SSW 11.06.25

SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY FROM THE EDITORS

The South Side Weekly is an independent non-profit newspaper by and for the South Side of Chicago. We provide high-quality, critical arts and public interest coverage, and equip and develop journalists, artists, photographers, and mediamakers of all backgrounds.

Volume 12, Issue 21

Interim

Editor-in-Chief Adam Przybyl

Investigations Editor Jim Daley

Immigration Project

Editor Alma Campos

Senior Editors Martha Bayne

Christopher Good Olivia Stovicek

Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales

Community Builder Chima Ikoro

Editor Emeritus Jacqueline Serrato

Public Meetings Editor Scott Pemberton

Art Director Shane Tolentino

Director of Fact Checking: Ellie Gilbert-Bair

Fact Checkers: Patrick Edwards

Christopher Good Zara Norman

Susie Xu

Layout Editor Tony Zralka

Publisher Malik Jackson

Office Manager Mary Leonard

Advertising Manager Susan Malone

The Weekly publishes online weekly and in print every other Thursday. We seek contributions from all over the city.

Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to:

South Side Weekly

6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637

For advertising inquiries, please contact: Susan Malone (773) 358-3129 or email: malone@southsideweekly.com

For general inquiries, please call: (773) 643-8533

Trump leverages hunger as SNAP benefits go broke

Amid the current and second longest running government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—food stamps—would not be replenished starting on November 1. As state governments and food pantries scrambled to fill the gap, a federal judge ruled that the USDA must use a contingency fund to cover SNAP partially, although people may not see those funds immediately.

The constant uncertainty created by the Trump administration has continually forced us to figure things out for ourselves—and that very figuring is also under attack. As community members attempt to protect their neighbors from violent ICE raids, federal agents have upped the ante by teargassing and detaining anyone who so much as looks at them wrong. How are they connected? On Tuesday, President Trump expressed his disdain for the “radical left” and their “haphazard” distribution of SNAP benefits while blaming the current shutdown on them as well.

What Trump deems “radical” has no bounds. His false guarantee that only “criminals” would be targets of mass deportation holds the same energy as millions of Americans who voted for him losing the ability to feed their families.

It’s not the first time hunger has been used as a political weapon in the U.S., but food stamps have not always been the target of political games.

The original Food Stamp Program (FSP) was introduced in 1939 in direct response to widespread hunger caused by the Great Depression. This economic crisis in America meant that people couldn’t purchase food that was now in surplus.

As the government explored solutions like destroying excess food to purchasing and redistributing it, eventually the first food stamps were born. Americans could purchase orange stamps equivalent to the amount they’d spend on food, and for every dollar spent, they’d receive 50 cents worth of blue stamps to spend on surplus.

This gave low-income families the autonomy to choose what they ate instead of receiving whatever the government boxed up for them. Despite the common stigma around welfare, people of color continued to struggle because they couldn’t afford to purchase the stamps required to participate in the program. During the Great Depression, African Americans were said to be the “last hired, first fired.”

The original program ended in 1943 as the need seemingly dwindled, but after continued reworking, John F. Kennedy officially revived the program when he took office in 1961. For years to come, the program received bipartisan support. When signing the Food Stamp Act into law, Lyndon B. Johnson referred to it as “one of our most valuable weapons in the war on poverty.”

In 1977, the Food Stamp Reform Act eliminated the requirement to purchase stamps, and in 1990 the program switched to the electronic benefits transfer card (EBT). In 2008 it was renamed SNAP. In 2024, SNAP served 41.7 million Americans a month. It is this country's largest anti-hunger effort.

Reliance on SNAP by millions of people gives the federal government immense power, and it has acted to enforce it over the years. In the 1960s, the Black Panther Party (BPP) was organizing a free breakfast program for school children. In January 1969, the first iteration began in Oakland, and soon thousands were being fed across BPP outposts.

But FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover loathed the positive light this shed on the Black Panthers, and the agency worked tirelessly to thwart these efforts. The night before the first breakfast program opened in Chicago, Chicago police broke into the church and destroyed the food. They even urinated on it.

In response to the pressure put on political leaders due to the standard set by the Panthers’ efforts, the National School Breakfast Program became permanent in 1975.

IN THIS ISSUE

public meetings report

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.

scott pemberton and documenters .... 4 johnson’s budget fix faces stiff headwinds

The mayor wants a corporate head tax to help fill a budget gap—but lacks support for it.

leigh giangreco ...................................... 5

911 calls show residents’ panic during ice raid

“He just said, ‘What am I being detained for?’ Then the call dropped.”

jim daley 7

border patrol called 911 after west side crash

Dispatch asked the race of the victim; the agent responded, “Uh, she’s, uh, African.”

tonia hill, the triibe ............................ 8 lawsuit over conditions at broadview ice facility in federal court

Detainees’ testimony reveals people are being held for long periods in unsanitary and overcrowded cells. dave byrnes 10

after ice raid, swap-o-rama vendors push for safety

ICE raid at South Side flea market sparks calls for protection.

josé abonce 11

vendedores exigen seguridad tras redada de ice en swap-o-rama

Redada de ICE en Swap-O-Rama genera pedidos de protección.

josé abonce, traducido por alma campos 13

cook county board reapproves contract with ice-linked data firm as raids sweep chicago

Four years after first being warned that a contract risked exposing immigrant data to ICE, Cook County approved another renewal.

alma campos .......................................... 15

junta del condado de cook renueva contrato con empresa de datos vinculados a ice mientras se realizan redadas en chicago

Cuatro años después de haber sido advertido por primera vez de que un contrato podría exponer datos de inmigrantes al Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE), el Condado de Cook aprobó otra renovación.

alma campos, traducido por gisela orozco 17 the property maze

Kean

The Trump administration is using hunger as a political tool to force Democrats into submission and end the shutdown. But Democrats are standing firm so far, unwilling to accept a Republican budget that would make health insurance prohibitively more expensive than it already is for millions of people. “Radicals,” once again, seem to have the right idea of where pressure belongs.

During arrest, people are separated from their property. Getting it back is not easy.

micah clark moody, maheen khan 19

south side sports roundup

The latest results and news from the Chicago sports world.

malachi hayes 23

Cover photo by Caeli

Public Meetings Report

illustration by Holley Appold/South Side Weekly

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level.

BY SCOTT PEMBERTON AND DOCUMENTERS

September 22

During its meeting the City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy approved a substitution ordinance to amend a section of the Municipal Code prohibiting unreasonable restrictions on composting. Public commenter Liam Donnelly, founder and CEO of WasteNot Compost, spoke in favor of the composting measure. Committee Member Matt Martin (47th) introduced the ordinance, which is designed to remedy instances in which residents were prevented from using compost services by condominium boards and landlords. Chicago high school student Gabi Jamieson also presented a fossil-fuel resolution to the committee aimed at fighting climate change. Formerly a Committee intern, Jamieson was “the architect of the resolution,” according to the fossilfueltreaty/chicago.org website. “She authored the resolution, secured support from other environmental groups, and the Illinois Environmental Council, and testified in front of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy.” Committee Member Bill Conway (34th) expressed appreciation for Jamieson’s work but zeroed in on a passage in the resolution calling for the end of fossil fuel expansion and asked about the implications for national defense, gas prices, and the economy. Jamieson said that the resolution symbolized the city’s commitment to transitioning from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources. After review and discussion, the Committee agreed to recommend that the City Council affirm its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement goals and to call for the federal government to support the Fossil Fuel NonProliferation Treaty.

October 10

At its meeting the Metra Board of Directors reviewed budgets and heard from three public commenters. The Board learned from Metra CFO John Morris that the agency is essentially on track with its budget for 2025 revenue and expenses, noting that revenue was supported by sales tax and COVID-era funds. Ridership was below budget for September but higher when compared with last year’s September figures, indicating that growth is steady. Two of three public commenters were concerned about the “fiscal cliff” facing Northern Illinois transit, emphasizing the importance of funding as well as protecting jobs and services. They were Metra employees: a train conductor and member of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers; an engineer and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Division Lodge 2857 who works in the building and bridges department. There were also updates on the need for a ten percent fare increase and other responses to the end of federal COVID-era funding. All eleven members of the Board were present. They are appointed by county leadership and the mayor of Chicago. They represent the six-county Chicago metropolitan area known as the “collar counties.”

October 16

At its meeting the board of commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago approved memberships in the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the U.S. Water Alliance. These affiliations are designed to strengthen MWRD’s role in national water policy. The Board noted the importance of public access and transparency of water quality data. It also approved travel expenses for Board members and the acting executive director of about $7,200; passed thirty-eight of thirty-nine agenda items; and announced its plans to host events celebrating the 125th anniversary of the creation of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which MWRD helped develop.

Threats to residents from ICE and other federal law enforcement were a key topic of discussion at the Chicago Police Board meeting. Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood mentioned that protections would be in place for protest events and other incidents, including the then-upcoming No Kings Day which took place on October 18. Gatewood said he anticipated that demonstrations would be peaceful. He also presented data showing that city crime is down double digits, indicating that National Guard forces are not necessary. The chief of CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, Angel Novalez, explained that the department does not enforce immigration law. But “if you need police, please, please call,” he said. He noted that CPD officers would not be masked and would be showing their name and badge number. Community members also spoke in connection with shootings at nightclubs, package thefts, and wrongful convictions. CPD representatives, Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood and board members responded.

October 21

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported a possible $375 million shortage in its 2026 budget at the City Council Afternoon 2026 Chicago Budget Hearing: Budget/Finance Agencies meeting. The CDPH is one of the city’s departments facing serious financial challenges, mainly due to the pullback of federal grants but also the expiration of COVID-era grants, including American Rescue Plan Act money. The department already was notified that Washington is canceling $125 million in federal funds, which is impacting twenty-two contracts and one hundred staff positions, according to the Mayor’s Office. The department also has one of the highest numbers of vacant jobs with seventy-four percent of budgeted positions unfilled, twenty-five of which could be added to the Department of the Environment.

October 23

At their meeting, members of the City Council Morning 2026 Chicago Budget Hearing: Infrastructure Day 2 learned that despite the City’s $1.15 billion deficit, the Department of Water Management is slated to receive $774 million in the upcoming fiscal year. That would be an eighty-five percent increase for the department from 2025 and the largest single-year increase in the department’s history. Meanwhile, Chicago faces a major budget shortfall, thanks in part to federal funding cuts and the expiration of COVID-era grants, including funds provided under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Most of that added money will come from the Disaster Recovery Fund, a new grant introduced in this budget. Disaster Recovery is part of the 2025 Community Development Block Grant—Disaster Recovery (CDGB-DR) that Chicago received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant’s purpose was to help mitigate storm damage and assist in community recovery after severe storms in 2023 and 2024. Committee members asked Water Department leaders how they plan on using the grant money for several projects. For example, the department is in the process of replacing the city’s lead water lines for 412,000 residences and contending with watermeter measurement errors, one of which ran to six figures.

