Antonio Gutierrez’s undocumented status prevented them from chasing their dream job as an architect—but they didn’t let it deter them from making an impact on the city.
Gutierrez has spent the last 13 years immersed in Chicago’s activist scene, most notably with Organized Communities Against Deportation. As their strategic coordinator, they connect with ICE rapid response groups, resources for Chicago’s undocumented community and more, all while being open about their undocumented status.
Gutierrez didn’t plan on working in activism. They graduated in 2012 from Illinois Institute of Technology—after attending with a full-ride scholarship—with an architecture degree after dreaming of being an architect their whole life. However, due to their immigration status, they couldn’t work in the field.
“At that time, I had just gone through school, and I found myself with no real purpose after graduating,” they said. “I knew that the Immigrant [Youth] Justice League, which a lot of the co-founders of OCAD came from, were already doing some amazing things … I ended up emailing them and I started attending meetings. It was my first introduction to activism and community organizing.”
Growing up, Gutierrez’s family wasn’t engaged with politics outside of wanting immigration reform. Gutierrez got involved with the organization during the second Obama administration—to them, it’s important to highlight how deportations have been carried out by both Democrats and Republicans.
Some of their first experiences with the league were pivoting the work around new DACA regulations, but still working with people getting deported under Obama.
OCAD originally was volunteer only, so Gutierrez needed to get another job during their first two years with the group—including working as a housing organizer in Albany park and non-attorney staff at Beyond Legal Aid. But those years became what they referred to as “community organizing boot camp,” learning to do everything from press releases to civil disobedience actions.
By the time they became a full-time employee as a member of OCAD’s development coordination, they had a strong foundation in community organizing. Since then, it’s been nearly six years.
Recently, OCAD has also been in communication with people in Minneapolis fighting back against ICE raids. They said it’s been amazing to start to create a network beyond state lines.
Gutierrez has also found power through being open about their undocumented status. They said they appreciate OCAD’s value of being by undocumented people for undocumented people.
“From the very beginning, the slogan of ‘Undocumented and Unafraid,’ which we created, has been a component of our organizing work that we do,” they said. “We lived through the first Trump administration and now the second … it is using our stories and our courage so that we can inspire others.”
They said many of the founders, including themselves, are queer. This allowed them to connect with how liberated they felt when they each came out of the closet—similarly to how it felt to “come out of the shadows” as undocumented. They said in order to really get into social justice and social transformation, that risk must be taken.
“I need to do that so that others are also not feeling like they have to stay in the shadows because ultimately, that’s how they win. That’s how our enemy wins,” they said.
Prior to Trump, there was still real pain and trauma being inflicted by deportations in the community, Gutierrez said. Now with ICE’s actions being publicized on an international stage and more people being aware of immigrant issues, they said they’ve witnessed “a lot of love and showing up for each other” from community members.
From neighbors wanting to learn about their rights and how to document ICE to building a Chicago rapid response network spanning 36 neighborhoods, people are actively seeking ways to get involved and protect their community.
“More people want to get trained,” Gutierrez said. “They want to create plans for how to respond if ICE shows up to their school, their workplace, or their worship, like church. That’s been an amazing response.”
People have also approached OCAD about getting involved in other ways, such as donating, providing mutual aid for neighbors and more. They said this has been so powerful to witness in the face of a billion-dollar entity like ICE and has also shown people they can fight back against other aspects of individualism—rent increases, illegal evictions and more.
Gutierrez’s day-to-day includes a mix of bureaucracy and active involvement. From answering hotlines and dispatching teams to finding support and resources for people, every day looks a little different. Although sometimes their role includes more “office work,” they still feel deeply fulfilled by getting to directly make change in the community.
One of their favorite parts of their position is simply helping others feel empowered to believe they can resist a deportation of themselves or a family member. Gutierrez said getting to make such a profound difference to others in those situations makes them glad they didn’t follow their original path to be an architect, and instead ended up with OCAD.
“I think right now, ultimately, we all have a responsibility to pick a side, to either stand in the right path of history or to be complicit in the harm that is being created right now,” they said. “Ultimately, I have to believe—and I truly believe—that we will win. Because we need to believe in that.”