Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: New “mega master” hearings that began in May are calling up to 185 immigrants to a single small courtroom. Many people, fearful and unable to find a lawyer on short notice, are missing critical court dates.
🗞️ Plus: A small business brings jobs and opportunity to North Lawndale, Chicago’s Baltic basketball connection and more news you need to know.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly cloudy with a high near 81.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Chaotic, crowded Chicago immigration mega court hearings fuel record deportation orders
Reporting by Adriana Cardona-Maguigad and Lauren FitzPatrick
‘Mega’ hearings: At a “mega master” calendar hearing, a massive preliminary procedure instituted by the Trump administration at the end of May, between 100 and 185 people cram into a single immigration judge’s morning call — and as many as 70 into the same hearing if they don’t have lawyers. Not everyone shows up, but before May, these hearings averaged 30 people. It’s not clear how judges are chosen for these assignments.
Chicago spike: Chicago, a large court with a large backlog, stands out with the most mega hearings in June in its courthouse at 55 E. Monroe, and with the most scheduled at the same time, according to immigration scholar Austin Kocher. He pinpointed three mornings in June with hearings scheduled simultaneously before four judges, in addition to normal court business. Anecdotally, July has shown no signs of letting off the gas.
Key context: Attorneys and ex-judges say mega master hearings are the latest tool for the Trump administration to deport large numbers of people, this time by causing chaos and confusion in the courts. Advocates say a key purpose is to discourage immigrants from coming to court, smoothing the way toward deportation. It’s a subtler tactic than last year’s headline-grabbing Operation Midway Blitz.
Recent day in court: The benches in courtroom 11, which judges lament as so tiny, barely seat 25. So how could 143 people called for hearings on a July morning fit? By 9:10 a.m., roughly 60 people — mostly asylum seekers without lawyers — had crammed in wall-to-wall. A clerk squeezed through the crowd to collect names and mark late arrivals present. The hearing was dense and complex, with the judge’s jargon punctuated by crying children.
SMALL BUSINESS 📈
Fillmore Linen Service brings jobs, opportunity to North Lawndale
Reporting by Chris Casacchia
‘Best thing’: For most of his life, Ron Vann’s record of offenses has been a red flag for prospective employers. But a couple of years ago, Vann began working at Fillmore Linen Service, a commercial laundry in North Lawndale serving the healthcare industry. He was recently promoted to supervisor, overseeing more than 100 workers. “This is truly one of the best things that ever happened to me,” he said. “I could have been in jail for life. I could have been killed.”
Jobs, opportunity: The Fillmore Linen Service facility makes up a portion of the 168,000-square-foot Fillmore Center. The center and linen service are funded by the Steans Family Foundation to create more opportunities in North Lawndale, where upward mobility has been stifled for generations by disinvestment, high unemployment and poverty rates, and violent crime. The company prioritizes employing formerly incarcerated jobseekers, recovering addicts and others who are largely overlooked by local employers.
ANIMALS 🐳
Take a first look at Shedd Aquarium’s newest beluga whales
Reporting by Stefano Esposito
New neighbors: Just before dawn Tuesday, Acadia, Lillooet, Osiris and Sierra — four beluga whales — arrived at the Shedd Aquarium from the now-shuttered Marineland, a once-popular tourist attraction in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Controversial move: The new arrivals, all females ranging in age from 21 to 27 years old, faced an “imminent risk” of being euthanized, a lawyer for the Canadian marine park said. Canadian animal rights advocates have criticized the move, fearing the aquariums will now breed the whales, leading to more marine mammals in captivity. Shedd officials haven’t ruled out breeding the Marineland belugas at some point, but they say their current focus is on acclimatizing the animals to their new habitat.
WATCH: SHEDD’S NEW WHALES ▶️
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Coping with tariffs: Tariffs imposed last year drove small business owners to take on new debt, tap into retirement savings and raise prices, among other measures, according to a national survey released this week.
- Emmett Till Day: On what would have been Till’s 85th birthday, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Thursday designating July 25 as a statewide day of reflection and remembrance of Emmett and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Till was 14 when he was lynched on a trip to Mississippi in 1955.
- Commission will release conduct report: A Springfield commission voted Thursday to release a state government watchdog’s report on the conduct of disgraced ex-state Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, who resigned earlier this month after a series of sexual harassment allegations.