This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.

Johnson’s Budget Fix Faces Stiff Headwinds

The mayor wants a corporate head tax to help fill a budget gap—but lacks support for it.

BY LEIGH GIANGRECO

Mayor Brandon Johnson must find a way to fill a nearly $1.2 billion hole in the city’s 2026 budget. He is betting he can do that in part by passing a corporate “head tax,” but it’s already facing stiff opposition from a majority of the City Council.

Johnson needs 26 out of 50 votes to pass his budget. The mayor is running out of revenue streams after his proposed $300 million property tax increase failed in a rare 50-0 vote last year. With property taxes a non-starter, that leaves few other options on the table to plug the city’s budget gaps.

The head tax would levy $21 per employee per month on companies with 100 or more full-time employees in Chicago who spend half of their time working in the city. The city’s budget office estimates the tax would generate $100 million annually, based on current employment data and the city’s business licensing records.

The city plans to dedicate that revenue to community safety and violence interruption programs that were once buttressed by federal COVID relief dollars. Those funds will dry up soon since the federal government mandated that cities must obligate their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds by the end of 2024 and must spend them before the end of 2026.

“It is important to note that more than 97 percent of Chicago businesses would not be impacted by this proposal,” Office of Budget and Management spokesperson LaKesha Gage-Woodard said in an email to the Weekly. “The intention is to ensure that the largest firms, who benefit most from the City’s workforce, infrastructure, and services, contribute proportionally.”

On Oct. 30, 27 out of 50 alders signed a letter opposing the head tax. Freshman Ald. Walter Redmond Burnet III, who the mayor just appointed to his father’s old seat in the 27th Ward, initially signed the letter and then asked for his name to be removed. Burnett represents the West Loop, a mecca for luxury

buildings and corporate headquarters.

head tax on companies with fifty or more employees. In his 2011 campaign for mayor, Rahm Emanuel promised to phase out the head tax. The city claimed the tax brought in $35 million revenue in 2009 and 2010. That November, Emanuel congratulated the City Council for passing an ordinance that would phase out the head tax, which he called “a job killer,” by 2014.

If Chicago revived its head tax, it would make the city an outlier compared to the rest of the country, said Annie McGowan, a policy and research director at the Civic Federation, a local budget watchdog. Few other American cities levy a double-digit head tax: Denver’s is $4 a month for each employee, while Pittsburgh levies a payroll expense tax on employers. Seattle repealed

Governor J.B. Pritzker blasted Johnson’s head tax during an Oct. 21 event at the Economic Club of Chicago. It wasn’t the first time that Pritzker butted heads with the mayor. Between controversies over state spending and migrant shelters in Chicago, an apparent rift has grown between the two politicians over the last two years.

“I am absolutely four-square opposed to a head tax for the city of Chicago,” Pritzker said when asked about the proposal. He echoed the talking points of business groups who have argued that the tax would deter new companies and make it more difficult for those with an existing footprint in the city.

“The Governor spoke from first-hand experience about the hard choices required to build and maintain a stable, balanced budget,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to the Weekly. “He has emphasized that lasting fiscal stability doesn’t come from one-time fixes, but from a combination of operational efficiencies, responsible budgeting, and growing the economy so revenues rise alongside opportunity. That approach has guided his work in Illinois.”

Despite the opposition, Johnson’s budget office appears determined to stick with the head tax. When asked about the administration’s contingency plan if the tax fails in City Council and whether the administration would propose a property

The governor then criticized Johnson’s budget for not offering enough “efficiencies.” what cuts and solutions Pritzker would suggest, the

Mayor Johnson, pictured here in a March 2025 City Council meeting, faces a tough budget fight centered around a billiondollar shortfall.

Photo by Jim Daley

tax increase again, the budget office pointed to a survey that rejected alternative revenue sources.

“Based on the citywide Budget Engagement Survey results, residents prioritized new revenues from a Community Safety Surcharge (i.e. the head tax), Online Sports Wagering tax, increased Vacant Building Fees, and other progressive revenue sources, while rejecting fees or revenue sources that would increase household costs,” GageWoodard said in an email to the Weekly. “The Office of Budget and Management remains ready to engage in conversations with City Council on proposals that ensure the City is not placing new burdens on working families in the midst of the largest upward transfer of wealth, at the federal level, to corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of the population.”

Progressive budget gurus argue that Chicago’s job growth didn’t suffer when the head tax was implemented. Julie Dworkin, co-executive director for Institute for the Public Good and a contributor to the mayor’s budget working group, used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to analyze employment growth rates in Chicago and the nation before and

after the head tax’s repeal. Between 2010 and 2013, the period that the Institute for the Public Good described as “post-recession and pre-repeal,” Chicago’s rate of job growth was 66 percent higher than the rest of the country. Yet between 2014 and 2019, “pre-COVID and post-repeal,” Chicago’s growth rate fell to 1 percent above the rest of the nation.

“This employment data does not support the claim that the head tax was a ‘job killer,’” the report reads.

Ralph Martire, the executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a bipartisan research organization, threw cold water on both sides of the debate.

“The peer-reviewed studies that I’ve seen have found no statistically meaningful correlation between tax policy and job growth or tax policy and business site location,” Martire said. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, right? Of course, some businesses will say, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a lower tax burden. So I’m going to site here rather than there.’ Of course, that decision happens, but it’s not a statistically meaningful driver of site decisions.”

Instead, when businesses are figuring

out where to locate, they factor in proximity to customers and suppliers, financial markets, transportation hubs, and the quality of the workforce, Martire added.

“This is a subject where there’s not a lot of rationality, right? You have one side: ‘Businesses, corporations, need to pay their fair share,’” Martire said. “And you have the other side saying ‘Every tax is a job killer, and this in particular is a job killer because it’s on jobs.’ We all know those arguments. The truth, in this case, is very much somewhere in the middle.”

After leaning on federal COVID relief money for the last two years, Johnson may be squaring up for his toughest budget fight yet. Facing hard choices, his budget office has proposed reducing the advanced pension payments for the city’s four employee pension funds that cover police officers, firefighters, municipal workers, and laborers. In previous years, the city paid more than was necessary toward those four pensions, a move credit rating agencies loved—and one that meant the costs of pensions wouldn’t escalate in the future.

Between 2023 and 2025, the city used

surpluses to help fund the advanced pension payments. Now that those funds are fully exhausted, Johnson’s budget office has proposed a lower pension payment. Budget analysts, credit agencies, and some alders chafe at that because they believe it kicks the can down the road, leading to more expensive payments for future taxpayers. While the measure would save money in the 2026 budget, it could lead to credit downgrades that make it more expensive for the city to borrow money to pay for capital projects, like building bridges.

“It’s not like all of these problems are the fault of the current mayoral administration,” McGowan said. “These are like bad decisions that have been made over time that have built up to the situation where we are now, and a lot of progress has been made to deal with these financial issues. It’s just that the pension cost is so large, it continues to crowd out the ability for the city to do everything else.” ¬

Leigh Giangreco is a freelance reporter based in Chicago. You can follow her work on Twitter/X @LeighGiangreco and at leighgiangreco.com.

MATHER GATHER

The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center 740 E. 56th Place

November 6 & 13 | 10:00 a.m.

GOLDEN STAR CLUB

Lindblom Park | 6054 S. Damen Avenue

November 19 | 10:00 a.m.

WELLNESS AT THE COV

New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church | 754 E. 77th Street

Mondays–Thursdays | 9:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

911 Calls Show Residents’ Panic During ICE Raid

Dispatch logs reveal Border Patrol also arrested two U.S. citizens that night in Steelworkers Park.

BY JIM DALEY

Residents and neighbors of a South Shore apartment building called 911 as federal immigration agents carried out a controversial raid there in September. Recordings of the calls, which the Weekly obtained via a public-records request, reveal frightened people asking for help—and one person complaining that agents had specific apartment numbers that they were supposed to target and broke down one resident’s door in error.

Recordings of conversations between dispatchers and police also show that while the raid was taking place federal agents also arrested two U.S. citizens for driving under the influence in Steelworkers Park, two miles south of the building.

Agents stormed 7500 S. South Shore Dr. in the early morning hours of September 30. Dozens of heavily armed FBI, ICE, and Border Patrol agents swarmed the block as others rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter. Once inside, agents broke into apartments, threw concussion grenades, and zip-tied dozens of residents—including small children—before separating people by race. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said its agents detained thirty-seven people. According to a CPD spokesperson, police took one person into custody for a criminal warrant at the building during the raid.

In October, Block Club reported that fifteen emergency calls were made from the apartment building on the day of the raid. In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the Weekly, OEMC provided recordings of four 911 calls related to the raid. It’s unclear precisely what time each was placed, but they all were all apparently made while it was in progress.

In one, a neighbor called to complain about the helicopter noise.

“I don’t know if this is an emergency, but there is this helicopter that is just flying around the house,” they said. “They’ve been doing this for a whole hour, and I don’t understand why. There’s, like, working families around here, and we all need to

go to work in the morning. And so him hovering around is absolutely driving me insane.” The dispatcher said she would alert the police.

Another person called twice, trying to get information about what was going on after they’d lost contact with their significant other, a resident at the building, as agents burst into his unit.

“I don’t know what was happening, but he called me worried, and all I heard was the police,” they said. “I’m trying to see what’s going on.” The dispatcher said she had gotten a previous call from that address, adding, “Hopefully we’ll get an officer on scene soon.”

Ten minutes later, that person called back, frantic for an update. “I was calling because my significant other had called me and dropped the phone,” they said. “He just said, ‘What am I being detained for?’ Then the call dropped.” The dispatcher said she would inform the police.

In another recording, a caller was incensed that their friend’s door had been battered in by federal agents. They seemed to imply that the apartment was not one of the ones agents were supposed to target that night.

“We just had a wrongful break-in by the FBI and the ICE people, and now my

friend’s door won’t even lock,” they said. “They got the numbers of the apartments on his wrist, and they still kicked this door in, and that door will not lock.” In response to the dispatcher’s questions, the caller reiterated that the agent had the apartment numbers “on his wrist” and damaged the apartment door in a “wrongful break-in.”

The call adds to mounting evidence that agents had advance information on which apartments migrants were living in. Two weeks before the raid, teachers at a CPS school across the street from the building told the Weekly they’d seen ICE agents surveilling the area. Earlier this month, WBEZ and Sun-Times reporters found a map of the building in one of the raided apartments that labeled units as “vacant,” “tenant,” or “firearms.” Multiple journalists have observed codes taped on the doors of some of the apartments, but it’s unclear what they mean or when they were placed there.

