Immigration enforcement operations will continue in Chicago this weekend, says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, even as the city celebrates Halloween and the Day of the Dead and hundreds of thousands of families are expected to be out on the streets.
Earlier this week, Gov. JB Pritzker asked Noem to suspend “Operation Midway Blitz” for the duration of the celebrations. He made the request just days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a raid on the Northwest side that saw federal agents tackle detainees to the ground and deploy tear gas near children who were on their way to a Halloween parade.
Still, Noem denied Pritzker’s request, describing it as “shameful.”
“I think it’s unfortunate that he doesn’t recognize how important the work is that we do to make sure we’re bringing criminals to justice,” she said.
But the families who were caught in the crosshairs of the raid in Old Irving Park last Saturday are still reeling from the shock they experienced. And they dread the idea of finding themselves in the same situation again.
‘Sense of safety shattered’
Anna Ware and her two young boys — Nolan and Lewis — were on their way to the annual Halloween parade in Old Irving Park when they heard whistles. Then, as they turned a corner, they saw ICE agents conducting a raid down the street.
“I was so worried about being on time and getting our costumes on,” Ware said, “that it hadn’t even occurred to me that walking two blocks over was going to be the scariest thing.”
That day, masked federal agents in military gear took three people into custody. One was a construction worker without legal status. Two of them were U.S. citizens. Ware recalls how some neighbors walked toward the chaos to record it. Others took their kids and ran, like she did.
Though the annual Old Irving Park parade normally draws hundreds of families from across the city, organizers canceled it after the raid.
Just days later, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis summoned the man in charge of “Operation Midway Blitz” to her courtroom. She told Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino that a “sense of safety was shattered” that day for the kids who witnessed the incident.
“I can only imagine how terrified they were,” Ellis said in court.
DHS said in a previously that multiple warnings were issued before the tear gas was released at the parade. But residents dispute that.
Ellis warned Bovino that she didn’t want to see any of his agents out and about on Halloween, especially near kids.
That didn’t stop Bovino from putting out a Halloween-themed post on ‘X’ boasting that ICE is “Bringing out all the skeletons in illegal aliens’ closets.”
“No monsters, just superheroes,” Bovino wrote. “No costumes necessary. But maybe we’ll wear masks.”
Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th), whose ward on the Northwest side includes Old Irving Park, is collecting candy donations to drop off to kids who won’t be going out trick-or-treating. She wants them to know that “they’re loved, and they have an entire community right behind them that is willing to protect them.”
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
‘Joy is resistance’
In the meantime, some city leaders have been scrambling to find ways to make Halloween safe for families this year. Among them is Ald. Ruth Cruz, whose ward covers parts of Irving Park, Portage Park and Belmont Cragin.
Cruz worried some parents won’t let their kids leave the house to trick-or-treat. So her team has been collecting candy donations that they’re distributing at schools across the Northwest side. She said they’ll also have volunteers patrolling the streets to help families feel safer.
Cruz wants to remind the kids who won’t be going out trick-or-treating that “they’re loved, and they have an entire community right behind them that is willing to protect them.”
Still, the immigration raids in Chicago are forcing parents to field questions from their children about it.
Nolan recently asked his mom about the people who were detained in Old Irving Park last Saturday.
“Where are they?” he asked.
Ware told him it’s one of the many questions that even adults don’t have answers to right now. But despite the worries, Ware said she’ll take her boys trick-or-treating this Halloween.
“Joy is resistance,” Ware said. “Us being happy and not playing into the fear is what we’re going to keep doing.”
They’ll be dressed as a pigeon, a dragon, and a snack vending machine — the same costumes they wore last Saturday. Though this time they hope the scariest things they see are just witches, werewolves and ghosts.
Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ.