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Volume 12, Issue 15
Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Serrato
Managing Editor Adam Przybyl
Investigations Editor Jim Daley
Immigration Project Editor Alma Campos
Senior Editors Martha Bayne
Christopher Good
Olivia Stovicek
Sam Stecklow
Alma Campos
Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales
Community Builder Chima Ikoro
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Interim Lead
Visuals Editor Shane Tolentino
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IN CHICAGO
Longtime contributor Alma Campos has stepped into a new role at the Weekly as our new Lead Reporter and Project Editor for immigration coverage. Alma previously served as a senior editor and section editor, roles in which she helped shape the Weekly’s immigration reporting. A bilingual investigative journalist, her work lies at the intersection of immigration and systemic injustice, and has appeared in The Guardian, Univision Chicago, MindSite News, and more. In 2023, Alma received the Sara Boyden Public Service Award and was a finalist for several local journalism awards in 2023 and 2024.
In this expanded role, Alma will lead a year-long reporting initiative spotlighting immigrant communities on the South Side through investigations, cultural reporting, and stories rooted in history and place. The project will highlight not just the systems that shape immigrant lives, but also the art, memory, and everyday resistance that sustain these communities.
“I believe in the power of stories to preserve memory and challenge erasure,” Alma said. “Right now, immigrant communities are under mounting attack, fueled by dangerous myths and targeted aggression. This project is about pushing past the headlines to tell stories that hold systems accountable and affirm the history, creativity, and resilience of immigrants on the South Side.”
The new role is funded by Press Forward Chicago, a philanthropic initiative designed to catalyze local news and uplift community journalism.
The importance of covering immigrant communities could not be more acute at a time when the federal government is deporting American residents—documented or otherwise—without due process, challenging the bedrock Constitutional principle of birthright citizenship, and threatening media outlets with lawsuits for reporting the news. Your support of community journalism is as vital as ever. To help ensure we can keep telling the stories that affect your community, consider subscribing and supporting our mission at southsideweekly.com/donate/.
IN THIS ISSUE
chicago police blew past dnc overtime budget
New data from the Office of Inspector General shows the department overspent its DNC allocation by nearly 60%.
max blaisdell .......................................... 4
advocates want funds for vacant cpd positions reallocated
Nearly $200 million budgeted for unfilled CPD roles should go instead to peacekeepers and mental health programs, activists say.
khalil dennis 5
chicago keeps controversial police promotion list secret
The CPD committed to releasing “merit” promotion lists in 2017. Now, the city claims doing so would be an invasion of privacy.
rachel heimann mercader, sam stecklow, invisible institute 7 diving into the quantum future
What even is a quantum computer and why is there so much interest in creating one in Chicago?
siri chilukuri ........................................ 11
one last sunset at the damen silos
Community members gather for a picnic to bid farewell to the unofficial local landmark.’ alejandro hernandez 13
public meetings report
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.
scott pemberton and documenters .. 15 local organizations step up as undocumented immigrants lose state health coverage
With the elimination of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program July 1, some local organizations say they have taken matters into their own hands.
tara mobasher, lucy baptiste, borderless magazine 16 las organizaciones locales se movilizan ante la pérdida de cobertura sanitaria estatal para los inmigrantes indocumentados
Con la eliminación del programa de Prestaciones Sanitarias para Adultos Inmigrantes el 1 de julio, algunas organizaciones locales dicen haber tomado cartas en el asunto.
tara mobasher, lucy baptiste, borderless magazine ............................ 18 where to find free, low-cost health coverage regardless of status
Thousands of Illinois immigrants have lost health coverage, with the end of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) program July 1. lucy baptiste, tara mobasher, borderless magazine ............................ 19 dónde obtener atención médica gratuita o de baja costo, sin importar su estatus migratorio
Miles de inmigrantes de Illinois se quedaron sin cobertura médica tras el fin, el 1 de julio, del programa Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA). lucy baptiste, tara mobasher, borderless magazine 22
Cover illustration by Nick Merlock Jackson
CPD Blew Past DNC Overtime Budget
New data from the Office of Inspector General shows the department overspent its DNC allocation by nearly 60%.
The Chicago Police Department spent more than $27 million on overtime related to the 2024 Democratic National Convention— nearly $10 million more than it received in federal personnel funding, according to newly published data from the City’s Office of Inspector General.
The figures are part of a new interactive dashboard launched this week by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg, who told the Weekly the tool is designed to improve transparency as the city braces for a projected $1.2 billion budget shortfall in 2026. Since January 2020, police overtime spending has exceeded $1.34 billion.
“In any one of a number of recent years, CPD’s overtime spending alone dwarfs the entire budget of many other city departments combined,” Witzburg said. “That is not necessarily itself a problem. It is just an indicator of the scale.”
The department spent nearly $27.3 million on overtime tied to the four-day Democratic National Convention held in August. Officers worked more than 340,000 hours of overtime related to the DNC, for which they were credited almost 560,000 hours’ worth of pay. Officers are credited 1.5 hours of compensation for each hour of overtime worked.
CPD’s portion of the $75 million in federal security funding for the convention was $17.6 million, which was meant to cover personnel, training, and operations costs. The new data shows overtime spending alone exceeded that amount by nearly 60 percent.
Thousands of protestors staged mostly peaceful marches during the four days of the DNC. The demonstrations were monitored by hundreds of officers in riot gear. A few dozen protesters and at least two journalists were arrested during the convention.
Via email, a CPD spokesperson said that the department initially submitted an overtime budget to the Presidential Nominating Commission that only included
officers policing the DNC events themselves, but later expanded that to include “overtime in the districts to ensure public safety and sufficient staffing to meet operational needs. The overtime staffing in the districts also provided additional manpower in the event of widespread civil unrest as seen in 2020.”
Witzburg declined to weigh in on CPD’s handling of DNC spending specifically. She said the dashboard is meant to help the city better understand what drives the costs behind public safety operations.
“The police department is always going to have unexpected staffing needs. An entity that’s in emergency response will have emergencies,” Witzburg said. “But where overtime spending is of the scale which we have seen in the last few years, it is a sensible question to ask whether there are things we can learn about where we need staffing and how much that might help us better predict personnel costs.”
CPD spent nearly $3 million in 2024 on overtime for homicide investigations, which Mayor Brandon Johnson has repeatedly said are a priority of his administration. Homicide detectives, who are often overburdened with large caseloads that leave them little time to solve cases, rely on overtime to track leads,
secure witness cooperation, and for court appearances. The $3 million is “a small portion of the overtime that the Detective Division expends investigating cases,” the department spokesperson said.
According to WGN, Chicago detectives closed only 23 percent of homicides with arrests in 2024, a figure only slightly better than what the department averaged from 2013 until mid-October of 2023. Police in New York and Los Angeles say their homicide clearance rates top 70 percent, by contrast.
Witzburg did not comment on the disparity in CPD’s spending on protests versus homicides. “Resources are finite, both financial resources and staffing resources, and we ought to be allocating those resources in line with institutional priorities,” she said.
Witzburg added that she hopes the data will give the public and policymakers “a clearer view of when and how much and how often overtime is required, so that we can plan for staffing.”
In 2024, 11,298 CPD officers, or about 97 percent, earned overtime. Total overtime earnings exceeded $270 million that year. The city budgeted $100 million for police overtime in 2025, a figure the department has already blown through. Through June of
this year, the department has spent more than $119 million on overtime.
A few reports have suggested that departments that excessively rely on overtime see higher rates of officer attrition and increased incidents of both excessive force complaints and vehicle crashes. Attrition has plagued CPD, with one in six officers leaving the department between 2016 and 2024, according to a Sun-Times analysis.
“CPD has continued to pursue civilianization to decrease the use of sworn staff for administrative functions,” the department spokesperson said. “CPD is also actively working with other city partners through a special events working group to overhaul the way that special events are approved and billed.”
The city’s 2026 forecast of a $1.2 billion budget shortfall could swell to $1.6 billion if the national economy takes a turn for the worse. CPD’s $2.1 billion budget represents nearly 46 percent of the city’s discretionary spending, and despite a net reduction of 456 budgeted positions in 2025, CPD’s payroll costs are up $77 million from last year.
Johnson has warned that Chicago may need to slash city services or raise revenue as federal COVID-relief money dries up and potential cuts from Washington loom. Johnson has described the financial pressure facing Chicago as unprecedented, saying this spring that the city must “do more with less.”
“We can’t expect to improve what we can’t measure,” Witzburg said. “The cost of overtime in CPD has historically been one of those things that is both very important and very hard to get a hold of. Our hope is that this tool will better equip us to measure overtime use and its cost, and from there, we as a city will be better positioned to plan successfully.” ¬
Max Blaisdell is a fellow with the Invisible Institute and a staff writer for the Hyde Park Herald.
Advocates Want Funds for Vacant CPD Positions Reallocated
More than $200 million budgeted for unfilled CPD roles should go instead to peacekeepers and mental health programs, activists say.
BY KHALIL DENNIS
Impassioned chants echoed through City Hall at a July 16 press conference that coalesced Black elders and youth organizers around a myriad of efforts, from GoodKids Madcity’s (GKMC) Peacebook Ordinance to 20th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor’s Senior Bill of Rights.
Wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Public Health is Public Safety” and carrying giant cardboard cut-outs of slushie cups and machines, members of the newly launched Public Health & Safety Campaign (PHS), which includes 125 advocacy organizations, urged City Council redistribute $200 million currently budgeted for vacant police positions ,which they called a “slush fund,” to public safety and health programs.
“We cannot police our way out of public safety,” Taylor said during the press conference. “Why not spend that budget on public health? Why not spend that budget on peacekeepers? Why not spend that money on health services for everybody in our communities?”
According to a PHS analysis, CPD’s 2025 budget included more than $200 million for 1,155 positions that are vacant. $170 million of that amount was allocated by Mayor Johnson for entirely new CPD positions—despite the department losing 950 police officers who had been hired after 2016, according to a Sun-Times analysis. Ahead of a $1 billion estimated deficit for Chicago’s 2026 budget year, PHS Campaign Director Ishan Daya said that the city should ensure that every dollar allocated towards public safety be used for programs such as non-police crisis response and youth peacekeepers, instead of on socalled ghost cops.
Daya said the city can’t afford CPD’s
vacancy and overtime budget, citing a 2020 Inspector General report citing CPD abuse of overtime controls following a 2017 audit.
Organizers have proposed allocating at least $200 million towards initiatives including:
• $100 million towards scaling 24/7 non-police, crisis response teams citywide and re-opening public mental health centers
• $52 million for protecting Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) funding
• $22 million for preserving and expanding Peacebook youth violence prevention jobs and programming
• $25 million for purchasing 20 new ambulance trucks in addition to increased staffing
More than 180 community members attended Mayor Johnson’s citywide budget roundtables with PHS advocating for a shift in the police budget towards more forms of public safety.