The Weekly also obtained recordings of communications between dispatchers and Chicago police from the night of the raid.

At about 1:00 a.m., the dispatcher said a 911 caller reported cars going in and out of the adjacent CPS school parking lot, people standing on the block, and a helicopter. “Ten-four, that’s, um, ICE,” replied another

person; it’s unclear whether they were an OEMC operator or a police officer. In a later call, dispatchers discussed alerting the CTA of the need to reroute buses around the area.

In another exchange, an officer told the dispatcher that Border Patrol agents detained two U.S. citizens in Steelworkers Park, two miles south of where the South Shore raid was unfolding, and wanted the Chicago police to take them off their hands.

“Border Patrol called the station requesting a vehicle to go to 87th and Lake Shore Drive for two U.S. citizens they have in custody for DUI,” the officer said. “They almost hit their vehicle. They’re located at the dead end of that location, and they have both people in custody.”

A CPD spokesperson was not immediately able to confirm that the department had any arrest reports related to that call. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not initially respond to the Weekly’s emailed questions about the DUI arrests. After persistent requests for comment, DHS sent a statement touting the South Shore raid. When the Weekly pointed out the Steelworkers Park incident occurred miles away from the raid, the agency sent a one-line reply: “So to be clear, you’re asking about an event from almost a month ago?”

Ed Yohnka, a spokesperson for the Illinois ACLU, said federal agents are “terrorizing” Chicago.

“Their dangerous provocations show that they are not helping keep our neighborhoods safe,” Yohnka said in an email. “They should leave policing matters to the state and local authorities who are accountable to our communities. Given the notable falsehoods that federal authorities have been spreading, local police would do well to be skeptical of any allegations by federal agents that Chicagoans have engaged in unlawful conduct.” ¬

Jim Daley is the Weekly’s investigations editor.

Federal agents raided 7500 S. South Shore Dr. on September 30, battering doors and detaining dozens of people in the predawn hours.

Border Patrol Called 911 After West Side Crash

Dispatch asked the race of the victim; the agent responded, “Uh, she’s, uh, African.”

BY TONIA HILL

The story was co-published with The TRiiBE.

On October 1, a day after federal immigration agents detained dozens of people — including Black American citizens — in a militarized raid on a South Shore apartment building, a chaotic scene erupted at the intersection of California Avenue and Congress Parkway in East Garfield Park. A white Chevy Malibu with an unknown driver crashed into a black Infiniti SUV driven by a 49-yearold Black woman, injuring her. In the aftermath of the crash, a federal agent was captured on witness video apparently placing a Black man in a chokehold. Agents claimed they were investigating a robbery when the crash occurred.

Via a public-records request, The TRiiBE obtained audio of a 911 call made by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent to report the crash and the alleged robbery, which he claimed had occurred moments before.

“Hi, this is a Border Patrol agent. We just witnessed a robbery in progress, and then there was, uh, pretty much a T-bone, an accident,” the Border Patrol agent told dispatch. “I don’t know if you guys got wind of it already. We’re on California and Congress.”

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by The TRiiBE, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) provided a recording of the 911 call between the agent and dispatch, along with audio between dispatchers and Chicago police and documents related to the calls.

The agent’s flustered description of

the incident apparently sparked confusion among dispatch and police officers. It also conflicted with eyewitness accounts from bystanders and a security guard that were previously reported by The TRiiBE, as well as a statement later released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The agent initially told the 911 operator that a “paramedic” was on scene, but when the OEMC operator asked whether they were with the Chicago Fire Department or a private ambulance company, the agent clarified that the medic was with Border Patrol.

“We have a paramedic on scene,” the Border Patrol agent told dispatch in the 911 call, which lasted for about four minutes. The dispatcher asked, “Is this, like, a private ambulance or Chicago Fire Department?”

After some confused back-and-forth, the agent said, “No, Border Patrol, ma’am, Border Patrol.” A report documenting the 911 call that The TRiiBE obtained from OEMC said there was “private EMS affiliated w/ border patrol [sic] on scene.”

On Nov. 3, DHS sent a statement to The TRiiBE that did not address questions sent to them by a reporter. It’s also identical to a statement that the agency sent on October 2, the day after the car crash.

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) stated the car-crash victim sustained injuries to her shoulder, neck, and hip and was transported to Mount Sinai in good condition, while the unidentified driver of the other vehicle fled the scene. Eyewitnesses reported seeing an ambulance arrive, but they didn’t see anyone receiving medical aid inside it.

The TRiiBE interviewed the car-crash victim’s sister, Davina Jeans, at the scene just before 3:30 p.m. on the day of the

crash. Jeans said her sister called her around 2:00 p.m. to let her know she’d been in a car accident and asked that she go to the scene to pack up her things. Her sister’s black Infiniti SUV was left at the intersection of Congress Parkway and California Avenue. While The TRiiBE was interviewing her, there were multiple Chicago police officers at the scene directing traffic and helping Jeans transfer bags to her car.

The Border Patrol agent called 911 at 1:56 p.m. He said the crash victim was a woman. Dispatch asked the race of the victim; the agent responded, “Uh, she’s, uh, African.”

Initially, the agent appeared confused about the robbery. Dispatch asked the agent how many people robbed the woman. The agent said one. Dispatch also asked the gender of the robber, to which the agent said, “It’s a female.”

After more questions from dispatch, the agent eventually clarified what happened. “No, no, no, no. Two males. Two males robbed, like, a little work site.” The agent didn’t mention the work site's location on the call.

During the 911 call, the agent described the men as Black and skinny, and reported that they took off running. “Some of my partners went after ’em, after two of them.”

The dispatcher reiterated that help is on the way. She also asked the agent if he saw any weapons on “the guys that robbed her,” despite it being established minutes earlier in the call that the crash victim was not robbed.

“No, we did not see any weapons,” the agent said. Dispatch asked what the men were wearing.

“I just know one of them was wearing a

white T-shirt, and I believe they’re walking with at least one of them in custody,” the agent said.

An account from the security guard at a nearby BP gas station corroborates this part of the story. The security guard told The TRiiBE that he saw a Black man in a white T-shirt running through the back door of the gas station.

When the two agents apprehended the man, the security guard said, they walked out the front door of the gas station, passed the gas pumps, and walked down an adjacent alley.

Witness video shows agents walking down an alley alongside the BP gas station with a Black man whose hands are behind his back. Another witness video shows federal agents apparently placing him in a chokehold at the intersection of California Avenue and Congress Parkway; a bystander can be heard on the video growing emotional while asking why the agents are choking the man.

DHS denied the report of agents choking a Black man. “This is FALSE, the man was not choked,” a DHS spokesperson stated via email on October 2. Multiple videos obtained by The TRiiBE appear to contradict the statement.

DHS also detailed in the statement that agents “witnessed what they believed to be a theft in progress. As they went to engage with the individual he fled in a vehicle and proceeded to crash into another motorist,” the email reads. “Agents attempted to render first aid when the suspect started resisting.”

“Alright, so we—I have help on the way,” the 911 operator told the CBP agent. She then asked the agent if he had an operator identification or badge number

he could give her, and he declined. “Border Patrol, we don’t, ma’am, I’m sorry,” he said. An event report, The TRiiBE obtained from OEMC, identifies the caller as “Border Patrol Agent EZ16,” however. It’s unclear what that means.

On October 9, in a sweeping temporary restraining order, a federal judge ordered CBP agents to add individual identification to their uniforms while they operate in Chicago. Since then, agents have repeatedly been observed failing to comply with that order.

One witness, Equity and Transformation (EAT) Organizing Director Maurice Woodard, told The TRiiBE the detained Black man was released and ran down Congress Parkway.

According to the event report obtained by The TRiiBE, multiple people (it’s unclear how many) called 911 to report what was unfolding. The chronology of events began at 1:54 p.m., according to the event report. A written remark indicates one unidentified caller reporting “he is being harassed by federal agents, no badges are displayed.” In that same entry, the caller stated “they are threatening to tase him for no reason.” OEMC did not provide the audio for this call to The TRiiBE.

The event report lists the names of a Border Patrol agent and a caller, but The TRiiBE is redacting the caller’s name because they are a private citizen. The report details that the agent’s 911 call came from a wireless T-Mobile carrier.

OEMC also provided a fourteenminute communications call between dispatch and Chicago police officers.

During the exchange, a dispatcher relayed what the Border Patrol agent said on the 911 call. “So I’ve been getting a robbery in progress at California in Congress,” the dispatcher said. “He said he witnessed a female, Black, wearing a blue shirt, being robbed by two male Black people. They don’t have any descriptions of the offender.”

A moment later, a second person asked if they’d gotten a call about “an auto accident on California and Congress.”

"No, just a call about a robbery. There’s no car accident there,” the dispatcher said, adding that the Black men ran westbound on Congress Parkway. The time of this conversation is unknown.

“Well, there is a crash there,” the

second person said. “Just confirmation. Looks like there’s some kind of federal operation happening there… give the units a heads up.”

Once dispatch confirmed information about the accident, police headed to the scene.

“We need you to head over to California and Congress. We’re getting multiple calls over there,” the dispatcher said to an officer.

A moment later, an officer said, “I don’t know what’s going on, I just see like eight ICE cars,” referring to the scene of the accident at California and Congress.

Photos obtained by The TRiiBE show the federal agents on scene wearing uniforms with “U.S. Customs and Border Protection” patches; one wore a vest with “POLICE” and “BORTAC” (designating CBP’s tactical operations units) written on it.

Dispatch asked if they need a sergeant. An officer responded, “They have about six ICE vehicles and then a bunch of patrols and it’s an accident that they say is a foot pursuit and a bunch of other BS.”

“So you guys not getting involved?

Are we coding it out? You guys good? You need a sergeant? What’s going on?” a dispatcher asked. Seconds later, dispatch asked whether a supervisor from the 11th Police District was available to respond to the accident scene. A police officer told the dispatcher that they’d head to the scene.

Soon, an officer told dispatch, “It’s just a traffic crash, and it has nothing to do with ICE.” They requested a police car to “block traffic northbound on California from Harrison and southbound north of the bridge, so that we can get these vehicles moved.”

The TRiiBE filed a public-records request with the Chicago Police Department for a copy of an Investigatory Stop Report (ISR) that a department spokesperson said an officer on scene had completed. During investigatory stops, an officer can detain a person temporarily based on the suspicion that they’re involved in a crime. After conducting one, officers are required to complete an ISR. CPD has not fulfilled The TRiiBE’s request for the ISR; instead, they sent a service call event record, which contains the same details as OEMC’s Event

Query Report. A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to The TRiiBE’s request for clarification, and the FOIA office did not respond to repeated inquiries about the request.

The police department also denied The TRiiBE’s public-records request for officers’ CPD body-worn camera footage, citing a state law that exempts such footage from disclosure unless an arrest, shooting, use of force, or civilian complaint is tied to it.

