Chicago’s Immigrants Are Being Targeted By ICE. Here’s What You Can Do To Help

From sharing information and shopping immigrant-owned businesses to donating to nonprofits, here are seven ways Chicagoans can help immigrant communities in the city.

by Francia Garcia Hernandez

January 28, 2025

Pastor Paco Amador speaks before dozens gather for a bilingual prayer service titled “A Cry for Mercy!” at New Life Community Church Little Village on Jan. 18, 2025, which was organized in response to looming threats of mass deportation of immigrants in Chicago. Credit: Jesus J. Montero/Block Club Chicago

CHICAGO – Immigrant communities in Chicago are on edge amid the Trump administration’s broad immigration crackdown during his first week in office.

Over the weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched “Operation Safeguard,” with immigration agents descending on Chicago for “enhanced targeted operations” that led to more than 100 arrests in the area Sunday. ICE officials have said they are targeting people with criminal backgrounds. Seven of the people arrested Sunday had criminal warrants, the Sun-Times reported.

Since the inauguration, the Trump administration has launched a series of sweeping immigration orders, including a directive to end birthright citizenship, a push for stricter border protections and the suspension of the refugee admissions program. 

Gov. JB Pritkzer has said ICE raids could target roughly 2,000 people in the city. About 1.7 million immigrants live in the Chicago metro area, according to a Vera Institute of Justice study of census data.

The ICE operations are stoking fear for immigrants in Chicago. Here are seven ways Chicagoans can help the city’s immigrant communities.

Know Your Rights — And Help Others Be Informed

Immigration justice organizations, along with city and local partners, have doubled efforts to educate immigrant communities on their rights when interacting with immigration authorities. Dozens of neighbors and groups have canvassed neighborhoods, distributing flyers and hosting Know Your Rights workshops.

All immigrants have the right to remain silent and can walk away from ICE agents if they are not being arrested or detained.

“The most important things is to remain calm and to be aware of what your rights are,” said Marcela Rodriguez, co-executive director of nonprofit Enlace Chicago, which has distributed Know Your Rights information in Little Village schools.

Chicagoans can attend a workshop and share information with family, friends, neighbors or organize a Know Your Rights workshop. You can sign up for a virtual Know Your Rights training or attend one of the city’s Know Your Rights workshops citywide. For an updated list of events, visit the Office of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights of Chicago’s website.

Visit The Resurrection Project’s website for up-to-date information and resources, including a printable, bilingual know your rights toolkit and an employer guide. The nonprofit also offers workshops for immigrants with a family member detained by ICE or immigrants detained and released by ICE.

Don’t Share Unverified Social Media Reports

A whirlwind of rumors of unverified immigration arrests have circulated on social media, spreading fear and panic among neighbors. It also makes it difficult for advocates to respond to tips by stretching resources thin.

“The worst thing we could do is to repeat information that hasn’t been vetted and theories that haven’t been confirmed,” Rodriguez said, saying it creates a climate of “anxiety and chaos.”

Follow organizations like The Resurrection Project and the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights on social media for verified updates. At 4 p.m. every Friday, the Resurrection Project also hosts a live immigration briefing on Facebook Live.

Call Hotlines To Report ICE Sightings

Local nonprofits The Resurrection Project and the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights have a dedicated hotline to report suspected immigration activity and a helpline for detained immigrants. 

Neighbors can report an ICE raid or arrest through The Resurrection Project’s online portal or call the ICIRR family support hotline at 1-855-435-7693. 

If ICE detains a family member, call the Illinois CIRR family support hotline at 1-855-435-7693. To locate a detained family member, visit the ICE locator online.

Donate To Nonprofits That Serve Immigrants

Immigrant-serving organizations like The Resurrection Project are working around the clock to support and inform immigrant communities, said Mary Johnson, chief development officer for the nonprofit. Others like New Life Center and Onward Neighborhood House continue to provide essential services and programs for longstanding and newly arrived immigrants, said Emilio Araudo, director of development and communications at Onward Neighborhood House.

Here are six organizations you can support through monetary or in-kind donations.

For more information, visit each organization’s website. Visit the Resurrection Project’s website for an extensive list of Chicago organizations providing immigration legal services.

Shop Immigrant-Owned Businesses

Chicago is a city of immigrants, and it’s home to many immigrant-owned businesses.

Amid fears of deportations and subzero temperatures last week, some commercial corridors in immigrant neighborhoods like Little Village’s 26th Street — the second-highest grossing street in the city — were ghost towns, impacting small shops and restaurants.

“Come and support Little Village even if it is not your usual hangout spot,” said Jennifer Aguilar, executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce.

Support local immigrant-owned or immigrant-serving businesses by visiting commercial corridors in neighborhoods like Little Village, Pilsen, Midway, East Side, Chinatown, Uptown, Rogers Park, Albany Park, West Ridge, Ukrainian Village, Humboldt Park, Hermosa and Belmont Cragin, among others.

Volunteer At A Local Nonprofit

Immigrant-serving nonprofits support longtime and newly arrived immigrants across the city.

Neighbors can volunteer to support food distribution programs at New Life Centers and Onward Neighborhood House.

New Life Centers runs food pantries in Little Village and Archer Heights, distributing food to newly arrived families. Both food pantries open multiple days a week and are always in need of volunteers, said Andre Gordillo, senior director New Life Center’s New Vecinos program. You can sign up to volunteer here.

Onward House Food Pantry in Belmont Cragin provides wraparound services for families in Chicago’s Northwest Side, including thousands of newly arrived families. The food pantry needs volunteers from distribution 2-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays for stocking, said Araudo. To volunteer, email food pantry coordinator Philena Priceat [email protected].

Donate To An Immigrant Bond Fund

The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund was formed by a coalition of attorneys to provide immigration bond payment assistance to people detained by ICE in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

In some cases of immigration detentions, a judge can release an immigrant if a bond is paid. Unlike other bonds, immigrants must pay 100 percent of the bond to be released, said Alejandra Oliva, board secretary of the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund.

“An individual bond payment can be extremely high for an individual or for a family and that’s where we come in,” Oliva said.

The nonprofit uses a revolving fund to help families or individuals detained by ICE as long as funds are available. Visit the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund website to donate or obtain immigration bond assistance.

This article was originally published by Block Club Chicago.

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