“In the [former mayor] Rahm Emanuel years, we saw cuts to public institutions, mental health services, public schools, and privatization around a number of things that communities rely on. At the same time, the CPD budget grew,” said Asha RansbySporn, an advisor to the PHS campaign. Ranspy-Sporn noted that the 2014 We Charge Genocide campaign brought heightened visibility to CPD’s operational budget.
Geoffrey Cubbage, a senior policy analyst at the Better Government Association (BGA), said he believes unfilled vacancies deserve a closer look than what the city has historically provided, citing
“The police department has more than three times as many vacancies as any other department, and still has not completed a long-overdue workforce allocation study mandated by both the department’s consent decree and city ordinance,” Cubbage said. “Long-term CPD vacancies should absolutely be identified, eliminated, and reassigned to more active priorities.”
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward), a retired CPD Sgt. who chairs the Council’s Committee on Police and Fire, said CPD is understaffed. “We've not operated at full strength in quite a while,” he said. “We have always had vacancies that needed to be filled because police officers are retiring every day, and our goal should be to keep up with attrition.”
According to a 2025 report by the Office of Inspector General, 13,742—or 40 percent—of the city’s budgeted positions are in the police department.
Talieferro maintains that there are “some alternative means to policing” and said he is interested in initiatives that reduce violence in communities.
Johnson has committed millions to violence prevention and reinvestment in public health. But the police budget remains a crucial line-item, Ransby-Sporn said. “What we have yet to see is a shift in resources away from the police department,” she said. That’s critical “in a moment when Trump’s federal government is making massive cuts to public goods.”
Trump cut $11.4 billion in COVIDrelated grants for state and local health departments, adding to mounting concerns for already cash-strapped public health operations. In March, the CDPH
Photo by Paul Goyette
announced twenty-two contracts and more than 100 staff positions were affected, according to CBS. With over 80 percent of the CDPH and Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) funded by federal grants, depletion of COVID-19 grant funds and ongoing staffing crises threaten disease prevention measures and community health facilities, advocates say.
“Two-thirds of the hospitals in the city of Chicago rely on Medicaid funding that just got cut to operate,” Ransby-Sporn said. “We're talking about massive cuts that are going to impact all of us.”
Organizers are also worried cuts to federal and state funding could disproportionately impact CDPH programs for epidemiology, HIV/STI testing, and behavioral and mental health services. PHS organizers say they want the city to preserve CDPH funding while expanding mental health centers and 24-hour, non-police crisis response services instead of relying on more police officers.
A December 2024 study by the University of Chicago Health Lab on the effectiveness of the non-police Crisis
Assistance Response and Engagement Program (CARE) showed positive indications, citing a reduction in patient distress and a 37 percent increase in successful CARE team responses. CARE operational hours are limited to weekdays during the day; advocates say expanding those hours would allow mental health crises that occur after hours to get the service.
Daya stressed that using CPD’s overtime budget to reinvest in round-theclock mental health services is a moral and financial investment in public safety, remarking “we don't have a non-police crisis response to answer the 40 percent of calls that are mental health related and that don't need to be responded to by CPD.”
The campaign seeks to re-open mental health clinics in each ward for “a fraction of the cost of police overtime,” Daya said.
GKMC youth organizer and North Lawndale native Reynia Jackson facilitates intercommunal peace circles across seven wards with the highest rates of gun violence. Impacted by gun violence herself, Jackson maintains that Peacekeepers should fill the
Programs & Events at the Chicago Park District! Register
violence prevention role that CPD cannot.
Peacekeepers are “trained in restorative justice, to de-escalate situations and prevent situations [from getting] out of hand before it even happens,” Jackson said. “They have the lived experiences of gun violence, incarceration, [and] have been in traumatized communities, so they're able to connect with people on a different level.”
Calls for the implementation of the Peacebook Ordinance have stalled in recent years, but 26th Ward Ald. Jessie Fuentes remains steadfast in its importance. “When we focus on youth employment, mental health, [and] violence prevention, that is what gets to the root causes of the issues that we face. That's what makes the city safer,” she said.
An April 2025 Youth Impact report issued by the Mayor’s Office touted significant improvements to youth engagement through GKMC’s Peacekeeper Pilot Program employing 100 youth in public safety trainings for their respective communities. Jackson said that these efforts must continue growing.
“We need to see the full implementation
of the Peacebook, and we need to use the vacancies to do that,” Jackson said. “We have to turn away a 1,000 of these young people that are willing to work [...] because we don't have the proper funding.”
The City Council will receive a preliminary budget recommendation in the fall. PHS Campaign Organizer Jimmy Rodgers said the coalition will continue petitioning the Mayor’s Office to include their demands in the initial proposal.
“We know that the biggest impact is on Black Chicagoans,” Rodger said. “That’s why we’re proud to have champions like Alderwoman Taylor, and why our outreach efforts are concentrating on the South and West sides–where our proposals have been shown to have enormous common-sense resonance.” ¬
Khalil Dennis (they/she) is a Black trans emerging journalist, poet, and graphic artist originally from central Georgia. They are a freelance reporter and 2024 City Bureau Reporting Fellow Alumni residing on the West Side.
Chicago Keeps Controversial Police Promotion List Secret
The CPD committed to releasing “merit” promotion lists in 2017. Now, the city claims doing so would be an invasion of privacy.
BY RACHEL HEIMANN MERCADER, SAM STECKLOW, INVISIBLE INSTITUTE
This story was copublished by Invisible Institute and the Chicago Reader. Illustration by Injustice Watch.
JohnPoulos’s past might have prevented him from being hired by the Chicago Police Department—if he had been honest about it. Instead, the lieutenant’s rise through the department’s ranks is emblematic of many of the problems identified by critics of the CPD’s “merit” promotion system.
On his initial application to join CPD, Poulos omitted past arrests he’d gotten expunged. (He later claimed to internal investigators he did not believe the law required him to disclose expunged information.) An early misconduct investigation could have led to his termination in the early 2000s, if bureaucratic errors hadn’t kept it on ice for more than a decade. And he fatally shot two young Black men—in 2013, three years before his promotion to sergeant, and in 2016, shortly after he was promoted. In both cases, the city paid around $1 million related to police misconduct lawsuits.
Any of those individually could have been enough to derail his career. Instead, Poulos kept rising. Records released in 2017 showed that Poulos didn’t make sergeant by passing a competitive exam—the way that most Chicago police supervisors rise through the ranks. Instead, he was a beneficiary of the CPD’s long-controversial “merit” promotion system, in which superiors nominate subordinates for a process intended to recognize the merit of officers who are not suited to a standardized
testing environment.
After the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) harshly criticized the program in its excoriating 2017 report on CPD misconduct and excessive force—directly referencing Poulos’s promotion—then Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson took the unprecedented step of publicly releasing the names of officers who had received meritbased promotions since 2006, along with their nominators.
Johnson hailed the move as a commitment to transparency, pushing back against accusations that the process was shrouded in secrecy. “If I were trying to hide
something, if we weren’t being transparent, we wouldn’t even be talking about this,” he said, “because you wouldn’t know who the merit selections were.”
Johnson pledged to continue disclosing this information moving forward. Police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi doubled down on the commitment, telling the Chicago Sun-Times, “CPD will be identifying those individuals who received a meritbased promotion—not just for sergeant but for all going forward. And we will identify who the nominating members are.”
But the brief window of transparency has slammed shut. After revelations about
his 2016 merit promotion to sergeant prompted greater scrutiny, Poulos’s 2024 promotion to lieutenant happened in the dark—because the city now claims that the release of records about the manner of an officer’s promotion would be an invasion of their privacy, a claim rejected by public records and civil rights attorneys. The public has no way of knowing whether he received his most recent promotion through the exam or the merit system.
“I see this as a departure in law and practice and policy,” said University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman. “The public has a legitimate interest in knowing which officers are promoted and how that process works.”
The 2017 list released by Johnson remains the only one available to the public. In February, Invisible Institute sued the city over its denial of records about merit promotions, which are now held by the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration (OPSA), created in 2019 under then mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“[O]PSA, the Chicago Police Department, and the [Mayor Brandon] Johnson Administration have a terrible track record of improperly denying Freedom of Information Act requests on important issues of police accountability,” said Matt Topic, a partner at Loevy & Loevy who is representing Invisible Institute in its lawsuit. “Unfortunately, it often takes lawsuits like this to force them to comply with basic transparency obligations.”
In response, the city has written in court documents that it “denies” Invisible Institute’s claim that “the public has a
John Poulos climbed through the department despite a long history of misconduct and deception. Credit: Verónica Martinez / Injustice Watch
right to understand the process by which government employees armed by the state are promoted.” The lawsuit is ongoing.
For most Chicago cops looking to advance through the ranks, the path is through an exam that is notoriously difficult and inconsistently offered—sometimes only once or twice per decade—that has inspired multiple cheating scandals over the years. For a select few, the alternative path is to be nominated by a department higher-up for the CPD’s merit process.
After being nominated, such officers are reviewed by a Merit Board made up of additional CPD insiders, including five deputy chiefs and the head of the OPSA, who serves as a nonvoting secretary. For most of the program’s history, members of the Merit Board couldn’t also nominate officers. That changed under Superintendent Johnson, who only required that they recuse themselves from votes on their nominees.
The city’s human resources and OPSA offices then compile a nomination packet on each nominee, including their complimentary histories and limited disciplinary information from recent years, and the Merit Board interviews some nominees, according to city policies. Merit Board members vote up or down on each nominee and send their results to the superintendent—who has ultimate decision-making power. The superintendent can even select officers for merit promotions who weren’t put forward by the board at all.
The merit promotion system was implemented in the mid-1990s as a way to increase the representation of women and officers of color in leadership positions within the CPD, a department whose upper ranks have historically been dominated by white men. It followed two decades of litigation, including from groups representing Black officers and the DOJ as well as white officers, asserting discrimination in CPD hiring and promotional practices.
“In consideration of the historical adverse impact that had been observed on minority candidates, the merit process was intended to identify CPD personnel who did not necessarily score well on tests and yet exhibited supervisory potential,” wrote consultants hired to study the CPD’s promotional system in 2020.
In reality, according to the DOJ, many officers—“minority and non-minority alike”—experienced the merit system as a “reward for cronyism rather than a recognition of excellence.” They tied the system to the city’s longtime traditions of promotions based on “the ‘clout’ you hold in the Department or ‘who you know.’” Officers told federal investigators they felt that some merit promotees were “unqualified to serve as leaders” and had been promoted “merely because those individuals have connections up the chain of command.”
This echoed complaints made by officials with the city’s rank-and-file and sergeants unions as well as the African American Police League, which represented the interests of many Black officers, as far back as 1995. After Matt Rodriguez, the superintendent at the time, merit promoted 13 sergeants to lieutenant that year, a spurned sergeant sued and won a state appellate court decision blocking the promotions from going forward.
Among those up for a promotion was Peter Dignan, who was at the time facing litigation in a series of cases stemming from his alleged torture of several later-exonerated men as part of his work under notorious Commander Jon Burge. Rodriguez said he was “not aware” of the allegations against Dignan when merit promoting him.