Since the launch of the DHS’s socalled “Operation Midway Blitz,” Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling has repeatedly said that officers do not interfere with federal enforcement operations.

Following the October 1 incident, a CPD spokesperson emailed The TRiiBE: “At no point did CPD coordinate or assist federal authorities with immigration enforcement.” ¬

Tonia Hill is a multimedia reporter for The TRiiBE. Her work focuses on the intersections between criminal justice, policing, politics and grassroots organizing.

Federal agents seen at the site of a car crash in East Garfield Park on October 1.

Photo courtesy of The TRiiBE

Lawsuit over Conditions at Broadview ICE Facility in Federal Court

Detainees’ testimony reveals people are being held for long periods in unsanitary and overcrowded cells.

BY DAVE BYRNES

People detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview are sleeping on concrete floors amid “urine and dirty water,” according to a federal class action lawsuit filed late last week in Chicago.

Among other allegations outlined in the suit, the plaintiffs claim federal agents at the facility deny detainees hygiene products, medicine and adequate food and water.

“People are forced to attempt to sleep for days or sometimes weeks on plastic chairs or on the filthy concrete floor,” the suit alleges. "They are denied sufficient food and water. They cannot shower, they are denied soap, hygiene items, and menstrual products, and they have no way to clean themselves.”

The suit also claims that federal authorities have blocked detainees’ access to legal counsel in an attempt to hurry along their deportation process.

“You have no rights in here,” federal immigration agents told a detainee named Santos Rebolledo Altamirano when he asked to speak with his lawyer, according to that detainee’s declaration for the lawsuit.

“The agents were cruel. They swore at me and the other detainees and constantly told us that we are not allowed to be in the country,” Rebolledo Altamirano said.

While making his declaration from the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan, Rebolledo Altamirano also claimed officers did not do anything to address the sickness of another, older man held at Broadview until he began foaming at the mouth.

His is one of dozens of similar declarations that attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center compiled before filing the lawsuit on

October 30. They included testimony from both immigrants and born U.S. citizens; attorneys, journalists, clergy members and people held in Broadview.

Taken as a whole, the declarations paint a stark picture of what detainees have been forced to endure at the immigration processing facility.

“Toward the end of my time at Broadview, I got very sick because of the unsanitary conditions and from being forced to sleep on the dirty, hard floor,” Claudia Carolina Pereira Guevara, who says she was detained for five days at Broadview, said in her declaration. “When I awoke, I was numb from the waist down. I could not feel my legs. I woke up vomiting. My body was weak and frail. The officers eventually took me out of the cell, but they refused to take me to see a doctor or to the hospital.”

According to Alexa Van Brunt, the director of the MacArthur Justice Center Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, addressing abuses in the detention facility is complicated by the fact that these declarations are the main documents thus far available to advocates. Few videos or photos of the inside of the facility are publicly available, and among the suit’s allegations is that the government has purposefully cut the facility off from the outside world—not just from attorneys, but from family members, community leaders, lawmakers, and clergy.

“The nature of the suit is: ‘that place is a black hole,’” Van Brunt said.

The exterior of the facility does little to assuage that perception. Plyboard covers the squat brick building’s front-facing doors and windows, and green mesh obscures the view inside its main vehicle bay. Militarized federal agents stand guard outside during protests, and they can monitor the area

both with static surveillance poles and with remotely operated drones. For several weeks between late September and early October a metal fence further barricaded the facility against the public, until U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt ordered its removal on October 14.

Unraveled Press co-founder Steve Held, who federal agents arrested and detained at the Broadview facility while he was covering a protest there on September 27, claimed in his declaration that agents attempted to stop him from observing the facility from the inside.

“Within the first hour or two, agents taped paper bags over the windows so that we could not see what was going on in other areas of the facility,” Held wrote.

The Broadview facility is officially designated as a “short-term staging facility,” meant to hold up to 236 people for no more than 12 hours, according to Department of Homeland Security Audits from 2018 and 2023.

An ICE memo dated June 24 revised that policy by pushing the time limit people can be held to 72 hours. WBEZ reported in early October that between June 24 and July 28, ICE held at least 21 people for longer than 72 hours, with some detainees held longer than five days.

ICE Deputy Field Office Director Shawn Byers, while testifying before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis as part of a separate civil suit alleging abuses by federal immigration agents on October 20, said the “intention” of the Broadview facility was to hold people for hours, not days.

The lawsuit filed last week claims people have been held there far longer.

“Attorney Laura Smith’s client was detained at Broadview for three weeks, from September 17, 2025, until October 8, 2025.

Three of her other clients were detained at Broadview for approximately five days,” the suit alleges.

During an emergency hearing on the suit on Friday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said he believed two named plaintiffs in the suit, Pablo Moreno González and Felipe Agustin Zamacona, had been moved out of Broadview. The government’s attorney Joshua Press confirmed they’d been moved Friday morning.

Van Brunt and other attorneys for the plaintiffs said they understood Moreno Gonzalez and Augustin Zamacona had been moved to Kansas, with Van Brunt complaining the government was making it “impossible” for the pair to access counsel.

“No party should be prohibited from communicating from counsel, particularly in a case of this magnitude,” Gettleman said in response.

The judge set a 9:30 a.m. hearing on the case for November 4, ordering that the class representatives be able to attend the hearing in person or virtually. He set a deadline of 4:00 p.m. on Monday for the government to return Moreno Gonzalez and Augustin Zamacona to Illinois for that purpose.

On Monday, Van Brunt said the pair had been moved to Wisconsin. “They are not in Illinois, and we are very frustrated that we haven’t been able to contact them,” she said. On Tuesday morning, the MacArthur Justice center confirmed both plaintiffs were back in Illinois. ¬

Dave Byrnes is a Chicago-born independent journalist currently covering the ongoing Operation Midway Blitz. He lives in Lincoln Square, but is a lifelong White Sox fan.

After ICE Raid, Swap-O-Rama Vendors Push for Safety

A chaotic federal raid left vendors at the longtime South Side flea market shaken. Now they’re demanding stronger protections.

BY JOSÉ ABONCE

On Thursday, October 16, Cynthia Olivares grabbed the fanny pack in which she carries her ID, a copy of her passport, wallet-sized know-your-rights cards, and a wet wipe for potential tear gas exposure. She and a partner drove around Back of the Yards to conduct a migra watch. By the time Olivares hit the road, reports of federal immigration agents sightings were already circulating in the neighborhood. As they drove around, scanning the streets where agents had been spotted in recent weeks, they stumbled upon a raid in progress at Swap-O-Rama flea market at 4100 S. Ashland, where federal agents eventually detained fifteen people.

For decades, Swap-O-Rama has been a staple of Chicago’s South Side. It’s a vast outdoor flea market where hundreds of mostly Latino immigrant vendors rent small stalls to sell everything from boots and quinceañera dresses to phone chargers and home goods. The Back of the Yards location, one of several across the region, has operated for more than thirty years and draws thousands of shoppers each weekend.

The raid at Swap-O-Rama came just ten days after Mayor Brandon Johnson reminded businesses that they have the right to deny entry to federal agents and signed an executive order prohibiting agents from using city-owned property for immigration enforcement activities.

Olivares recalls men entering the space dressed in military-style uniforms. Masked federal agents with no visible badges or ID numbers arrived later in about ten agents. She said that when people tried to close the gates to keep federal agents from entering, agents forcibly opened them despite people

screaming that they were on private property.

Videos posted on social media show a chaotic scene unfolding as vendors scrambled to try to get away. Some sought refuge on top of portable toilets.

A mother pleaded with agents to let her go, saying that she has children she needs to care for, as they dragged her away.

At one point, Olivares witnessed a detained man throw his wallet towards a bystander, only for the agents to snatch the wallet back, claiming personal belongings must remain with the man.

“The things that we thought were set in place, the laws, the constitutional rights, it seems to have all left in that moment,” Olivares said.

After the raid, Olivares said she had a heated exchange with Swap-ORama’s assistant manager, who told her that vendors were aware there was no

safety protocol in place in case federal agents showed up. Olivares said she saw the lack of preparation as a slap in the face to the vendors and shoppers who expected protection. The Weekly reached out to Swap-O-Rama management for comment but did not receive a response.

ICE’s Chicago Field Office did not respond to questions about agents’ presence at Swap-O-Rama, the number of people detained, or whether they had judicial warrants to enter the property.

A longtime vendor who gave his name as Gebahet Bustamante said he counted about seventy-five agents that day. He said he confronted the agents and asked them if they had names or a list of people they were looking for, but the agents ignored him.

A video of the incident that Bustamante posted on Facebook generated comments calling for a boycott

of Swap-O-Rama, but he said it is not easy to leave. Sales would not be the same elsewhere because of how popular it is compared to other locations.

Another vendor, Mario—who asked that his last name not be used due to his status—and his wife have sold jewelry and speakers at Swap-O-Rama for twenty-eight years. Like many other vendors, they did not open up their stand the weekend after the raid. Sales have plummeted since. Mario, Bustamante, and others have asked for their monthly rent to be reduced until January as they anticipate sales will remain low due to the recent raid and the uneasiness it has caused in vendors and customers alike.

“If we work or don’t work, we have always paid Swap-O-Rama what we owe,” said Mario. “So I think, considering what happened, and with all the time we have been here, we deserve something.”

The vendors explained that following the raid they were hesitant to individually approach management and owners because when they have raised concerns in the past, they would be labeled as “troublemakers” and get their post or floor space taken away.

So instead, they sought the help of longtime Swap-O-rama vendor and immigration attorney Maritza Jaimes. She has helped her parents sell Western wear for over twenty years, on the weekends, since she was five years old.

Though Jaimes prefers to leave her professional identity at the door when she’s selling on weekends, the raid and the impact it has had on vendors moved her to help. She drafted a letter that was signed by over one hundred vendors and sent to Swap-O-Rama’s owners.

Jaimes then met with corporate

The main entrance of Swap-O-Rama in Back of the Yards, where federal immigration agents detained fifteen people during an October raid.

Photo by Caeli Kean

lawyers for Swap-O-Rama, who addressed some of the concerns the vendors raised. At the meeting, Jaimes went through a list of requests that included posting signage prohibiting federal access without signed judicial warrants, securing the premises, and creating procedures in case agents comes again.

Since then, some changes have been made.

At the entrance to Swap-O-Rama, management placed large signs in English and Spanish on the fence and doors that provide notice to all law enforcement and immigration agents that they are not allowed onto their private property without a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge. The gates that once stood open to the flow of shoppers now stay closed, allowing staff to better control who comes and goes.

