Protests that sprang up in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids and prompted President Donald Trump to mobilize National Guard troops and Marines have begun to spread across the country, including in Chicago Tuesday, where DuSable Lake Shore Drive was closed in the middle of rush hour after a rally starting at Federal Plaza led hundreds to march down city roads.
“I’m a product of immigrant parents and family,” one marcher told NBC Chicago. “A lot more people should come out and support. Our country was built off immigrants, like our whole economy is off immigrants.”
The protest in Chicago remained mostly peaceful, though some clashes were seen between demonstrators and and police. While NBC Chicago reporters saw several people detained during the protest, Chicago police have not provided more details, only saying that specific number of arrests and any injuries would be reported later Wednesday.
In one frightening moment, a red sedan appeared to speed through a crowd of protesters near the busy intersection of Monroe and State in the Loop, with police officers seen chasing after the vehicle on foot. Chicago fire officials said they had no reported transports from the scene.
Nationally, activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington. It wasn’t immediately clear if more protests or rallies were planned for Illinois or Chicago.
The Trump administration has said it would continue its program of raids and deportations despite the protests.
“ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted Tuesday on social media.
Groups have criticized the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics on immigration enforcement, including a travel ban and arrests last week at a Chicago office used for Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-ins.
‘It’s no longer safe’
The tactics have led to fear and unrest among many immigrants, including in suburban Waukegan, where one family that has been in the U.S. for nearly 30 years made the difficult choice to self-deport.
Two parents, who asked not to be identified by NBC Chicago, are both in the country without legal status. Their two children, both born in the U.S., are citizens, but will soon move to Mexico, away from the only life they have ever known.
“We’ve been here for 27 years,” the family’s mother, who asked not to be identified, told Telemundo Chicago. “This is all we know. But now, it’s no longer safe. Not for us. Not for our kids.”
Both of the couple’s children are now saying goodbye to their school and their friends.
“I don’t want to go away,” one of the children told Telemundo Chicago. “My friends are here. I’ve known them since I was little.”
The mother said the family has lived in fear for years, both of things like traffic stops or even Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE agents knocking on their door, With stricter policies and fewer job opportunities, that fear has spurred the family to take action.
“I have to think of my kids,” the mother said. “They are my priority. If I can’t feed them or keep a roof over their heads, then we have to go.”
For now, the family is in the process of choosing a new place to live with the help of a nonprofit. But the impact of that decision is already reshaping their children’s world.
“It’s not like we want to go. But at least we won’t be afraid every time someone knocks on the door,” one of the children told Telemundo Chicago.
The family hopes to relocate to Mexico before the beginning of the new school year.
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