Then mayor Richard M. Daley forged ahead with a plan for merit promotions
large number of low-level arrests and seek out tactical work as a means of promotion is beneficial to the city. Tactical teams have faced renewed criticism in recent years for their aggressive policing tactics.
He suggested that the CPD could reward community engagement and other efforts in its merit promotions as a way to encourage more officers to seek out roles and activities besides increased arrests and serving on tactical teams. “Sometimes having alternative response teams through a community engagement may be better, right?” he said. “My guess is that community engagement is not really prized by police officers” when considering promotions.
despite the appellate court decision— again despite litigation and complaints from police unions—a few years later in 1998. Controversy would continue; the sergeants union filed its own Freedom of Information Act litigation seeking a merit promotion list in 2003. (Long-standing dissatisfaction on the part of rank-and-file officers with the city’s merit promotion processes notwithstanding, John Catanzara, the president of the city’s main police union, told an Invisible Institute reporter to “F-off!” in response to a request for comment for this story.)
In a 2024 study, Taeho Kim, an economics professor at the University of Toronto, looked at the effects of the CPD’s infrequently scheduled promotional exams—and how those limited opportunities push officers to seek alternatives, such as merit promotions. He found that officers who were denied the opportunity to take the promotional exam responded by conducting a higher proportion of low-level arrests and seeking roles on controversial tactical teams, likely with the goal of impressing supervisors who can nominate them for merit promotions.
Kim said in an interview that, while it can be interpreted as a positive sign that officers don’t respond to limited promotional opportunities by simply loafing on the job, it raises serious questions about whether encouraging officers to conduct a
The merit system also has limits as a means of diversifying CPD leadership, its intended goal. Compared with current statistics that show white men make up 30 percent of the department, 40 percent of merit promotees between 2006 and 2016 were white men, according to a 2016 SunTimes analysis of department data.
One of those men was John Poulos. That was despite Poulos having lied on his application to join the CPD about previous arrests that had been expunged—a violation of CPD policy that was ultimately ignored by officials, Injustice Watch reported. Then, while on an extended medical leave between 2002 and 2010, he operated a tavern in violation of CPD policies that prohibit cops from owning businesses that sell liquor, the Chicago Tribune reported.
After he disclosed his partial ownership of the tavern while applying for medical benefits, the CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA) opened an investigation in 2004 and ultimately recommended that he be fired in 2007. That recommendation was overturned by Debra Kirby, the head of BIA at the time. Kirby instead pushed for a 60-day suspension over the objections of two other officials who accused Poulos of “a pattern of deception,” according to reporting by Injustice Watch. Because he was still on medical leave, neither disciplinary action was implemented, and he returned to work in 2010 with the case still technically pending.
Back on the force, Poulos continued to rack up disciplinary actions and uses of deadly force. In 2013, he was reprimanded by the department for accidentally firing his weapon during an arrest. Then, four months after the reprimand, he fatally shot a man
Merit promotions were intended to benefit people not suited to standardized tests, but the DOJ concluded the system was frequently “a reward for cronyism.” Credit: Josh Druding for Chicago Reader
while off duty. While returning home from his family’s tavern, Poulos thought he saw Rickey Rozelle, a 28-year-old Black man, trying to break into a building. He fatally shot Rozelle in the back with a revolver owned by his brother after he claimed he thought Rozelle’s chrome wristwatch was a gun. He was cleared by criminal and administrative investigations, but the city eventually settled with Rozelle’s sister for $950,000.
In February 2016, about a year after he was cleared in the Rozelle shooting, Poulos received a merit promotion to sergeant. His promotion took place as protests rocked the city following the November 2015 release of video of the murder of Laquan McDonald by officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014.
The timing was not lost on Futterman, the law professor who has worked on several significant civil rights lawsuits against the CPD, including one of the three that resulted in court-ordered reforms to the department. “This is a time when CPD has drawn international attention for covering up officer Jason Van Dyke’s murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. It’s mindblowing that CPD leaders thought that it would be a good idea to promote another white male officer who had shot an unarmed Black man in the back,” he said. “Poulos not just was, but is, kind of the poster child for all that an officer could do without being subject to any accountability. You can lie . . . even shoot unarmed people in the back, and then not only escape discipline, but be rewarded—get promoted—for doing so.”
As with all merit promotees, Poulos was first nominated by a department higher-up. In his case, it was Kevin Navarro, his well-connected commander at the Seventh District in Englewood. Navarro would shortly afterward rise to the rank of first deputy, a post in which he notably received day-or-night phone calls from then mayor Rahm Emanuel on crime issues in the city. City spokespeople later claimed to the Tribune that Navarro would not have known about the previous disciplinary case at the time.
During this time, John Escalante was serving as interim superintendent, after Emanuel fired Garry McCarthy. Escalante, who is now executive director of public safety for Elmhurst University in the west suburbs, did not respond to a request for
comment.
Nine months after he received a merit promotion, Poulos shot and killed Kajuan Raye, a Black 19-year-old, during a foot chase in West Englewood. Poulos claimed that Raye pointed a gun at him, but an expert retained by Poulos’s attorneys in a civil rights lawsuit brought by Raye’s mother eventually acknowledged the gun had remained in Raye’s jacket pocket.
Johnson stripped Poulos of his police powers immediately after the shooting, pointing to “concerns about this incident.”
That was when BIA rediscovered the old, unresolved case over his tavern ownership and expunged arrests. CPD leadership moved to fire him in July 2017, 16 years after he first deceived the department and six months after DOJ investigators called out his merit promotion as a failure of CPD’s internal systems.
But it was too late. The delays meant the case wouldn’t hold up. Poulos stayed on the force, and the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) cleared him of wrongdoing in the Raye shooting. (A jury awarded Raye’s family $1 million in a civil lawsuit in 2020.)
A few months after his tavern ownership disciplinary case was dropped by the Chicago Police Board in 2018, he was assigned to the CPD office that certifies eligibility for what are known as U visas, which are issued to immigrants who
police board president Lori Lightfoot in the wake of Laquan McDonald video release, the merit process continued apace after 2017. That’s because the CPD’s hiring plan, created in 2014, set out that up to 30 percent of each round of sergeants and lieutenants, and 20 percent of detectives, can be merit promotions. Still, the plan leaves the decision of whether to accept a merit promotion nomination entirely in the hands of the superintendent.
In 2019, then interim superintendent Charlie Beck used his discretion to stop making merit promotions altogether, aligning with calls for reform as well as longstanding requests by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, which represents rankand-file Chicago cops. As mayor, Lightfoot stood by Beck’s decision, calling the merit system “illegitimate.”
are the victim of a crime. There, he and another sergeant with a history of excessive force allegations were responsible for a disproportionate number of U visa denials, according to Injustice Watch, potentially in violation of federal standards and state law, and prompting an investigation by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
In the face of this string of misconduct and bad press, Poulos, who graduated from law school while on medical leave, ran for a Cook County judgeship in 2024. “This background that adversely goes against [his] fundamental credibility should not be hanging over a judge under any circumstances,” former Chicago inspector general Joe Ferguson told Injustice Watch.
Poulos, who did not respond to a voice mail seeking comment for this story, came in fourth of four candidates, but he remains on the police force despite the long-documented allegations concerning his credibility and has never been listed as one of the officers that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office discloses credibility questions about to defense attorneys.
In fact, even before his losing judicial campaign, he was quietly promoted to lieutenant.
Despite the harsh criticism from the DOJ, in addition to critiques from Ferguson and the Police Accountability Task Force chaired by then
Around the same time, Lightfoot’s administration shuffled some responsibilities of the CPD, including hiring and promotions, into the new Office of Public Safety Administration, with the stated goal of “streamlining” services to save money. (An analysis by the Better Government Association’s policy team two years in found that it ended up costing the city more than it saved—a trend that’s continued.)
Just months later, in April 2020, Beck’s move under Lightfoot to legitimize the CPD’s promotions would begin to unravel as Lightfoot’s handpicked choice for the permanent superintendent position, former Dallas police chief David Brown, said during his confirmation hearing before the City Council that he would be “aggressively pursuing a replacement for merit” promotions. In July 2021, Brown officially reinstated the program.
A list obtained by WGN-TV that September showed controversial supervisors continued to have an outsize role in nominating merit promotees. Those supervisors included Anthony Escamilla, a former commander whom Beck demoted to captain for directing on-duty officers to babysit his son, who has a disability. (Escamilla claimed at the time that his teenage son was volunteering in the community policing department.)
Current superintendent Larry Snelling supports merit promotions, telling the Sun-Times in 2023, “To be totally honest,
The city of Chicago is refusing to release a list of officers who received controversial "merit" promotions. Credit: Josh Druding for Chicago Reader
I would like to see the entire promotional process changed to take merit into account for promotion and not just a test. This will give everybody a great opportunity of being promoted.”
Snelling received two merit promotions between 2010 and 2019, contributing to his meteoric rise through the ranks.
Though no official merit promotion lists have been released by the city in eight years, one quasi news source has published a steady stream of leaked lists every few months: an anonymous blog called Second City Cop.
The lists published by the site show a continuation of old trends. Zachary Rubald was promoted to sergeant in 2019, according to the blog. In 2008, Rubald killed Martinez Winford, a Black 16-year-old, in a shooting. Winford’s mother alleged in a lawsuit that the shooting “could not” have happened as Rubald, who shot Winford while seated in his squad car, claimed it did. A jury sided in favor of the city and officers in 2016.
After his merit promotion, Rubald was among roughly 50 officers COPA recommended for suspension or termination for alleged misconduct during the nationwide protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. He was suspended for one month.
In one incident caught on video, the recently promoted Rubald stood by as officer Richard Bankus beat a protester with a baton, appearing to strike the person in the head, as Invisible Institute and the Reader reported. Baton strikes to the head are considered deadly force and are prohibited except in rare circumstances. Rubald never intervened or reported the misconduct, which investigators later found to be “inexcusable, particularly for someone of the sergeant’s rank, position, and authority.”
Another officer who received a merit promotion in recent years, according to the lists published by Second City Cop, is Baneond Chinchilla, who CBS Chicago reported in 2020 provided incomplete search warrant affidavits to Cook County judges, including one resulting in a 2018 no-knock raid at the wrong house that had a family with small children. A civil case arising from the incident settled for $91,500, city records show. Chinchilla was promoted to sergeant last year, the published records show.
The person who responded to the
listed email address for the Second City Cop blog said they believe the lists that the photos in the blog posts are legitimate, writing, “the department publishes the lists in the Administrative Fax Network divided up into a ‘merit’ list and a ‘rank order’ list. readers send them to us and we post them. it’s a department generated publication, so the veracity isn’t in question and the secrecy isn’t the list itself.