Additionally, employees are getting trained by management on what a judicial warrant is and on company protocol in case agents show up again—protocols that Jaimes helped review and refine. This includes how to document ICE presence and encounters with federal agents, and noting how many people are detained, what agents wear, whether or not agents identify themselves, and agents’ responses to staff’s requests for judicial warrants. If vendors are detained, their information will now be shared with local nonprofits who offer resources to those detained.

was reduced by half, but sales are expected to remain low for several months. Customers are paying a dollar less for entry. Some vendors were appreciative of these small gestures by the owner.

Moving forward, vendors said they want to build a trusting relationship with Swap-O-Rama through quarterly meetings with management that will allow them to work through concerns together. Although the signs posted outside might increase the vendors’ sense of safety, some still do not feel safe because of the numerous examples of federal agents disregarding the law and people’s constitutional rights.

Jaimes, like other vendors, has heard the calls to boycott Swap-O-Rama, but says it is difficult because it is not the corporation that would be feeling the effects of a boycott.

Swap-O-Rama. Olivares leads a program with about twenty local youth that now canvass streets and distribute know-yourrights material after reports circulated of agents using neighborhood shopping areas to stage operations.

Tensions have been growing between residents and shopping center owners over agents’ use of private property in other areas too.

is important since they constantly switch and take turns monitoring the entrance.

But despite these new safeguards, Swap-O-Rama has felt empty in the weekends after the raid. The majority of stands remain closed, their merchandise stored away behind tarps and locks. Areas where vendors set up tables in large open rooms are vacant, exposing the blue tape that outlined the spaces where vendors were normally stationed.

Vendors said their rent for November

“I myself want to boycott major corporations, but this is so different. It is such a unique space because there’s so many Latino vendors, so boycotting this place impacts a lot of families that depend solely on this income,” she said.

The Weekly reached out to Swap-ORama management for comment, but they did not respond.

In recent months, Back of the Yards has seen heavy immigration enforcement that has extended far beyond the raid at

In recent weeks, rapid response groups in the area have documented several occasions of federal agents using the Yards Plaza shopping center at 4636 S. Damen as a staging area for immigration enforcement. According to Olivares, in one instance, agents illegally detained a woman on 53rd and Ashland and dropped her off 1.5 miles away behind the Dollar Tree at Yards Plaza. The woman had to walk home. Although she was released, her husband and another man were taken that day despite a pending asylum case and an upcoming court hearing.

Through calls and emails, youth and advocacy groups have tried to put pressure on the owners of Yards Plaza, Friedman Properties, in the hopes that they would protect the community members that shop there and reside nearby. To date, Olivares and the youth have not received a response from Friedman Properties.

The Weekly reached out to Friedman Properties for comment but did not receive a response.

Security guards will also have to go through this training, which Jaimes said

“That’s why we decided to continue the fight. We are going to put the pressure now on the businesses who are holding this space and are letting other people invade our space,” Olivares said.

Evelyn, who asked that her last name be withheld for safety concerns, managed her parents’ stand at Swap-O-Rama the weekend after the raid out of precaution for them. She said it’s usually full of shoppers and vendors by 9:00am.

“There are people that have been coming here for years,” she said, “and this is the first time I have not seen them.” ¬

José Abonce is the senior program manager for the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative and a freelance reporter who focuses on immigration, public safety, politics, and race.

A sign outside Swap-O-Rama reads “No ICE access in this business.”

Photo by Caeli Kean

Maritza Jaimes stands in front of her parents’ western wear booth at Swap-ORama, where she has helped sell clothing since childhood. Photo by Caeli Kean

Vendedores exigen seguridad tras redada de ICE en Swap-O-Rama

Una caótica redada federal

dejó

conmocionados

a los vendedores del histórico mercado del sur de Chicago. Ahora exigen mayores protecciones.

POR JOSÉ ABONCE TRADUCIDO POR ALMA CAMPOS

El jueves 16 de octubre, Cynthia Olivares tomó su bolsa de cintura donde guarda su identificación, una copia de su pasaporte, tarjetas con información sobre sus derechos y una toallita húmeda por si llegara a haber exposición a gas lacrimógeno. Junto con un compañero, recorrió las calles del Barrio de las Empacadoras, conocido como Back of the Yards, para realizar una vigilancia comunitaria contra la migra (migra watch). Cuando Olivares salió

a patrullar, ya circulaban reportes en el vecindario sobre la presencia de agentes federales de inmigración. Mientras recorrían las calles donde en semanas recientes se habían visto agentes, se toparon con una redada en curso en el Swap-O-Rama, ubicado en el 4100 de la calle Ashland, donde los agentes federales finalmente detuvieron a quince personas.

Durante décadas, Swap-O-Rama ha sido un sitio muy conocido en el sur de Chicago. Es un extenso mercado al

aire libre donde cientos de vendedores inmigrantes, en su mayoría latinos, rentan pequeños puestos para vender desde botas y vestidos de quinceañera hasta cargadores de teléfono y artículos para el hogar. La sede del Barrio de las Empacadoras, una de varias en la región, ha operado por más de treinta años y atrae a miles de compradores cada fin de semana.

La redada en Swap-O-Rama tuvo lugar apenas diez días después de que el alcalde Brandon Johnson recordara a los

negocios su derecho a negar la entrada a agentes federales y firmara una orden ejecutiva que prohíbe el uso de propiedades municipales para operativos de inmigración. Olivares recuerda haber visto a hombres ingresar al lugar vestidos con uniformes de estilo militar. Más tarde llegaron agentes federales encapuchados, sin insignias ni números de identificación visibles, en alrededor de diez vehículos. Dijo que cuando la gente intentó cerrar las puertas para impedirles la entrada, los

INMIGRACIÓN

agentes las abrieron por la fuerza, pese a los gritos de que se encontraban en propiedad privada.

Videos publicados en redes sociales muestran una escena caótica mientras los vendedores corrían intentando alejarse. Algunos buscaron refugio sobre baños portátiles. Una madre suplicó a los agentes que la dejaran ir, diciendo que tenía hijos de los que debía cuidar, mientras la arrastraban.

En un momento, Olivares presenció cómo un hombre detenido lanzó su cartera hacia una persona que estaba cerca, pero los agentes la arrebataron de nuevo, alegando que las pertenencias personales debían permanecer con el detenido.

“Las cosas que creíamos establecidas— las leyes, los derechos constitucionales— parecían haber desaparecido en ese momento”, dijo Olivares.

Después de la redada, Olivares contó que tuvo un intercambio tenso con el subgerente de Swap-O-Rama, quien le dijo que los vendedores sabían que no existía un protocolo de seguridad en caso de que llegaran agentes federales. Olivares dijo que la falta de preparación fue un golpe duro para los vendedores y compradores que esperaban protección. El Weekly se comunicó con la administración de SwapO-Rama para solicitar comentarios, pero no obtuvo respuesta.

La oficina de ICE en Chicago no respondió a preguntas sobre el operativo, incluyendo si los agentes estuvieron presentes en el lugar, cuántas personas fueron detenidas o si contaban con órdenes judiciales para ingresar a la propiedad.

Un vendedor de muchos años que se identificó como Gebahet Bustamante dijo que ese día contó con alrededor de setenta y cinco agentes. Contó que los enfrentó y les preguntó si tenían nombres o una lista de las personas que buscaban, pero los agentes lo ignoraron.

Un video del incidente que Bustamante publicó en Facebook generó comentarios que pedían un boicot a Swap-O-Rama, pero él dijo que no es fácil dejar el lugar. Las ventas no serían las mismas en otro sitio, debido a la popularidad del mercado en comparación con otros lugares.

Otro vendedor, Mario —quien pidió que no se usara su apellido debido a su estatus migratorio—, y su esposa han vendido joyería y bocinas en Swap-ORama durante veintiocho años. Como muchos otros vendedores, no abrieron

su puesto el fin de semana después de la redada. Desde entonces, las ventas han caído drásticamente. Mario, Bustamante y otros han pedido que se les reduzca la renta mensual hasta enero, ya que anticipan que las ventas seguirán bajas debido a la reciente redada y la inquietud que ha causado entre vendedores y clientes por igual.

“Trabajemos o no, siempre hemos pagado a Swap-O-Rama lo que debemos”, dijo Mario. “Así que creo que, considerando lo que pasó y todo el tiempo que hemos estado aquí, merecemos algo.”

Los vendedores explicaron que, tras la redada, dudaron en acercarse individualmente a la administración o a los dueños, porque cuando en el pasado han expresado sus preocupaciones, los han etiquetado como ‘problemáticos’ y les han quitado su puesto o espacio en el piso.

Por eso buscaron la ayuda de Maritza Jaimes, vendedora de muchos años en Swap-O-Rama y abogada de inmigración. Ella ha ayudado a sus padres a vender ropa vaquera durante más de veinte años, los fines de semana, desde que tenía cinco años.

Aunque Jaimes prefiere dejar su identidad profesional a un lado cuando vende camisas los fines de semana, la redada y el impacto que tuvo en los vendedores la motivaron a actuar. Redactó una carta que fue firmada por más de cien vendedores y enviada a los dueños de Swap-O-Rama.

Jaimes luego se reunió con los abogados corporativos de Swap-ORama, quienes atendieron algunas de las inquietudes planteadas por los vendedores. En la reunión, Jaimes repasó una lista de

según Jaimes, es importante ya que suelen rotar y turnarse para vigilar la entrada. Pero a pesar de estas nuevas medidas de seguridad, Swap-O-Rama se ha sentido vacío en los fines de semana posteriores a la redada. La mayoría de los puestos permanecen cerrados, con la mercancía guardada detrás de lonas y candados. Las áreas donde los vendedores solían colocar mesas en los grandes salones ahora están vacías, dejando al descubierto la cinta azul que marcaba los espacios donde normalmente se instalaban.

solicitudes que incluía colocar letreros que prohibieran el acceso de agentes federales sin una orden judicial firmada por un juez, asegurar las instalaciones y crear procedimientos en caso de que los agentes regresen.

Desde entonces, se han implementado algunos cambios.

En la entrada de Swap-O-Rama, la administración colocó letreros grandes en inglés y español en las cercas y puertas, informando a todas las fuerzas del orden y agentes de inmigración que no se les permite entrar en la propiedad privada sin una orden judicial válida firmada por un juez. Las puertas, que antes permanecían abiertas al flujo de compradores, ahora se mantienen cerradas, lo que permite al personal controlar mejor quién entra y quién sale.

Además, los empleados están recibiendo capacitación por parte de la administración sobre qué es una orden judicial y sobre el protocolo interno en caso de que los agentes vuelvan a presentarse—protocolos que Jaimes ayudó a revisar y perfeccionar. La capacitación incluye cómo documentar la presencia de ICE y los encuentros con agentes federales, anotar cuántas personas son detenidas, cómo van vestidos los agentes, si se identifican o no, y cómo responden ante las solicitudes del personal para ver una orden judicial. Si algún vendedor es detenido, su información ahora será compartida con organizaciones locales que ofrecen recursos a las personas detenidas.