- Illinois sues Trump over flood relief: Illinois joined more than two dozen states in suing the Trump administration for requiring them to comply with election and immigration conditions as a condition of receiving billions of dollars in federal funding for disasters.
- Blagojevich seeks pass for pal: Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is hoping to parlay his access to President Donald Trump into a moneymaking clemency ask for Frank Kollintzas, a former Indiana city councilman who allegedly fled to Greece after being convicted in a vote-buying scheme.
- CTU-SEIU rift: The Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employees International Union, the second-biggest union representing Chicago Public Schools workers, are backing different candidates for the first elected school board president — widening the rift between staff unions.
- Pepe Vargas retires: After decades of leading the International Latino Cultural Center, executive director and founder Vargas stepped down earlier this month due to health reasons.
CHICAGO’S BALTIC BOND 🇱🇹
How Chicago helped a tiny Baltic country produce star NBA players
Reporting by Stephanie Zimmermann
Lithuania knows ball: In the 1930s, a half-dozen Lithuanian Americans from Chicago played under Lithuania’s flag in the European championship and won, kicking off a basketball craze in the Baltic country that’s still strong today. The trans-Atlantic relationship continues with teens who play for Lemont’s Lituanica Athletic Club and spend summers playing in Vilnius. For part three of our Lithuania-set series, reporter Stephanie Zimmermann traces the Chicago-Lithuania basketball connection
Coming Monday: Check the Morning Edition newsletter for part four, in which Stephanie sits down with former Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, who moved to Chicago as a young man and headed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes regional office.
Full series in print: Find all six parts of our “Chicago’s Baltic Bond” series in Sunday’s and Monday’s print editions.
WEEKEND PLANS 🎉
- Metra’s century celebrations: Historic railcars and interactive exhibits will be showcased this weekend in Pullman to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Metra Electric line.
- Improv in Chicago: This weekend marks the third annual iO Fest, one of the biggest improv events in the world.
- Folk music in protest: Dave Specter, Jason Narducy, Billy Branch and Melody Angel are among nearly a dozen music acts in the lineup for “Songs of Protest, Sounds of Freedom” in Evanston this weekend.
- More things to do July 24-29: The Chinatown Summer Fair, Buddy Guy’s 90th birthday celebration and Wicker Park Fest are among the highlights in the week ahead.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Weekly news recap: The Sun-Times’ Mary Norkol, ABC7’s Ravi Baichwal and journalist Kim Bellware break down the week’s biggest stories.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- What do you want?: Some psychologists say asking for what we want can lead to less depression and greater self esteem. Today’s show asks listeners what they want — and what keeps them from getting it. Callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏒🏀⚾
- Rowe knows: In her 30th season working with the WNBA, ESPN’s Holly Rowe will be the sideline reporter for ABC’s broadcast of the 30th WNBA All-Star Game 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the United Center.
- Finders not keepers: The Sky have a good eye for talent, but holding onto stars is another story, writes Alissa Hirsh.
- Hint at the plate?: These days, when Seiya Suzuki steps to the plate at Wrigley Field, Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” plays. Are the Cubs approaching the “final curtain” with the free-agent-to-be?
- Looking for a home run: The first-place White Sox are keeping the line moving in the season’s second half, and Munetaka Murakami’s just getting warmed up.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: Lou ___ (Grammy winner raised in the Ida B. Wells homes)
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Girls across Chicago become firefighters for a day
Reporting by Cindy Hernandez
For one day, 12-year-old Hannah Cole got to put on a helmet and learn what it’s like to be a Chicago firefighter.
Hannah was among dozens of girls taking part in the Chicago Fire Department’s “Firefighter for a Day” event Thursday at the Quinn Fire Academy, 558 W. De Koven St. The girls learned about fire safety, participated in drills and spent time with members of the CFD.
“I consider them very important heroes,” Hannah said.
The girls came from across the city. Some were there thanks to Girls Inc. of Chicago, a nonprofit, which brought a group ranging from kindergarteners to eighth graders. Other attendees were from CFD’s Camp Courage.
At the event, participants were able to try on bunker gear, run through obstacle courses, practice CPR on dummies and spray water from a firehose. The department also let the girls climb onto a fire truck and jump in the back of an ambulance.
After spending time with firefighters Thursday, many of whom were women, Hannah said she could see herself becoming one.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What aging architecture in the city would you like to see refurbished, and why?
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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