“what is in question and what has never been addressed is ‘what qualifications are needed [to] place someone on the ‘merit’ list. one might think that in order to qualify for the ‘merit’ procedure, the department would post the necessary or desirable traits the promotional board would look for in a candidate, so as to get the best and brightest and give everyone a fair shot,” the person continued. “someone thinking that would be—to put it politely—a moron.”
OPSA executive director Era Patterson declined to confirm whether Rubald and Chinchilla were merit promotions, citing the pending FOIA litigation.
Her predecessor, interim executive director Frank Lindbloom, previously said when asked for comment that the agency is “certainly not attempting to hinder
transparency efforts,” but he emphasized its obligation to protect employee privacy and maintain the integrity of the hiring process, including the CPD’s merit system, by limiting what is shared publicly. This is perhaps in keeping with city officials’ wavering attitudes toward transparency around the merit promotion process since the beginning; even as they released the one list in 2017, CPD officials seemed halfhearted in their step toward transparency and refused to release two prior merit promotion lists because they came before Johnson’s decision.
Lindbloom added he was “not aware of any instance whereby PSA or CPD has released lists associated with CPD’s merit process.” When asked in a followup whether he was aware that then superintendent Johnson released a merit list in 2017, Lindbloom did not respond.
Patterson, a former chief of staff to Cook County public defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. who was named as Lindbloom’s permanent replacement in June, declined to clarify Lindbloom’s inaccurate statements, citing the pending FOIA lawsuit.
But the consultants hired by the city to evaluate the CPD’s promotional process
have weighed in on another question: whether merit promotions should exist at all. In a December 2023 report obtained by Invisible Institute and the Reader under state public records laws—which hasn’t been previously published or reported on—the firm DCI recommended that the city “discontinue the merit process” or at least make substantial changes, including reducing the proportion of officers promoted to “a maximum of 10-20%,” allowing officers to nominate themselves rather than requiring nomination from a supervisor, and setting “some minimum level of performance” to be considered for a merit promotion. The consultants cited the “overwhelmingly negative perception of this process throughout the CPD.”
In an undated planning document released by the city law department, city officials wrote that they were “ready to start” implementing that recommendation— without specifying whether they intend to discontinue or change the program—and that it should take one to two years.
Requests for comment sent to the CPD and city law department about whether they intend to discontinue or significantly change the merit program went ignored. ¬
Diving Into the Quantum Future
A group of startups, universities, and government agencies are planning to build the world’s biggest quantum computer on the Southeast Side. But what even is a quantum computer and why is there so much interest in creating one?
BY SIRI CHILUKURI
Last week, another startup announced its plans to join the growing group of businesses, universities, and government agencies at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP). The facility, a multibillion-dollar, 128-acre research campus that is being built on the former site of the U.S. Steel South Works on the Southeast Side, is backed by Gov. JB Pritzker but has drawn criticism from neighbors who have accused the site selection process of lacking transparency and community involvement.
As companies begin what seems like the next space race to develop increasingly complex quantum computers, the promise of quantum computing could mean an unprecedented future, and profits, for whoever can say use quantum computing to develop new forms of data encryption, or determine how to model molecules to develop drugs for diseases long thought to be incurable.
IQMP would bring together local universities such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign, along with the U.S. Department of Defense, and private companies like PsiQuantum, IBM, and Infleqtion, announced that they were the latest to join in at IQMP. The two start-ups will receive almost $100 million in state tax breaks, according to Capitol News Illinois. They, along with state leaders, hope to build what they call a National Quantum Algorithm Center, to put Illinois at the forefront of quantum computing.
Quantum computers, which potential IQMP tenants hope to develop
for widespread use, function totally differently than conventional computers, down to their most basic units.
A digital computer uses bits, or binary digits, as its most basic building blocks. They can either be a 1 or a 0. These bits are combined in circuits to store data long-term, add and multiply numbers, and send messages across networks,
creating the computers and internet we know. They allow us to browse Instagram on our phones and send emails. Every computer works like this. Quantum computers are different.
“If you think about a bit as being like a light switch, for example, it could be 1 or 0, it could be on or off—but it’s not both at the same time,” said Daniel
Slichter, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. A theoretical quantum light switch, conversely, could exist in three states: on, off, or both on and off at the same time—a state quantum physicists call a “superposition.” “Things that obey the rules of quantum mechanics…the
Illustration by Nick Merlock Jackson
rules that we’re used to in our sort of everyday experience, some of them don’t apply,” Slichter said.
The quantum world functions very differently than how we understand the world to function, and quantum computers reflect that. A quantum computer at a fundamental level doesn’t work with just 1 or 0, but rather in units called quantum bits, or qubits, that aren’t just confined to either/or, but can encapsulate quantum superpositions like 1 and 0, or 1+0, or 10 percent of 0, or 90 percent of 1.
Slichter said that because quantum computers work in totally unprecedented ways, “there are certain ways in which you can use these weird quantum properties to be able to perform calculations that you would never be able to do with a regular, conventional computer.”
By tapping into the weirdness of the quantum world, scientists hope to design computers that can perform far more calculations—and do so much faster— than conventional computers can.
“There are problems that we seem to be able to solve, at least in theory, faster than we could do with any classical computer,” said Santiago Nunez-Corrales, Quantum Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Urbana-Champaign. “Faster doesn't mean that the computer is going to run more quickly on every single step. It means that the algorithms you write allow you to move things that would take very, very long times into a fraction of the time.”
How does one build a quantum computer? That’s part of what researchers are still trying to determine.
“There’s lots of different ways that people are trying to make [a computer] that behaves in this quantum mechanical way, and each one has strengths and weaknesses,” Slichter said.
Slichter’s lab uses atoms trapped in a vacuum chamber. PsiQuantum is trying to build a computer using particles of light. Other labs use special circuits cooled to temperatures lower than those in deep space.
Light-based quantum computers work through a series of lasers, mirrors, and light detectors. One of the advantages of light-based quantum computers is
that they don’t need to be cooled down to extremely low temperatures. Another is that there is more existing research on these types of quantum computers. Jiuzhang, a photon-based quantum computer developed by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China, performed a calculation impossible for a classical computer in 2020.
Building the largest quantum computer in the U.S., like the one that PsiQuantum is attempting to do, is itself an experiment—a potentially very lucrative one.
“If you’re going to invent a wholly new computer that’ll do things that you could never do before, it’s interesting for technology that you can do that, but also it can be, you know, worth a lot of money to be able to do something new,” said John Martinis, former head of Google’s Quantum Computing lab and co-founder of Qolab, a quantum computing startup.
But metrics that are handpicked by the entities doing the research only give you one part of the equation. For example, PsiQuantum’s metric of building the largest US-based quantum computing facility doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the best or the most efficient, according to Slichter. Quantum computers, like regular computers, have varying metrics by which they function and Slichter says that the massive size of a quantum computer like the one PsiQuantum is building doesn’t necessarily mean it will work better than others.
PsiQuantum did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Richard Feynman, the Nobel prize-winning physicist who developed the field of quantum electrodynamics, gave talks at MIT in the early 1980s in which he proposed the idea of a quantum computer. It would be decades before anything similar to what Feynman proposed could be constructed in reality.
It’s only in the last two decades that scientists have brought those theories into labs and started to prove them through experimentation, usually at publicly funded research institutions. But in the past decade, companies such as Google, IBM, Amazon Web Services
and myriad start-ups are investing in quantum computers with the promise that a greater understanding of quantum computing could yield huge profits. What remains in question is whether any of these lab experiments are bringing us closer to a functional quantum computer that can solve useful problems.
“There's a lot of excitement. The excitement comes from a very legitimate, sort of scientific place,” said Bill Fefferman, an associate professor in the computer science department at University of Chicago. “But it also comes separately from a lot of hype that's created by a lot of different actors that, in many cases, is not justified.”
The promise of the facility being built on the Southeast Side isn’t just that the quantum computer that could be developed there will succeed when others have failed. It’s that the problems this computer will solve can push the field further and reach critical benchmarks that people have only theorized about, such as using a quantum computer to break encryption.
Currently, encrypted messages, like those sent on WhatsApp or Signal, work by turning text into something indecipherable using a key (in this context, a very long number). While classical computers could figure out the right key by running through all the possibilities, they would need between thousands to hundreds of billions of years to do so. In theory, quantum computers could find the key—and therefore decipher your message—in a fraction of that time, some hours or even minutes. That could threaten everything from your bank passwords to your phone security. But this use for quantum computers is not going to happen anytime soon, according to Fefferman, who specializes in quantum computing and encryption.
“Eventually we have a sufficiently large-scale quantum computer, and again, the timeline is a bit uncertain, but we will certainly be able to use that quantum computer to break into essentially every type of encryption that's used on the internet today,” Fefferman said. “On the other hand, that's not a near term thing.”
The selection of Chicago isn’t a coincidence.
“Within Chicago and also within the greater Illinois area, there’s a bunch of people working on multiple different kinds of quantum computing technologies like this,” Slichter said. “It’s actually a rich area of research.”
Research universities such the University of Chicago, Northwestern, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and labs such as FermiLab and Argonne National Laboratory, are all invested in the promise of quantum computing.
Martinis described the influx of private and public dollars into the quest to create a functional quantum computer as a “space race”.
“The company, the country that first has access to this will obviously, have some advantages that are a little bit unforeseen,” Martinis said. These advantages could include the ability to break encryption, for example, or to use quantum sensing to detect stealth bombers. Martinis described the U.S. and China as major players in the race to develop a functional quantum computer.
There are also civilian applications for quantum computers.
“We don’t know all the things that [quantum computers] will be eventually useful for,” Slichter said, adding that there are some things scientists are hopeful about. “One is, let's say you want to design a molecule. Maybe it’s a protein that helps cure some disease. Maybe it’s a molecule that helps you make fertilizer with less energy input. Anytime you're trying to design something that’s a molecule or a protein, you're dealing with a system that is inherently quantum mechanical.”
One thing about quantum computing that is clear is how uncertain its future is at the moment.
“There's a lot of promise that is not yet realized and there are many different horses in this race, and PsiQuantum is one of them,” he said. “But it's not clear that there’s a winner and a loser right now.” ¬
Siri Chilukuri is a freelance journalist based in Chicago who reports on climate change, culture, politics, and labor. She also is a team lead at City Bureau where she helps emerging journalists sharpen their reporting and engagement skills.
One Last Sunset at the Damen Silos
Community members gather for a picnic to bid farewell to the unofficial local landmark.
BY ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ
It was on a picturesque Sunday afternoon when I found myself walking along the Canalport River Walk—a stretch of path nestled at the blurred edge where Pilsen, McKinley Park, and Bridgeport meet. It was my first time there. A striking duality revealed itself: A serene strip of greenery found along the trail, and across the Chicago River, the industrial ruins of construction sites and long-abandoned warehouses decorated in graffiti. As I approached closer to my destination, the intoxicating aroma of spray paint began to fill my nostrils followed by the nostalgic tunes of classic ’90s and 2000s hip-hop.