Los guardias de seguridad también deberán recibir esta capacitación, lo cual,

Los vendedores dijeron que su renta de noviembre se redujo a la mitad, pero se espera que las ventas sigan bajas durante varios meses. Los clientes ahora pagan un dólar menos por la entrada. Algunos vendedores agradecieron estos pequeños gestos por parte del propietario. En adelante, los vendedores dijeron que quieren construir una relación de confianza con Swap-O-Rama a través de reuniones trimestrales con la administración que les permitan abordar juntos sus preocupaciones. Aunque los letreros colocados afuera podrían aumentar la percepción de seguridad entre los vendedores, algunos aún no se sienten seguros debido a los numerosos casos en que los agentes federales han ignorado la ley y los derechos constitucionales de las personas.

Jaimes, al igual que otros vendedores, ha escuchado los llamados a boicotear Swap-O-Rama, pero dice que es difícil porque no es la corporación la que sufriría las consecuencias de un boicot.

“Yo misma quiero boicotear a las grandes corporaciones, pero esto es muy diferente. Es un espacio tan único porque hay muchísimos vendedores latinos, así que boicotear este lugar afecta a muchas familias que dependen únicamente de estos ingresos”, dijo.

El Weekly se comunicó con la administración de Swap-O-Rama para solicitar comentarios, pero no obtuvo respuesta.

En los últimos meses, el Barrio de las Empacadoras ha experimentado una fuerte presencia de operativos de inmigración que se han extendido mucho más allá de la redada en Swap-O-Rama.

Olivares dirige un programa con unos veinte jóvenes del vecindario que ahora recorren las calles y distribuyen materiales sobre los derechos de las personas, después de que circularan reportes de que agentes

Huaraches tejidos a mano colgados a la venta dentro de Swap-O-Rama.

Foto por Caeli Kean

estaban utilizando zonas comerciales del barrio para montar operativos.

Las tensiones entre los residentes y los dueños de los centros comerciales han ido en aumento debido al uso de propiedades privadas por parte de los agentes en otras áreas también.

En las últimas semanas, grupos de respuesta rápida en la zona han documentado varias ocasiones en que agentes federales utilizaron el centro comercial Yards Plaza, ubicado en el 4636 de la calle South Damen, como punto de reunión para operativos de inmigración.

Según Olivares, en una ocasión los agentes detuvieron ilegalmente a una mujer en la 53 y Ashland y la dejaron a una milla y media de distancia, detrás de la Dollar Tree en Yards Plaza. La mujer tuvo que regresar caminando a su casa. Aunque fue liberada, su esposo y otro hombre fueron detenidos ese mismo día, a pesar de tener un caso de asilo pendiente y una audiencia pendiente en la corte.

A través de llamadas y correos

Sombreros, cinturones y gabanes de estilo vaquero a la venta dentro de Swap-ORama. Foto por Caeli Kean

electrónicos, los jóvenes y los grupos de defensa han intentado presionar a los dueños de Yards Plaza, Friedman Properties, con la esperanza de que protejan a los miembros

de la comunidad que compran allí y viven cerca. Hasta ahora, Olivares y los jóvenes no han recibido respuesta de Friedman Properties.

El Weekly se comunicó con Friedman Properties para solicitar comentarios, pero no obtuvo respuesta.

“Por eso decidimos continuar la lucha. Ahora vamos a poner la presión en los negocios que tienen este espacio y que están permitiendo que otros invadan nuestro espacio”, dijo Olivares.

Evelyn, quien pidió no revelar su apellido por motivos de seguridad, atendió el puesto de sus padres en SwapO-Rama el fin de semana posterior a la redada por precaución para ellos. Dijo que normalmente el lugar está lleno de compradores y vendedores a las nueve de la mañana.

“Hay personas que han venido aquí durante años”, dijo, “y esta es la primera vez que no los he visto.” ¬

José Abonce es gerente principal de programas en Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative y periodista independiente enfocado en inmigración, seguridad pública, política y raza.

Cook County Board Reapproves Contract with

ICE-Linked Data Firm as Raids Sweep Chicago

Four years after first being warned that a contract risked exposing immigrant data to ICE, Cook County approved another renewal—this time with advocates and commissioners voicing frustration that stronger safeguards are still missing.

BY ALMA CAMPOS

Last week, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 7–0 to renew a one-year, $1 million contract with data broker Appriss Insights, with 10 commissioners voting “present.”

In August, the Weekly reported that the county’s arrangement with Appriss could be allowing federal agents to obtain the personal data of thousands of immigrants, potentially exposing them to deportation.

Appriss manages the state’s Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system, which alerts crime victims and family members when an accused person’s jail or court status changes. The service is considered essential for public safety and compliance with victims’ rights

laws, but a clause in the contract referencing “Risk Solutions” permits data to be shared or sold to third parties.

Advocates argue the county could continue offering the same service without relying on Appriss, whose parent company, Equifax, best known for consumer credit reporting.

This isn’t the first time the issue has come up. For years, advocates and commissioners have urged the county to take stronger action by specifically removing a “Risk Solutions” clause from the contract, or by amending the county’s ICE Detainer Ordinance to eliminate any possibility that personal information could be accessed by federal immigration authorities through

third-party vendors.

This year, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) proposed only one change to the contract: a single sentence meant to bar the company and its subcontractors from directly sharing data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While officials described the amendment as a step toward stronger protections, advocates and several commissioners questioned whether the fix actually closes the loophole.

During the meeting, Commissioner Alma Anaya (7th District) noted that other jurisdictions, such as New York City, have successfully strengthened their contracts to

limit data sharing with law enforcement. “It means we can too,” she said.

After Thursday’s vote, Anaya told the Weekly that New York’s contract with Appriss does not contain a Risk Solutions clause. “This means that any data shared between New York City and Appriss stays entirely within New York. Third-party vendors are not allowed to gain access and are not allowed to share that data to others. It is critical that Cook County’s contract also eliminate the Risk Solutions clause.”

Laura Rivera, a senior staff attorney with Just Futures Law, said the amendment does little to stop ICE from obtaining Cook County data through other agencies. “The amendment won’t be effective,”

Rivera said. “Cutting off access to ICE through that pipeline won’t prevent other agencies from sharing access with ICE. We need to go upstream and strike the Risk Solutions clause entirely.”

Rivera called that clause language tied to Appriss “a euphemism authorizing Appriss to sell data to law-enforcement agencies across the country.”

Jacinta González, a member of Mijente and longtime immigrant-rights organizer, said the board’s inaction felt especially alarming given the ongoing federal raids in Chicago.

“It is incredibly disappointing to, in this moment where helicopters are going over neighborhoods, where parents are being shot in the street, that they’re not taking more decisive action,” González said. “We’re going to continue to push to not only ensure that the Risk Solutions clause is taken out of the current contract, but also ensure that the data loophole on the Detainer Ordinance is closed.”

González acknowledged that the amendment was an attempt to prevent ICE from obtaining data from VINE.

“But sadly, it’s not enough,” she said. “Equifax and LexisNexis can still sell our information to anyone they wish. Our communities cannot afford to wait another year while this data sharing continues.”

During the board discussion, Anaya thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office for the new clause but said the county must ensure “any information we have is not turned over for the profit of private companies.” She noted that “other jurisdictions have been able to do it, which means we can too.”

Commissioner Bridget Gainer (10th District) pressed for a broader standard during the debate.

“We don’t sell public data,” she said. “If the answer to whether we’re selling or paying less for a contract because we allow data to be sold isn’t no, then we have to push back.”

Gainer also voiced frustration that the issue had already come up last year without resolution.

“This came up last year, and we were supposed to get a report back on what progress had been made,” she said. “We’ve had these conversations before, but we can’t

keep having the same conversation over and over again.”

The State’s Attorney’s Office said this renewal will be the final extension under the 2021 agreement, and a new procurement for victim-notification services will begin before the next term starts in November 2026.

According to 2021 Cook County Board records, Cook County approved an initial $786,000 sole-source contract with Appriss Insights that included the clause referencing Risk Solutions, a brand tied to LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which holds multimillion-dollar contracts with ICE.

Since then, two consecutive increases have pushed the contract’s value to about $1.06 million. The amendment approved Thursday adds $278,764 for 2025–26, with funds coming from the State’s Attorney’s Office budget. It was introduced as a sole-source procurement, meaning no competitive bids were solicited.

A public-records request by Just Futures Law showed clear links between Appriss, LexisNexis, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. From March to September 2021, ICE’s Chicago Field Office ran more than 13,000 searches in the LexisNexis database, generating about 1,800 reports for immigration enforcement. Nationally, ICE accessed data on more than 276 million people in just seven months, the kind of data-sharing risk Cook County’s sanctuary policy was meant to prevent.

The Weekly filed a similar FOIA in

June asking for documents that would show how ICE’s Chicago Field Office has used LexisNexis and Appriss data since 2021. The agency still hasn’t responded.

Advocates said they’re not asking the county to get rid of the VINE system. They just want Cook County to run it without the Risk Solutions clause. “We’re not against keeping survivors informed,” Rivera said. “But why are we paying for a system that also fuels deportations?”

The CCSAO refused to respond to the Weekly’s emailed questions about whether it conducted a privacy review before the renewal.

The renewal leaves the county with another year under a system its own leaders have warned could undermine its sanctuary promise. As raids intensify and the market for personal data expands, advocates say the clock is running out for the county to choose between public safety and private profit.

“If we had done this four years ago… who knows what impact that would have had,” González said. “We’ve been fighting against ICE for a long time. We’ve always known that ICE is a rogue agency that doesn’t respect people’s rights, that is violent, that will murder people. We’re in a moment where everyone can see it and the amount of data and information that is getting is getting bigger and bigger and I don't think folks quite understand the magnitude of it.” ¬

Alma Campos is the Weekly’s immigration reporter and project editor.

Graphic: Shane Tolentino

Junta del Condado de Cook renueva contrato con empresa de datos vinculados a ICE

Cuatro años después de haber sido advertido por primera vez de que un contrato podría exponer datos de inmigrantes al Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE), el Condado de Cook aprobó otra renovación; esta vez, activistas y comisionados expresaron su frustración porque aún faltan medidas de seguridad más estrictas.

POR ALMA CAMPOS TRADUCIDO POR GISELA OROZCO

La semana pasada, la Junta de Comisionados del Condado de Cook votó 7-0 a favor de renovar un contrato de un año por un millón de dólares con la empresa de análisis de datos Appriss Insights; 10 comisionados se abstuvieron de votar. En agosto, el Weekly informó que el acuerdo del condado con Appriss podría permitir que agentes federales accedieran a la información personal de miles de inmigrantes, exponiéndolos a la deportación.

