Latino leaders are urging Chicago area residents to peacefully gather “en masse” for upcoming Mexican Independence Day celebrations as President Donald Trump plans to ramp up immigration enforcement and potentially deploy National Guard troops to the city.
Latino Leadership Council members, former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Chicago, and other officials at Daley Plaza Thursday repeatedly emphasized that residents “don’t take the bait” from Trump, suggesting his plan to send troops to Chicago is a ploy to agitate the community.
They also called on residents to remain peaceful during protests that might arise from a National Guard deployment to the city.
Trump reiterated this week that he plans to send guardsmen to Chicago, but he hasn’t said when. Trump has said he wants to combat crime, though a WBEZ analysis found that a three-month summer span saw the fewest murders in Chicago in 60 years.
His administration also has recently indicated an increase in ICE agents targeting immigrants in Chicago. The Associated Press reported that increased immigration enforcement in the area could last 45 days.
“I’m not saying don’t protest. I’m saying, lift your voice, but not your hand … Lift your banner, but not a rock,” Gutiérrez said. “As a matter of fact, bring cold water. Bring sandwiches. Bring peace and harmony to the National Guardsmen that decide to follow this illegal order.”
Some federal agents have already been practicing crowd control with shields and flash-bang grenades at a north suburban naval base.
“They are already training for riots. What riots? The riots that they want to instigate, the riots that they want to perpetuate in the city of Chicago. Do not take the bait,” Gutiérrez said. “Let us show that this is a city where we take care of one another, where we love one another, where we are in peace and in harmony with one another. We don’t need the National Guard.”
The majority of Mexican Independence Day parades and celebrations are still happening, though some will have extra precautions and organizers are closely monitoring potential federal activity. The two-day El Grito festival in Grant Park was postponed because of possible ICE presence, organizers said Thursday.
State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, called the timing of Trump’s idea to send troops around the start of those celebrations “an insult” and a “fear tactic.”
Villa and City Clerk Anna Valencia invited those outside the Latino community to attend celebrations across Chicago and the suburbs “to come cheer us on on the sidelines.”
“We need our allies to show up more than ever,” Valencia said. “If you have the privilege of being a U.S. citizen, you need to join us as not only protesting and speaking out to these injustices, and to understand that this is a distraction from whatever else Trump doesn’t want to talk about.”
Wearing a pin with both the Mexican and American flags, Berto Aguayo, the Latino Leadership Council Policy co-chairman, encouraged residents to highlight their Mexican-American pride.
“We will bring both our Mexican and American flags and carry them with pride and peace as a reminder of our heritage and our rightful place in this nation, that this is our home and that this is our country, too,” Aguayo said.