The X on the map I was following was none other than the historic Damen Silos. This weekend would be its last days standing, and in order to send off the South Side landmark properly, I pulled up to a community picnic happening right across from it on the river walk. As the DJ continued playing boom bap’s greatest hits, graffiti artists (also known as writers) tagged plastic wrap wrapped between trees and wooden boards placed along the guardrail lining the river. A cannabis consumption station for dabs offered free hits, and skaters practiced tricks further along the trail. I found myself smoking a joint on the grassy knoll, quietly observing everything around me in this makeshift island of misfit toys.
All I could think was, “Yeah… this is exactly my kind of vibe.”
This gathering was curated by local creatives, namely graffiti artist Asheru and the sister duo behind SRVD Floral Lounge, AnaKaren and Odalys “The Flower Dealer” Ramirez.
“We’re not your typical flower shop,” AnaKaren said. “We’ve started hosting and putting together events and other things through the flower shop, even outside of the [shop], and this is one of them… we actually resonate with the Damen Silos. It’s something that we see through our commute often, it’s something on our side of the city.”
According to Odalys, the goal of this gathering was not just meant to give nearby neighbors a final chance to say goodbye, but to also invite anyone who has never been to the Silos or the Canalport River Walk and experience it for the very first time. To make the event
culture.
“I express myself in these [flower] arrangements by incorporating different elements such as spray paint and glitter,” she says. “I went [into the Silos] as a young adult and creative. I was curious, and wanted to see the art inside of there back
“There’s a lot of history with the Damen Silos, from the grain company to it being abandoned, and [becoming] a home of a lot of graffiti artists.” - AnaKaren Ramirez
more immersive, different stations were set up for people to engage in, such as the aforementioned dab station, a slap making station for people to write tags on USPS stickers, and a designated skateboarding area set up by Prosper Skateshop. The SRVD Floral Lounge station provided flowers for people to spray paint. As true products of their environments, the sisters enjoy bringing their community together and incorporating elements that were commonly seen in their upbringing, hence their natural appreciation for graffiti
in 2016. I wanted to scope around even though I knew it was dangerous. I did this as a young adult, and wouldn’t do it now as a grown adult.”
The Damen Silos today serves as one of Chicago’s last remnants of a once-strong agrarian economy. Previously owned by the state government, it was abandoned as the city’s industrialization expanded, and has been empty for close to fifty years. As time passed, the Silos became an alternative third space for writers looking to push the envelope of hard-to-reach, yet highly
visible places they can leave their tags and for urban explorers searching for their next thrill. It also became a filming location for numerous local music videos—most notably “GWM” featuring Vic Mensa and Towkio of the once-up-and-coming collective SaveMoney, and most recently, “Blue Collar Anthem” by The Blue Collar Rockstars–and even the occasional summer blockbuster.
“I’ll put it like this, I met so many delinquents here just growing up in the neighborhood,” said community member and artist Evan Siebert. “It’s always been a spot graffiti writers can come to, you can look at the layers and layers of graffiti, old and new. It’s been a staple for delinquents and movie sets. You know Transformers 3 was filmed here.”
While Siebert says he’s never tagged the Silos himself, as a teenager, he climbed up to the top of one of them. According to him, the site was a proving ground for young outcasts.
“It’s like one of those spots to go to as a teenager to feel like you’re really cool. You come here, you trespass, you climb, it’s like a rebellious test of courage, going to the Silos,” Siebert said. “It’s not particularly hard to get into, it’s not hard to find either. I feel like it was definitely a gateway. I like exploring places I’m not supposed to be at, and there’s like a whole subculture of kids who do that.”
Even some of the country’s most renowned muralists and writers honed their skills within the confines of the Damen Silos. One such writer is Amuse126, whose work is internationally recognized and can be found anywhere from alleyways to art galleries.
“They’re part of the graffiti community or far beyond, everybody kind of had this [as] a location that gets called out, ‘Oh, have you seen those buildings off Damen?’” he recalls. “Seeing that off the expressway in such main streets like Ashland and Damen and the Orange line… as a Northside kid, this was always like a destination for me. First time I painted them was in 2004.”
Demolition of the Damen Silos began on July 14, 2025. The Chicago skyline can be seen in the background.
Photo by Alejandro Hernández
Amuse126 also explains how urban legends about the Silos traveled within the graffiti community. Rumors of graffiti crews setting up booby traps or sabotaging access points in the building to prevent anyone from painting over their tags only added to the allure of the Silos. Despite these internal conflicts among crews, he feels that the Silos’ true value came from the fact that they helped normalize graffiti for the average person.
“It just added to the landscape, and helped normalize [graffiti] being a part of the landscape,” he said. “I think the best significance from this building was the fact that it just let people see it, and the graffiti just naturally added to it throughout the years, making it feel more rebellious and exclusive. It will be missed, but it will be cool to move on from it. It’s been here long
What is next for the Damen Silos?
That still remains up in the air for the land’s current proprietor, a controversial asphalt company known as MAT Limited that purchased the property in 2023 for $6.5 million from the state in an auction.
In 2022, members of the McKinley Park environmental group Neighbors for Environmental Justice protested the sale of the Silos to the company. They advocated the Silos be converted into some type of concert venue or festival grounds similar to the Salt Shed. There are also concerns from neighbors about the air pollution that can occur as a result of the demolition.
In 2020, a coal plant was demolished via explosives and blanketed the Little Village
neighborhood in a dust cloud. This was something on the top of the mind for the event organizers of the picnic.
“While planning this, we were actually very concerned about that, as many community members were,” AnaKaren said. “We were keeping up with the schedule and the plan of how they were going to take them down. It looks like they learned from their previous experiences that explosives weren’t something that they’re trying to do this time around. With the machinery that they’ve been using, it looks like they’re tearing them down [mechanically] and also incorporating water to keep the dust from spreading.”
As the sun set on the Silos to close the day and the final chapter of Chicago’s agrarian past, people gathered together to admire the view for one last time. From children to seniors, South Siders and North
Siders, delinquents and even a nearby cop, all were able to enjoy a peaceful Sunday evening picnic celebrating an art form and place that has long been ostracized by mainstream society. For AnaKaren, the goal of the event was accomplished.
“There’s a lot of history with the Damen Silos, from the grain company to it being abandoned, and [becoming] a home of a lot of graffiti artists. I’ve also heard that people raved in there.” ¬
Alejandro Hernández is a freelance writer born and raised in Chicago. Growing up in the city gave him the sense of perspective that can be found in his work. With combined experience doing broadcast and written journalism, Alejandro has been actively documenting the stories of everyday Chicagoans for over seven years.
A SRVD Floral Lounge picnic installation was placed in front of the Damen Silos. Photo by Alejandro Hernández
USPS mail labels are commonly used to create graffiti slaps. Picnic attendees were able to create their own.
Photo by Alejandro Hernández
Picnic goers tagged a piece of plywood in commemoration of the many years the Damen Silos served as a canvas for graffiti artists. Photo by Alejandro Hernández
Skateboarders joined the celebration. Skateboard culture was also prominent in the Damen Silos. Photo by Alejandro Hernández
People of all ages attended the farewell to the Silos and said goodbye through community. Photo by Alejandro Hernández
Community members gathered on the River Walk across the Damen Silos for one last picnic with the Silos as the background. Photo by Alejandro Hernández
Public Meetings Report
A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.
BY SCOTT PEMBERTON AND DOCUMENTERS
June 12
At a meeting of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors Chairman Kirk Dillard emphasized that the RTA was created fifty-one years ago to do “what’s best for the riders.” Urgency and transparency are important, he said, and called for creation of an Ad Hoc Committee to deal with the looming “fiscal cliff,” asking each of the six northeastern counties the Authority oversees to submit names for the committee. He said that the system completed 361 million rides last year and contributed about $2.5 billion to the state’s economy. The system faces a $770 million shortfall—the fiscal cliff—in 2026, which could mean staff and service reductions. (More recently, on July 23, Governor J.B. Pritzker expressed confidence that a solution would be found, but cited obstacles in addition to funding, such as a proposed restructuring of the area’s transit system and the possible expansion of services.) Other items discussed at the meeting were a two-year budget plan and a five-year capital plan. In-person public commenters included Derrick James, a senior policy advocate with the Environmental Law & Policy Center, who said that “the data and the expertise” on solutions to the shortfall are available but “here we are.”
June 26
During its approximately thirty-minute meeting the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Directors considered an agenda of sixty items, deferring some and moving others to the consent agenda. A consent agenda streamlines approvals of routine items or those generally agreed upon, allowing time for more substantive or complex issues. Some commission members raised concerns about past violations by a contractor that handles hazardous waste for MWRD. Those violations were related to paperwork and not to contamination of waterways. Among the items the Commissioners considered, for example, were a contract for HVAC work for more than $24 million and advertising for a contractor to furnish and deliver ferric chloride at a cost of more than $22 million. An observer described the meeting in a report as “by far the most efficient” they have “taken notes on … [and] was stunned it went so smoothly.” The observer was documenting the meeting for City Bureau’s Documenters program and attributed the efficiency to “substantial prep work done by the Commissioners and their staff.” No public commenters were present. Under new business Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis wished President Kari K. Steele a happy birthday, Commissioner Sharon Waller reported on her recent attendance at the Industrial Water Solutions Conference in Ohio, Commissioner Eira L. Corral Sepúlveda wished everyone a happy Pride Month, noting the upcoming Pride Parade and her office’s plans to sponsor the Park Ride Water & Wellness Health Fair in July. Vice President Patricia Theresa Flynn announced that the Evergreen Park Independence Day Parade has been scheduled and that her office will participate in Plastic Free July. President Steele congratulated Commissioner Brady-Davis on her acceptance to a leadership program at the Harvard Business School during July.
July 8
Five redevelopment projects or funding for redevelopments were approved at a meeting of the Chicago Community Development Commission, two unanimously, two with one no vote, and one with an abstention. The makeup of the redevelopments and requirements for approval varied. A project at 1717 and 1769 West Pershing Avenue must ensure that 85 percent of its Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) units are occupied for ten years. The City-owned land is to be sold to a developer for $10, which is a markdown of $6.65 million from estimated market value. A $5 million grant from the city went to After School Matters to renovate a former commercial space and school into a 3600-square-foot youth center in the Cabrini Green neighborhood. The renovation’s estimated $26 million cost is to be funded with a combination of public and private money. A $13 million project from The Renaissance Collaborative is to provide an intergenerational village serving seniors, young people, and those in need of transitional housing. The Department of Housing was granted authority to negotiate for the development of 1539 North Pulaski as part of the redevelopment in the Pulaski corridor. The developer would be the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation. The Department of Housing was also granted authority to negotiate redevelopment with Homan Square Apartments Phase IV for properties in the 900 block of South Central Avenue, the 3600 block of West Polk Street, and at 921 South Lawndale Avenue.