Appriss administra el sistema estatal de Información y Notificación Diaria a las Víctimas (VINE), que alerta a las víctimas de delitos y a sus familiares cuando cambia la situación judicial o carcelaria de una persona acusada. El servicio se considera esencial para la seguridad pública y el cumplimiento de las leyes de derechos de las víctimas, pero una cláusula del contrato que hace referencia a “Soluciones de Riesgo” permite que dichos datos se compartan o se vendan a terceros.

Los defensores argumentan que el condado puede seguir ofreciendo el mismo servicio sin depender de Appriss, cuya empresa matriz, Equifax, es conocida principalmente por sus informes de crédito para consumidores.

Esta no es la primera vez que surge este problema. Durante años, activistas y comisionados han instado al condado a tomar medidas más enérgicas, eliminando específicamente la cláusula de “Soluciones de Riesgo” del contrato o modificando la Orden de Detención del ICE del condado

para eliminar cualquier posibilidad de que las autoridades federales de inmigración accedan a la información personal a través de proveedores externos.

Este año, la Fiscalía del Condado de Cook (CCSAO) propuso un único cambio al contrato: una frase que prohíbe a la empresa y a sus subcontratistas compartir datos directamente con el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE).

Si bien los funcionarios describieron la enmienda como un paso hacia una mayor protección, activistas y varios comisionados cuestionaron si la medida realmente cierra la brecha legal.

Durante la reunión, la comisionada Alma Anaya (Distrito 7) señaló que otras jurisdicciones, como la ciudad de Nueva York, han fortalecido con éxito sus contratos para limitar el intercambio de datos con las fuerzas del orden. “Eso significa que nosotros también podemos”, destacó.

Tras la votación del jueves, Anaya declaró al Weekly que el contrato de Nueva York con Appriss no incluye una cláusula de Soluciones de Riesgo. “Esto significa que cualquier dato compartido entre la ciudad de Nueva York y Appriss permanece exclusivamente en Nueva York. Los proveedores externos no tienen permiso para acceder a esos datos ni para compartirlos con terceros. Es fundamental que el contrato del Condado de Cook también elimine la cláusula de Soluciones de Riesgo”, explicó.

Laura Rivera, abogada principal de

Just Futures Law, afirmó que la enmienda no impide que el ICE obtenga datos del Condado de Cook a través de otras agencias.

“La enmienda no será efectiva”, declaró Rivera. “Eliminar el acceso de ICE a través de esa vía no impedirá que otras agencias compartan el acceso con ICE. Necesitamos ir a la raíz del problema y eliminar por completo la cláusula de Soluciones de Riesgo”.

Rivera calificó la redacción de esa cláusula relativa a Appriss como “un eufemismo que autoriza a Appriss a vender datos a agencias policiales de todo el país”.

Jacinta González, miembro de Mijente y activista por los derechos de los inmigrantes desde hace mucho tiempo, expresó que la falta de acción de la junta resultaba especialmente alarmante, debido a los operativos federales continuos en Chicago.

“Es increíblemente decepcionante que, en este momento en que helicópteros sobrevuelan vecindarios y padres son baleados en la calle, no se tomen medidas más decisivas”, dijo González. “Vamos a seguir presionando para que no sólo se elimine la cláusula de Risk Solutions del contrato actual, sino también para que se cierre la laguna legal en la Ordenanza de Detención”.

González reconoció que la enmienda era un intento de impedir que ICE obtuviera datos de VINE. “Pero lamentablemente, no es suficiente”, destacó. “Equifax y LexisNexis aún pueden vender nuestra

información a quien quieran. Nuestras comunidades no pueden permitirse esperar otro año mientras continúa este intercambio de datos”.

Durante la reunión de la junta, Anaya agradeció a la Fiscalía Estatal la nueva cláusula, pero dijo que el condado debe garantizar que “ninguna información que tengamos se entregue para el beneficio de empresas privadas”. Señaló que “otras jurisdicciones lo han logrado, por lo que nosotros también podemos”.

La comisionada Bridget Gainer (Distrito 10) abogó por un criterio más amplio durante el debate.

“No vendemos datos públicos”, afirmó. “Si la respuesta a la pregunta de si estamos vendiendo o pagando menos por un contrato porque permitimos que se vendan datos no es ‘no’, entonces debemos oponernos”.

Gainer también expresó su frustración porque el tema ya se había planteado el año pasado, sin que se le hubiera dado solución.

“Esto se trató el año pasado y se suponía que recibiríamos un informe sobre los avances logrados”, agregó. “Ya hemos tenido estas conversaciones antes, pero no podemos seguir repitiendo lo mismo una y otra vez”.

La Fiscalía Estatal informó que esta renovación será la última prórroga del acuerdo de 2021 y que se iniciará un nuevo proceso de licitación para servicios de notificación a víctimas antes del comienzo del próximo mandato en noviembre de 2026.

Condado de Cook de 2021, el condado aprobó un contrato inicial de $786,000 con Appriss Insights, adjudicado directamente a la empresa. Dicho contrato incluía una cláusula que hacía referencia a Risk Solutions, marca vinculada a LexisNexis Risk Solutions, empresa que mantiene contratos multimillonarios con ICE.

Desde entonces, dos aumentos consecutivos han elevado el valor del contrato a aproximadamente $1.06 millones. La enmienda aprobada el jueves añade $278,764 para el período 2025-2026, con fondos provenientes del presupuesto de la Fiscalía Estatal. Se presentó como una licitación directa, es decir, sin licitación pública.

Una solicitud de acceso a la información pública presentada por Just Futures Law reveló vínculos claros entre Appriss, LexisNexis e ICE. De marzo a septiembre de 2021, la Oficina de Campo de ICE en Chicago realizó más de 13,000 búsquedas en la base de datos LexisNexis, generando aproximadamente 1,800 informes para la aplicación de las leyes de inmigración. A nivel nacional, ICE accedió a datos de más de 276 millones de personas en tan sólo siete meses, lo cual es el tipo de riesgo de intercambio de datos que la política de santuario del Condado de Cook buscaba prevenir.

En junio, el Weekly presentó una solicitud similar de acceso a la Ley de Libertad de Información (FOIA), solicitando documentos que demostraran cómo desde 2021, la Oficina de Campo de ICE en Chicago ha utilizado los datos de LexisNexis y Appriss. La agencia aún no ha respondido.

Los activistas afirmaron que no piden

al condado que elimine el sistema VINE. Simplemente quieren que el Condado de Cook lo administre sin la cláusula de Risk Solutions. “No nos oponemos a mantener informadas a las víctimas”, señaló Rivera. “¿Pero por qué estamos pagando por un sistema que también fomenta las deportaciones?”.

La CCSAO se negó a responder a las preguntas enviadas por correo electrónico del Weekly sobre si, antes de la renovación, realizó una revisión de privacidad.

La renovación deja al condado con un año más bajo un sistema que, según han advertido sus propios líderes, puede debilitar su promesa de ser un lugar santuario. A medida que se intensifican las redadas y se expande el mercado de datos personales, los activistas afirman que se le acaba el tiempo al condado para elegir entre la seguridad pública y el lucro privado.

“Si hubiéramos hecho esto hace cuatro años… quién sabe qué impacto habría tenido”, destacó González. “Hemos estado luchando contra ICE durante mucho tiempo. Siempre hemos sabido que ICE es una agencia corrupta que no respeta los derechos de las personas, violenta y dispuesta a asesinar a personas. Estamos en un momento en el que todos pueden verlo, y la cantidad de datos e información que se obtiene es cada vez mayor; no creo que la gente comprenda del todo la magnitud del problema”. ¬

Alma Campos es reportera y editora del proyecto de inmigración del Weekly

Foto por Paul Goyette

Doing Time investigates the daily life of people navigating court and jail. We focus on Cook County, home to the country’s largest single-site jail, and the courts that order people’s release or jailing. Readers of this series will hear from insiders, formerly incarcerated people, loved ones, policy experts, and government actors to establish the forces that shape the everyday experience of doing time.

The Property Maze

During arrest, people are separated from their property. Getting it back is not easy.

BY MICAH CLARK MOODY, MAHEEN KHAN

No keys, no card, nothing.” On a hot night last August, Antuan found himself standing outside Cook County Jail in Little Village, wondering how he was going to get home at 1:30am.

“The thought process at the moment was like, ‘Wow, it’s pretty late to be being released from jail,’” Antuan said. “Everything’s not running right now, like buses, the trains are shut down because it’s so late.”

With no other options, Antuan walked more than half a mile to Western Ave. and took the 24-hour bus south to his apartment on 35th street. There, another challenge awaited.

“You don’t have your car keys, you don’t have your door keys, you don’t have your debit card, you don’t have anything,” he said.

He knocked on a neighbor’s window. Despite it being the middle of the night, Antuan’s neighbor and property manager

helped him back into his apartment.

As it turned out, getting home was the easy part. Since his debit card was still in the hands of the police, he had no way to get money. Withdrawing money from the bank or collecting his property required a

Department (CPD) facility in Homan Square, six miles away on the West Side.

Like the tens of thousands of people arrested in Chicago each year, Antuan would have to navigate the labyrinthine property system to get his ID, debit card,

“I didn’t have nothing. Not a phone, not a bus card, not a shoestring.”

photo ID, which the police also had. He had no way of paying the $200 ticket an officer had written during the arrest.

Antuan went to the police station where he was first arrested to collect his stuff. But getting it back wouldn’t be so simple. Since he’d been in jail for more than ninety-six hours, his property had been transferred from the precinct where he’d been booked to a Chicago Police

and keys back. He’d have to do it quickly, or risk losing his personal belongings forever.

ARREST

During arrest, police officers confiscate people’s property, including medicine, keys, wallets, and phones.

Officers then take them to a police station for processing. For some arrest charges, people are released directly from the police station. For others, people are transferred to the Sheriff’s custody in Cook County Jail.

Chicago police and the Cook County Sheriff move people separately from their property.

The departments’ policy directives both instruct police officers to keep most property at the precinct but to send essentials—such as keys, credit card, medicine, wedding rings without stones— to the jail. At release, people are supposed to exit the jail with their essentials.

Everything else a person has on them when arrested is kept at the precinct where they were booked. Per CPD policy, this non-essential property should stay at the precinct for at least ninety-six hours before being moved to Homan Square. Suburban police departments have separate property policies.

illustration by Harley Pomper

property was jewelry people were wearing at arrest.

In some cases, destroyed items included essentials like keys, government IDs, and credit cards.

The data shows that in just the first half of this year, CPD destroyed about 9,700 items they took from arrested people. Nearly half of it was clothing: 800 hats, hundreds of jackets, pants, and sweaters, and fifteen pairs of shoes their owners would never see again. Police destroyed nearly 900 cell phones and almost 500 wallets—along with twenty-seven food stamp cards, twenty Ventra cards, twelve government IDs, five inventory receipts for property from previous arrests, five social security cards, and five birth certificates.

