals, schools and communities of faith.
“We need every single Democrat on that bill,” Ramirez said.
But the fight against ICE is about more than policy and proposals, Ramirez said. It’s about standing together in the face of fascism.
“This is what community looks like,” Ramirez said. “You will not break us.”