July 9
At its meeting, the Chicago City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way approved a resolution calling on the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to establish a pilot program to safely drop off and pick up Chicago teenagers attending public events in the West Side’s 29th Ward. “Young community leaders … appeared before this committee last month and very articulately spoke about the need … to access resources and events within their own communities,” said Council Member Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward), who had previously introduced the resolution. Providing opportunities for youth “to go to these events in lieu of a lot of youth traveling downtown together” is a related goal, he explained. The resolution directs the RTA, the Chicago Transit Authority, and PACE to create a one-year pilot program to supply safe transportation for minors in the 29th Ward. Libraries, parks, schools, and other public spaces would be designated as pick-up and drop-off spots for public events within the ward. Taliaferro told the committee members he hoped the program can later be expanded to other wards. Several members voiced support for this idea.
July 11
At their meeting members of the 10th Police District Council—North Lawndale/ Little Village reviewed the circumstances surrounding an alleged June 26 shooting of two unarmed Black teenagers by a now-former lifeguard. Fifty-five-year-old Charles Leto has been charged with the murder of fifteen-year-old Marjay Dotson and the attempted murder of Jeremy Herred, fourteen, over a disagreement involving a bicycle near the Douglass Park pool. Chicago Park District rules prohibit employees from carrying or storing firearms at district facilities. Before being hired in June 2023, Leto passed security checks by the Illinois State Police and the FBI. State police also provided a RAP Back (Record of Arrest and Prosecution Back) that, according to a Park District report, “provides updated records for any convictions that occur after an employee’s initial background check.” However, according to the park district’s internal review of the shootings, “Leto shot two of his neighbor’s dogs, killing one” in February 2023. That incident “did not result in an arrest or criminal charges,” the review stated, and so did not appear in any of the three background checks. At the time, it did lead to a SWAT standoff with Leto and lockdowns of local schools. The park district said it plans to add permanent security at Douglass Park and stronger disciplinary tracking for staff. Community members have expressed frustration over Leto’s hiring by the district and its response to the shooting. Dotson’s family asked for community support at Leto’s court hearing on July 16.
This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.
illustration by Holley Appold/South Side Weekly
Local Organizations Step Up as Undocumented Immigrants Lose State Health Coverage
With the elimination of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program July 1, some local organizations say they have taken matters into their own hands.
BY TARA MOBASHER, LUCY BAPTISTE, BORDERLESS MAGAZINE
This story was originally published by Borderless Magazine. Visit their website and sign up for their newsletter at BorderlessMag.org.
Since 2022, Rosa has been receiving treatment for diabetes. It’s the first time she’s received consistent medical care.
Recently, Rosa, who asked to remain anonymous because of her legal status, has been visiting an optometrist every three months as her eyesight worsened from diabetes.
She is one of over 30,000 undocumented immigrants that lost health coverage as Illinois ended its Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) program July 1.
For the past three years, the program provided healthcare to immigrants without legal status between the ages of 42 and 64, covering doctor and hospital care, lab tests, therapy and mental health services. Advocates and
immigrants said the program was critical for the community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But earlier this year, Gov. JB Pritzker proposed cutting the program as part of his $55.2 billion budget, later approved by state legislators. The decision garnered frustration and pushback, but failed to generate enough support to keep the program alive.
Now, Rosa is navigating a new reality without health insurance.
“I feel a little disappointed,” she said. “There’s nothing we can really do.”
In February, Pritzker announced his decision to cut the program in his State of the State address. He noted that nationwide federal budget cuts were the reason to cut the program. The state was estimated to pay more than $400 million annually for the HBIA program.
“But if there’s one thing I’ve learned as governor—there are no magic bean fixes,” Pritzker said. “Each year, there’s some difficulty that requires us to work
Brand new One Bedroom Apartments for Low Income Seniors
hard to overcome it.”
In 2020, Illinois launched Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors (HBIS), providing coverage to adults 65 and older regardless of status. In 2021, the state created HBIA, covering immigrant adults between the ages of 55 and 64. The state expanded the program to immigrants between the ages of 42 and 64 the following year.
In a study released by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Initiative, commissioned by the Healthy Illinois Campaign, researchers said the expansion of health coverage for immigrant adults and seniors:
• increased early disease detection, and led to reduced long-term
medical costs;
• improved health outcomes; and • helped people access health care that others already received.
• Studies also show that while the HBIA program benefited immigrants, it also strengthened the hospital system by providing them with funds for resources and services.
Aresha Martinez-Cardoso, lead researcher on a University of Chicago project looking into HBIA’s impacts on Illinois immigrants and hospitals, led a team in investigating how the implementation of HBIA impacted Illinois immigrants and hospitals. They found that after HBIA, Illinois
Researcher Aresha Martinez-Cardoso from the Embodying Race(ism) Lab at the University of Chicago, found that the state saved millions a year since the HBIA and HBIS programs were implemented.
Photo by Max Herman/Borderless Magazine
hospitals experienced a reduction in uncompensated care—healthcare costs hospitals don’t cover for patients or insurers.
The state has saved $65 million a year since the start of HBIA and HBIS programs, according to the Embodying Race(ism) Lab at UChicago. MartinezCardoso noted that HBIA proved to be a more efficient way of providing healthcare.
“Without these dollars, it’s kind of up in the air, not only for the individual people who are enrolled in the program, but also for the entire healthcare system that relies on state funding and state backing,” she said.
She said that while immigrant communities seek safety from immigration enforcement, they also need security in the healthcare system— something she said state representatives have failed to provide.
“When we throw out one marginalized group, who comes next is my concern,” Martinez-Cardoso said.
The Healthy Illinois Campaign—a coalition of legislators, advocates and community groups that fought to save the program—argued the cuts would lead to “preventable emergencies and rising costs.”
Emily Cole, lead organizer with Community Organizing and Family Issues, a grassroots organization that worked closely with the Healthy Illinois Campaign, said both organizations have been working towards finding healthcare alternatives for the uninsured.
“For the last few months, people have been feeling a lot of uncertainty, fear and anxiety about having access to the healthcare coverage that they need,” Cole said.
But Cole hopes that HBIA can return and receive more support. She said legislators made a pressurized decision to vote to eliminate HBIA after facing a similar uncertainty about what the Trump administration’s federal cuts would look like.
“Legislators in some ways were not prepared for the speed at which the Trump administration was going to move at, and the amount of things that he was doing that the administration would
Alongside Know Your Rights workshops centered around health, organizations like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights have been hosting and attending meetings to better understand what resources are available to the uninsured undocumented population.
These trainings center around giving more information on hospital financial assistance, free clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, emergency Medicaid and more.
“It is to make sure people know where to go if they are seeking treatment somewhere, knowing that they have the right to ask for treatment, helping them apply for hospital assistance to make sure that the treatment continues,” senior director of health policy at ICIRR, Luvia Quiñones, said.
target,” she said. “I think we were caught in a difficult moment.”
Meanwhile, some senators and longtime supporters of HBIA and HBIS expressed disappointment for the new budget cuts, but vowed to continue fighting for healthcare access.
Sen. Graciela Guzmán moved HBIA and HBIS forward as campaign director for the Healthy Illinois Campaign. Through these efforts, Illinois became the first state in the nation to offer healthcare coverage to low-income immigrant adults regardless of status.
“The wins we were able to get in those respective years to cover folks through HBIS and HBIA were incredibly important,” she said. “A lot of people were not only seen for the contributions they have made to the state of Illinois, but that they could have what they need.”
Now, she says, legislators felt pressured to rollback their commitments to immigrant healthcare because of federal government threats. Still, she hopes to advocate for immigrants, on the state and federal level.
“The pressure of the boilerplate conditions that are being cooked by the threats the federal government levied certainly are a factor,” she said. “Our state’s inability to have more revenue to
be able to cover essential human needs is the other story.”
For Bertha García Silva, who has lived in Chicago for over 30 years, HBIA was her first opportunity to get health insurance. She received coverage for a year to receive treatment for her cancer treatment and therapy, but now she’s left scrambling.
“I don’t have the resources to see a doctor,” she said. “Now that they’ve taken away my card, I don’t have a way to go to my follow-up appointments.”
García urged authorities not to take away healthcare benefits, saying the costs are too high for herself and others in this situation.
“We need help,” she said. “We live paycheck to paycheck, paying rent and bills . . . We don’t have the means to buy medicine, pay for appointments or get what we need. We just can’t make it work.”
As thousands lost HBIA coverage on June 30, HBIS is currently paused for new enrollments, but previously enrolled seniors in the program will continue to receive coverage.
In response, local organizations are stepping up to help noncitizens access free to low-cost health services through resource guides.
ICIRR also offers a state-funded program called the Immigrant Family Resource Program that targets individuals from limited English-speaking families and are not fully aware of how to navigate the medical system. The 44 statewide organizations help inform individuals of their options and how to access public benefits and services.
“There are still a lot of other individuals that are uninsured,” Quiñones said. “They’re facing medical debt, and they also have very few resources. So from our end, we continue to advocate for health coverage for all.”
For Rosa, the disappointment still lingers.
“Many people just let it go because they don’t want to deal with going back and forth,” she said. “I fought for it, because I have diabetes and I need the care.” ¬
Tara Mobasher is a Northwestern Medill Reporting fellow at Borderless Magazine. Email Tara at tara@borderlessmag.org.
Lucy Baptiste is a Borderless reporting intern. She can be reached at lucy@ borderlessmag.org.
Sen. Graciela Guzmán helped originally move the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) program forward as campaign director for the Healthy Illinois Campaign.
Photo by Max Herman/Borderless Magazine
Las organizaciones locales se movilizan ante la pérdida de cobertura sanitaria estatal para los inmigrantes indocumentados
Con la eliminación del programa de bPrestaciones Sanitarias para Adultos Inmigrantes el 1 de julio, algunas organizaciones locales dicen haber tomado cartas en el asunto.
POR TARA MOBASHER, LUCY BAPTISTE, BORDERLESS MAGAZINE
Este artículo fue publicado originalmente por Borderless Magazine. Visite el sitio de web y suscríbase a su boletín en BorderlessMag.org.
Desde 2022, Rosa ha estado recibiendo tratamiento para su diabetes. Es la primera vez que ha recibido atención médica de manera constante.
Recientemente, Rosa, que pidió permanecer anónima debido a su estatus legal, se ha estado consultando con un optometrista cada tres meses a medida que su vista empeoraba a causa de la diabetes.
Ella es una de los más de 30.000 inmigrantes indocumentados que perdieron su cobertura médica a medida que Illinois retiró el programa de seguro médico para adultos mayores – conocida como Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults(HBIA) por sus siglas en inglés –el 1 de julio.
Durante los últimos tres años, el programa ha proveido cobertura médica a inmigrantes sin estatus legal entre los 42 y los 64 años, cubriendo atención médica y hospitalaria, las pruebas de laboratorio médico, terapia y los servicios de salud mental. Defensores de inmigrantes afirman que el programa era fundamental para la comunidad, especialmente durante la pandemia de COVID-19.
Pero a principios de este año, el gobernador JB Pritzker propuso recortar el programa como parte de su presupuesto de $55.200 millones, aprobado
posteriormente por los legisladores estatales. La decisión provocó frustración y rechazo, pero no generó suficiente apoyo para mantener el programa.
Ahora, Rosa se enfrenta a una nueva realidad sin cobertura médica.
“Me siento un poco decepcionada”, dijo. “Realmente no podemos hacer nada”.
In febrero, Pritzker anunció su decisión de retirar el programa en su discurso sobre el estado del presupuesto estatal. Señaló que los recortes presupuestarios federales en todo el país eran la razón para eliminar el programa.
Se calcula que el estado paga más de $400 millones anuales por el programa HBIA.
“Pero si hay algo que he aprendido como gobernador es que no hay soluciones mágicas”, dijo Pritzker. “Cada año hay alguna dificultad que nos obliga a trabajar duro para superarlo”.
En 2020, Illinois puso en marcha el seguro médico público para inmigrantes de edad avanzada – conocido como el Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors (HBIS) por sus siglas en inglés – que ofrece cobertura a los adultos mayores de 65 años independientemente de su
estatus migratorio. En 2021, el estado creó HBIA, que cubre a los adultos inmigrantes entre 55 y 64 años. El estado amplió el programa a inmigrantes entre 42 y 64 años de edad el próximo año.
En un estudio publicado por la iniciativa de University of Illinois Chicago llamada Chicago's Great Cities, dirigida por la campaña de Healthy Illinois, investigadores dijeron que la ampliación de cobertura médica para inmigrantes y personas mayores:
• aumentaron la detección precoz de enfermedades y redujeron los gastos médicos a largo plazo;
• mejoraron su salud; y
• ayudó a las personas a acceder a atención médica que otros ya recibían.
Los estudios también demostraron que a medida que el programa HBIA beneficiara a los inmigrantes, también reforzó el sistema de los hospitales al proporcionarles fondos para recursos y servicios.
Aresha Martínez-Cardoso, investigadora principal de un proyecto de la Universidad de Chicago que estudió el impacto del programa HBIA en los inmigrantes en Illinois y los hospitales, dirigió un equipo que descubrió que después de HBIA, los hospitales en Illinois experimentaron una reducción de la atención 'no compensada,' es decir, bajaron los gastos médicos de los hospitales que pacientes o compañias de
La senadora estatal, Graciela Guzmán, ayudó originalmente a impulsar el programa de Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) como directora de campaña de Healthy Illinois Campaign. Foto Max Herman/Borderless Magazine
seguro no pueden cubrir.
El estado ahorro $65 millones al año desde el inicio de los programas HBIA y HBIS,según el Embodying Race(ism) Lab de la Universidad de Chicago. Martínez-Cardoso señaló que HBIA demostró ser una forma más eficiente de proveer atención médica.
“Sin estos fondos, todo queda incierto, no sólo para las personas inscritas en el programa, sino también para todo el sistema médico, que depende de la financiación y el respaldo estatal”, afirmó.
Dijo que, si l inmigrantes buscan seguridad frente a ls políticas migratorias, también necesitan seguridad en el sistema médico, algo que, según ella, los representantes estatales no han proporcionado.
“Cuando echamos a un lado a un grupo marginado, quién viene después es mi preocupación”, dijo MartínezCardoso.
La campaña Healthy Illinois – conocida como Healthy Illinois Campaign por sus siglas en inglés – es una coalición de legisladores, defensores y grupos comunitarios que lucharon por mantener el programa. Ellos afirmaron que los recortes llevarían a “emergencias evitables y un aumento de gastos”.
Emily Cole, organizadora principal de Community Organizing and Family Issues, una organización de base que colaboró con Healthy Illinois Campaign, dijo que ambas organizaciones han estado trabajando en la búsqueda de alternativas para los que quedaron sin cobertura médica.
“Durante los últimos meses, la gente ha sentido mucha incertidumbre, miedo y ansiedad por tener acceso a la asistencia médica que necesitan”, dijo Cole.
Pero Cole espera que HBIA pueda regresar y recibir más apoyo. Dijo que los legisladores tomaron una decisión bajo presión para votar a favor de eliminar HBIA después de enfrentar una incertidumbre similar sobre cómo serían los recortes federales de la administración Trump.
“Los legisladores de alguna manera no estaban preparados para la velocidad a la que la administración Trump iba a moverse, y la cantidad de cosas que estaba haciendo que la administración
apuntaría", dijo. “Creo que nos vimos atrapados en un momento difícil”.
Mientras tanto, algunos senadores y antiguos partidarios de HBIA y HBIS expresaron su decepción por los nuevos recortes presupuestarios, pero prometieron seguir luchando por el acceso a la atención médica.
La senadora estatal, Graciela Guzmán, avanzó HBIA y HBIS como directora de Healthy Illinois Campaign. Gracias a estos esfuerzos, Illinois se convirtió en el primer estado del país en ofrecer cobertura médica a inmigrantes adultos con bajos ingresos, independientemente de su estatus legal.
“Las victorias que pudimos conseguir en esos años respectivos para cubrir a la gente a través de HBIS y HBIA fueron increíblemente importantes”, dijo. “Mucha gente no sólo fue vista por las
“No tengo recursos para ver a un médico”, dijo. “Ahora que me han quitado la tarjeta, no tengo cómo ir a mis citas de seguimiento”.
García instó a las autoridades a no retirar estos beneficios, afirmando que los gastos son muy elevados para ella y otras personas en esta situación.
“Necesitamos ayuda”, afirma. “Vivimos al día, pagando el alquiler y las facturas… No tenemos medios para comprar medicinas, pagar citas o conseguir lo que necesitamos. Simplemente no podemos hacerlo”.
A medida que miles de personas perdieron la cobertura de HBIA el 30 de junio, el HBIS está actualmente en pausa para nuevas inscripciones, pero las personas mayores previamente inscritas al programa seguirán recibiendo cobertura.
Como intervención, organizaciones
No tenemos medios para comprar medicinas, pagar citas o conseguir lo que necesitamos. Simplemente no podemos hacerlo”. - Bertha García Silva
contribuciones que han hecho al estado de Illinois, sino que pudieron tener lo que necesitaban”.
Ahora dice que los legisladores se sienten presionados para dar marcha atrás en sus compromisos con la asistencia médica a los inmigrantes debido a las amenazas del gobierno federal. Aun así, espera seguir defendiendo a los inmigrantes, tanto a nivel estatal como federal.
“La presión de las condiciones con las amenazas del gobierno federal sin duda son un factor”, dijo. “La incapacidad de nuestro estado de tener más ingresos para poder cubrir las necesidades humanas esenciales es la otra historia”.
Para Bertha García Silva, que lleva más de 30 años viviendo en Chicago, HBIA fue su primera oportunidad de conseguir un seguro médico. Recibió cobertura durante un año para su tratamiento y terapia contra el cáncer, pero ahora se ha quedado sin cobertura.
política de salud de ICIRR. ICIRR también ofrece un programa financiado por el estado llamado Immigrant Family Resource Program que se dirige a personas de familias con conocimientos limitados de inglés y que no saben muy bien cómo desenvolverse en el sistema médico. Las 44 organizaciones estatales ayudan a informar a las personas de sus opciones y de cómo acceder a las prestaciones y servicios públicos.
“Todavía hay muchas otras personas que no tienen seguro”, afirma Quiñones. “Se enfrentan a deudas médicas y también tienen muy pocos recursos. Así que, por nuestra parte, seguimos abogando por la cobertura médica para todos.”
Para Rosa, la decepción aún perdura.
“Mucha gente lo deja pasar porque no quiere lidiar con las idas y venidas”, dijo. “Yo luché por ello, porque tengo diabetes y necesito este cuidado”.
Tara Mobasher es becaria de Northwestern Medill Reporting en Borderless Magazine. Envíe un correo electrónico a Tara a tara@ borderlessmag.org.
Lucy Baptiste es pasante de redacción para Borderless. Puede ponerse en contacto con ella en lucy@borderlessmag.org.
locales se están movilizando para ayudar a personas indocumentadas a acceder a servicios médicos gratuitos o de bajo costo, por medio de guías de recursos.
Junto a los talleres “Conoce tus Derechos” enfocados en la salud, organizaciones como la Coalición de Illinois para los Derechos de Inmigrantes y Refugiados han organizado y asistido a reuniones para conocer mejor los recursos disponibles para la comunidad indocumentada sin seguro médico.
Estos cursos se enfocan en dar más información sobre la asistencia financiera hospitalaria, clínicas gratuitas, centros de salud con cualificación federal, Medicaid de emergencia y más.
“Se trata de asegurarse de que la gente sabe dónde acudir si busca tratamiento en algún sitio, sabiendo que tiene derecho a pedirlo, ayudándoles a solicitar asistencia hospitalaria para asegurarse de que el tratamiento continúa", dijo Luvia Quiñones, directora principal de la
Where to Find Free, Low-Cost Health Coverage Regardless of Status
Thousands of Illinois immigrants have lost health coverage, with the end of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) program July 1. Borderless Magazine compiled a guide to explain who’s affected and what options are available.
BY LUCY BAPTISTE, TARA MOBASHER, BORDERLESS MAGAZINE
This story was originally published by Borderless Magazine. Visit their website and sign up for their newsletter at BorderlessMag.org.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s state budget cut has left thousands of undocumented immigrants in Illinois without healthcare access. Now, they’re scrambling to find alternatives.
The Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program, which provided coverage to undocumented immigrants ages 42 to 64, was cut after Gov. JB Pritzker unveiled his $55.2 billion state budget in March.
Pritzker said federal budget cuts were behind the decision to cut the program. HFS spent a total of $487 million in the 2024 fiscal year to administer the HBIA program. But the move sparked backlash from Democratic lawmakers and immigrant rights groups advocating for continued access to care.
This comes as undocumented immigrants face numerous challenges, including the Trump administration’s efforts to overturn birthright citizenship, nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and growing uncertainty about their rights.
“These are the people who pay taxes, care for our elders and helped carry this state through a pandemic,” said U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, D-III. “Cutting their access to care now would be not just cruel but counterproductive and costly.”
Borderless Magazine compiled a resource guide to explain who’s affected and what alternatives there are to health care, regardless of status.
Who will be affected?
The HBIA program provides healthcare to noncitizens ineligible for Medicaid between the ages of 42 and 64 who are:
• Undocumented immigrants, including individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
• Illinois residents
• Individuals with a 2022 household income at or below $18,754 for one person; at or below $25,268 combined income for a household of two.
Healthcare providers and hospitals that serve HBIA patients will also feel the strain due to the program’s end. They say the cancellation will impact the entirestate, as studies have shown that programs like HBIA are often cost-effective.
“One way or the other, either the hospital’s individual patients or insurers of a state are going to pay,” said Aresha MartinezCardoso, assistant professor of public health sciences at the University of Chicago.
What services will be impacted with the end of HBIA?
HBIA covered services like:
• Primary care visits
• Care at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)
• Vaccinations
• Prescription medications
• Dental and vision services
Note: This is not a complete list of services.
How do I know if I lost coverage?
HBIA enrollees should have received a mailed letter by April 1. The letter notifies them that their health coverage would have ended on June 30. A final termination notice was also mailed on June 15, preceding the program’s official termination on July 1.
Is coverage for seniors ending too?
The Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors (HBIS), which provides healthcare to those 65 and older without legal status, remains active.
However, the program has temporarily paused for new applicants.
What are my options?
Here are free or low-cost options for those losing HBIA coverage:
Cook County Health CareLink
HBIA enrollees may be eligible to apply for the CareLink program until June 30, 2026. Individuals can get a discount on
care based on income level — for example, $39,125 for a household of one. The program covers medical visits, labs, hospital stays and prescriptions.
• No documentation of SSN is required for those who were enrolled through HBIA.
• A $4 copay is required for most prescriptions.
Charity
Care/ Hospital Financial Assistance
All Illinois hospitals must provide free or low-cost care to uninsured, low-income residents — regardless of status. Individuals can verify their eligibility for this medical financial assistance program based on their annual income, total debt and household size on this site.
Individuals with Temporary Protected Status, active parole or have an active work permit can qualify for ACA marketplace coverage.
Family Planning Program (FPPE)
Anyone eligible for HBIA also meets eligibility requirements for the FPPE, which offers temporary coverage for reproductive health services. To qualify, individuals must:
• be an Illinois resident with income of up to $3,754 per month;
• not be currently pregnant;
• and not enrolled in Medicaid or a similar program.
Access DuPage / Access to Care
Access DuPage serves residents of DuPage who are not eligible for health insurance. In order to qualify, applicants must be:
• a permanent DuPage County resident;
• be 19 or older;
• and have an income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.
Access DuPage offers low-cost health care services, including primary care, medications and specialty care services. Illinois Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics
IAFCC offers directories on local free and charitable clinics across the state for those who cannot pay for medical services.
NeedyMeds Drug Assistance
NeedyMeds is a national nonprofit that helps patients find affordable medications. It offers a directory to help them find affordable health clinics, diagnosis-based assistance and patient assistance programs that provide free or low-cost medicines.
Rx Outreach
Rx Outreach offers programs related to providing affordable medicine to individuals regardless of income level or immigration status. It partners with community organizations to reduce financial and social barriers to help by providing resources for affordable medical care.
Where can I find more information?
• ICIRR Health Hotline: 855-4357693
• HelpHub Support for providers: helphub.org
• Cook County Financial Counselors: Available at select Cook County Health clinics. Visit the CareLink website for details.
What’s next?
As of now, there are no plans to reopen the HBIA program. According to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, future enrollment depends on whether the state’s budget allows for it. But officials say they “cannot predict when or if that would happen.” ¬
Lucy Baptiste is a Borderless reporting intern. She can be reached at lucy@borderlessmag.org.
Tara Mobasher is a Northwestern Medill Reporting fellow at Borderless Magazine. Email Tara at Tara@borderlessmag.org.
Dónde obtener atención médica gratuita o de baja
costo, sin importar su estatus migratorio
Miles de inmigrantes de Illinois se quedaron sin cobertura médica tras el fin, el 1 de julio, del programa Health Benefits for Immigrant
Adults (HBIA). Borderless Magazine ha elaborado una guía para explicar a quiénes afecta y qué opciones siguen disponibles.
POR LUCY BAPTISTE, TARA MOBASHER, BORDERLESS MAGAZINE
Este artículo fue publicado originalmente por Borderless Magazine. Visite el sitio de web y suscríbase a su boletín en BorderlessMag.org.
El recorte presupuestario estatal del gobernador JB Pritzker ha dejado a miles de inmigrantes indocumentados en Illinois sin acceso a cobertura médica. Ahora luchan por encontrar alternativas.
El programa de cobertura médica para adultos inmigrantes,que ofrecía cobertura a los inmigrantes indocumentados de entre 42 y 64 años, fue recortada después que el gobernador JB Pritzker presentara su presupuesto estatal de 1.400 millones de euros en marzo.
Pritzker dijo que los recortes presupuestarios federales estaban detrás de la decisión de recortar el programa. HFS gastó un total de $487 millones de dólares en el año fiscal 2024 para administrar el programa HBIA. Pero la medida provocó la reacción de legisladores demócratas y grupos defensores de los derechos de los inmigrantes que abogan por la mantener el acceso a la atención médica.
Esto ocurre mientras los immigrates indocumentados enfrentan numerosos desafíos, incluida la administración de Trump por anular la ciudadanía por derecho de nacimiento, y las redadas nacionales del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) y una creciente incertidumbre sobre sus derechos.
“Estas son las personas que pagan impuestos, cuidan de nuestros mayores y ayudaron a sacar adelante este estado durante una pandemia”, dijo el representante federal Jesús “Chuy” García, demócrata por Illinois. “Cortarles ahora el acceso a la atención no sólo sería cruel, sino también contraproducente y costoso”.
Borderless Magazine ha elaborado una guía de recursos para explicar a quién afecta y qué alternativas hay a la asistencia médica, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.
¿A quién afectará?
El programa HBIA proporciona asistencia médica a los no ciudadanos no elegibles para Medicaid con edades comprendidas entre los 42 y los 64 años:
• Inmigrantes indocumentados, incluidas las personas con Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS)
• Residentes en Illinois
• Personas con una renta familiar en 2022 igual o inferior a $18.754 para una persona; igual o inferior a $25.268 de renta combinada para una familia de dos personas.
Los proveedores de asistencia médica y los hospitales que atienden a pacientes del HBIA también se verán afectados por el fin del programa. Dicen que la cancelación repercutirá en todo el Estado, ya que los estudios han demostrado que programas como HBIA suelen ser rentables.
“De una forma u otra, van a pagar los pacientes individuales del hospital o las aseguradoras de un estado", dijo Aresha Martínez-Cardoso, profesora adjunta de Ciencias de la Salud Pública de la Universidad de Chicago.
¿Qué servicios se verán afectados por el fin de HBIA?
HBIA servicios cubiertos como:
• Visitas de atención primaria
• Atención en un Centro de Salud Federalmente Cualificado (FQHC)
• Vacunas
• Medicamentos con receta
• Servicios dentales y oftalmológicos
Nota: Esta no es una lista completa de servicios.
¿Cómo sé si he perdido la cobertura?
Los afiliados al HBIA deberían haber recibido una carta por correo antes del 1 de abril. La carta les notifica que su cobertura médica habría finalizado el 30 de junio. El
15 de junio también se envió por correo un último aviso de finalización, antes de la finalización oficial del programa el 1 de julio.
¿Termina también la cobertura para las personas mayores?
El Beneficios sanitarios para los mayores inmigrantes (HBIS), que presta asistencia médica a los mayores de 65 años sin estatuto legal, sigue activo.
Sin embargo, el programa esta temporalmente en pausa para los nuevos solicitantes.
¿Qué opciones tengo?
Aquí hay opciones gratuitas o de bajo costo para quienes están perdiendo la cobertura de HBIA:
Health CareLink del Condado de Cook
Los inscritos en el programa HBIA pueden elegibles para solicitar para el programa CareLink hasta el 30 de junio de 2026. Los particulares pueden obtener un descuento en la asistencia sanitaria en función de su nivel de ingresos: por ejemplo, $39.125 para un hogar de una sola persona. El programa cubre visitas médicas, análisis de laboratorio, estancias hospitalarias y recetas.
• No se requiere número de seguro social para quienes se inscribieron a través del programa HBIA.
• La mayoría de las recetas requieren un copago de $4.
Atención de beneficencia / Asistencia financiera hospitalaria
Todos los hospitales de Illinois deben ofrecer atención médica gratuita o de bajo costo a los residentes sin seguro y con bajos ingreso, independientemente de su situación migratoria. La personas pueden verificar si califican para este programa de asistencia financiera médica según sus ingresos anuales,
deuda total y tamaño del hogar en este sitio.
ACA Cobertura del mercado (para inmigrantes en situación regular)
Las personas con Estatus de Protección Temporal, libertad condicional activa o un permiso de trabajo activo pueden optar a la cobertura del mercado de seguro ACA.
Programa de Planificación Familiar (FPPE)
Cualquier persona cumpla los requisitos para el programa HBIA también califica para el FPPE, que ofrece cobertura temporal para servicios de salud reproductiva. Para tener derecho, las personas deben:
• ser residente en Illinois y tener unos ingresos de hasta $3.754 al mes;
• no estar embarazada;
• y que no estén inscritos en Medicaid o en un programa similar.
Access DuPage / Acceso a la atención médica
Access DuPage atiende a los residentes de DuPage que no tienen derecho a seguro médico.
Para cumplir los requisitos, los solicitantes deben ser:
• residente permanente en el condado de DuPage;
• tener 19 años o más;
• y tener unos ingresos iguales o inferiores al 250% del nivel federal de pobreza.
Access DuPage ofrece servicios sanitarios de bajo costo, como atención primaria, medicamentos y servicios de atención especializada.
Asociación de Clínicas Gratuitas y Benéficas de Illinois
La IAFCC ofrece directorios de clínicas locales gratuitas y de beneficencia en todo
el estado para quienes no pueden pagar los servicios médicos.
Asistencia farmacéutica NeedyMeds
NeedyMeds es una organización nacional sin fines de lucro que ayuda a los pacientes a encontrar medicamentos asequibles. Ofrece un directorio para localizar clínicas de salud asequibles, asistencia basada en el diagnóstico y programas de ayuda al paciente que proporcionan medicamentos gratuitos o de bajo costo.
Rx Outreach
Rx Outreach ofrece programas que proporcionan medicamentos asequibles a las personas sin importar su nivel de ingresos o estatus migratorio. La organización se asocia con grupos comunitarias para reducir las barreras financieras y sociales al cuidado de la salud, brindando recursos para una atención médica asequible.
¿Dónde puedo encontrar más información?
• Línea directa de salud del ICIRR: 855-435-7693
• Apoyo del HelpHub para proveedores: helphub.org
• Consejeros financieros del condado de Cook: Disponible en determinadas clínicas de salud del condado de Cook. Visite el sitio web de CareLink para más detalles.
¿Qué viene después?
De momento, no hay planes para reabrir el programa HBIA. Según el Departamento de Asistencia Médica y Servicios Familiares de Illinois, una futura reapertura dependerá de si el presupuesto estatal lo permite. Pero los funcionarios dicen que “no puede predecir cuándo o si eso ocurrirá”. ¬
Lucy Baptiste es periodista en prácticas de Borderless. Puede ponerse en contacto con ella en lucy@borderlessmag.org.
Tara Mobasher es becaria de Northwestern Medill Reporting en Borderless Magazine. Envíe un correo electrónico a Tara a Tara@ borderlessmag.org.