There was also one destroyed button that read: “I Am Dad 365.”

Municipal police departments in Cook County such as CPD have slightly different policy directives from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). CCSO’s property policy does not place a limit on the number of credit cards, transit cards, and IDs that can be stored at the jail, for example. Meanwhile, CPD’s policy on essential items only allows for one public transportation card, one government ID, and one credit card to be transferred to the jail.

some closing as early as 2:30pm.

Jacob (whose name the Weekly has changed at his request), was arrested in suburban Maywood two days before his twenty-second birthday. His first stop was the hospital.

“I got stabbed before I got arrested,” Jacob said. “So I sat at the hospital for, not even a whole day, [almost] a day, and then they discharged me from the hospital. That's when I took the ride.”

Jacob’s “ride” was police driving him from the hospital to Cook County Jail. At the jail, sheriffs said they could not take Jacob and his property. So the police drove Jacob over half an hour from the jail to Maywood police station, processed his arrest, and drove him back to jail.

Jacob was released at around 2am, two days after he arrived at the jail and four days after the stabbing and subsequent arrest. The street lights were out. He was wearing the same clothes that he was arrested in, cut up from being treated at the hospital, and by that time worn for four days in a row. Like the other interviewees, he had been released with none of his personal belongings.

“I didn’t have nothing. Not a phone, not a bus card, not a shoestring.”

there around 3am.

But it turned out the Maywood property desk was open during business hours, from 9am–5pm.

“They told me I can’t get my stuff until ten o’clock the next morning.”

Exhausted, but with no other option, Jacob went home and returned the following day. He was able to get back his personal belongings—or most of them, anyway. In those three days the police had lost his shoelaces.

COLLECTING PROPERTY FROM HOMAN

Open to the public, MondayFriday, 8AM-3PM” reads a sign next to a plain, unmarked black door at the Homan Square police facility. Aside from a couple signs at the nearby high school and police parking lot pointing in the direction of the door, there is no other way to tell that this is the main property desk for the entire city of Chicago.

That directive does not apply to evidence taken by police or property seized under civil asset forfeiture According to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, 90 percent of asset forfeiture cases involve a vehicle and most underlying cases are for non-violent crimes like drug possession or driving without a license. For this story, we focused solely on personal belongings not considered evidence or asset forfeiture.

Interviews with people released from Cook County Jail and the Weekly’s review of property records obtained from CPD via a public-records request show that the police take a staggering amount of personal property from Chicagoans like Antuan. In the first six months of 2025, CPD took more than 89,000 pieces of property from Chicagoans during arrest. One out of every five pieces of property was not recovered—11 percent was destroyed and 3 percent sold. Most sold

CPD did not answer questions about whether it violated its policy by keeping and later destroying essential items like government IDs.

“Chicago Police could easily address the hardship caused by people’s property not being transferred to the jail by transferring fewer people to the jail,” read a statement provided by the Cook County Public Defender’s Office. “People released directly from police stations with a notice to appear in court are in a far better position to consult an attorney and make plans for their employment and for childcare in order to appear at initial court hearings.”

COLLECTING PROPERTY FROM POLICE PRECINCTS

When people are released at the police station, they can collect their property before leaving. In Chicago, property desks at each police station are open 24/7, but suburban police departments can have shorter hours, with

Jacob waited for his ride to get there, concerned for his safety in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar neighborhood. All he wanted to do was get home and let his people know he was okay. When his ride found him, they went to the Maywood police station to collect his things, getting

Just after 8am on a Tuesday morning in May, Zachary walked south from the Green Line towards Homan Square. He arrived at the unmarked black door only to find it closed.

A few minutes after 8:30am a woman holding a large pink slushie and wearing a Chicago Police Department uniform arrived, unlocking the door and letting the people waiting outside into the property

Door to enter the property pickup area of the Chicago Police Department. The door is unmarked but for a small sign to the right reading “OPEN TO THE PUBLIC MONDAYFRIDAY 8AM-3PM” in english. There is a small slit window in the heavy black door and a security camera pointing directly at the entrance. Photo by Micah Clark Moody

A sign with directions to the property pickup area is attached to a fence one block South of the evidence and recovered property door. In the background is the brick Homan Square building and, to the left, the original Sears Tower.

Photo by Micah Clark Moody

That morning, at least four people came looking for the property desk. Everyone needed help finding the door and figuring out how to get in. It took most people over thirty minutes to get their belongings.

Zachary emerged from the property room confused.

He had been arrested the previous week and released two days later. When he was arrested, Zachary, who is unhoused, had all his belongings and hygiene items in a black backpack that was processed as property by CPD.

Zachary started looking for his backpack around 7am at the CPD First District in Bronzeville, where he was booked. Officers looked up his property and explained it had been moved to Homan Square. Officers wrote out his property number and the address on a small sheet of paper, and Zachary took the Green Line train over an hour to Homan Square.

read a statement provided by the CCSO spokesperson. “The Correctional Liaison will then have the [inmate in custody] sign a property release document and the release document will be in the lobby when the visitor arrives.”

After an incarcerated person finds someone to gather their property and shares this legal letter with CPD, their loved one has to travel to Homan and navigate the property pickup.

waiting, Antuan felt lucky his property was intact.

But at Homan Square, they told Zachary his property was at the First District. They printed out a new copy of his property receipt and sent him back south.

“I just came from there,” Zachary said. “I already been there. [Inside Homan Square] he’s saying it’s still there, but the lady at that front desk told me it’s here.”

According to CPD’s property records, Zachary’s backpack was destroyed.

Zachary was arrested for retail theft. This is the second most common charge for people whose property is destroyed after an arrest. People arrested for retail theft made up 4.7 percent of those whose property was taken and 8.6 percent of people whose property was destroyed.

GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO GET PROPERTY

As of October 29, there were 4,502 people in Cook County Jail who had been incarcerated for more than thirty days, and 155 people who had been incarcerated before a conviction or trial for more than five years. When someone is in jail, their property is destroyed after thirty days unless someone outside goes to pick up property in their place.

CPD’s public directive on property seized by the department says incarcerated people can retrieve property by “sending

a letter instructing [CPD Evidence and Recovered Property Section] to whom the property should be released, identifying the name of the facility where you are jailed or incarcerated, and providing a copy of your receipt and your photo ID.”

The instructions do not include guidance on how someone in jail could print and mail a copy of their photo ID.

In Cook County Jail, people fill out a form that must be physically picked up from the jail by a visitor who can then go to a police station to collect property.

“Any individual in custody at the Jail may request to have a person of their choice pick up their property held by the Chicago Police Department by simply letting their Correctional Liaison know when they visit the living unit in the morning,”

Losing property “creates a whole ‘nother hassle, another way you have to spend money,” Antuan said, “because now you have to try to retrieve birth certificate, ID and social security card all over again as well as your cell phone and whatever vital information that was in that phone… Everything is just meant to create more anxiety for you. For something that you own.”

“It's like, wait, I own this stuff.”

PROPERTY DESTROYED AFTER THIRTY DAYS

Antuan was released without phone, keys, or ID on Friday night and made it to Homan Square first thing Monday morning.

Chicago Police Department policy is to keep property for thirty days. After that, it is considered abandoned and can potentially be disposed of. According to the Chicago municipal code regarding seized property, it can be disposed of in three ways: property can be forfeited to the city for its use, it can be destroyed, or it can be sold through online public auction. The CPD superintendent makes that decision.

Picking up property requires “owner’s copy of the inventory and proper proof of identity,” but Antuan’s photo ID was in his wallet. It took some back-and-forth, but he was able to convince the officers to return his keys, ID and debit card along

Despite the long bus rides and

“Let’s just say you have to happen to sit in jail for maybe forty-five days,” Antuan said. “They'll destroy your property, ID, social security card, cell phones, everything, your wallet, they'll destroy it. They’ll say that you have to have, like, a family member come and pick it up. And there’s situations where people don’t have family members or loved ones to go pick their things up, and then your property will be destroyed.” ¬

Micah Clark Moody is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Northwestern University. She has investigated pretrial jailing systems in Michigan, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Maheen Khan is the Director of Technology at the Invisible Institute. She has been a part of the mutual aid group, Chicago Community Jail Support, for four years.

Spot illustration by Steph Zimba

Zachary holds the note from the First District in his left hand and the Property Slip from Homan Square in his right hand. Photo by Micah Clark Moody

Spot illustration by Steph Zimba

BY MALACHI HAYES

Welcome to the South Side Sports Roundup! Check back every month for the latest news and updates on everything South Side sports fans need to know.

Bears survive epic collapse with lastminute comeback

In late October, on the heels of their first four-game win streak since 2018, it seemed as if a new era had dawned in Chicago Bears football under the leadership of coach Ben Johnson.

Then came a reality-check 30-16 loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens on October 26. A week later, their defense utterly collapsed in the final two minutes of their shootout with the Cincinnati Bengals, blowing a late 14-point lead in shocking fashion. It appeared to be yet another chapter in the Bears’ timehonored tradition of giving fans just enough to generate excitement before slapping them back to reality.

But the winds of change keep blowing. Caleb Williams took the ball with 54 seconds remaining, and four plays later connected with rookie tight end Colston Loveland on a 58-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 47-42 lead and their fifth win of the season. Loveland, the team’s first round pick in the 2025 draft, enjoyed a breakout game, picking up 118 yards on six catches along with the first two touchdowns of his career.

Even more impressive was rookie seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai (pronounced muh-nung-eye), who made his first career start with fellow running backs D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson injured. He responded with an electric 176 rushing yards on 26 carries, the most prolific rushing game for the

Bears this season. Even when typical starter Swift returns from a groin injury, Monangai figures to play a prominent role in the Bears offense moving forward, and is a name to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.

The Bears play at Soldier Field this coming Sunday, taking on the struggling New York Giants at noon. At 5-3, they are tied with the Detroit Lions for second place in the NFC North, just a hair behind the Green Bay Packers (5-2-1). They’ll next play the Packers on December 7, and the Lions on January 4, 2026.

Bulls off to best start since 1996

The 2025-26 NBA season tipped off last month, but basketball fans on the South Side have become used to a different kind of disappointment in recent years: crushing mediocrity.

The Chicago Bulls have finished with a losing record in seven of the past eight seasons, going more than a decade without a division title while still winning enough games to take themselves out of the running for a franchise-altering draft pick.

The Bulls entered this season projected to be well below-average by major media and analysts. Now, a shocking 5-0 start has left some analysts reconsidering their takes. It’s the first time the Bulls have started on such a high note since 1996, the fifth of Michael Jordan’s six championship seasons. The five-game win streak included statement wins over expected contenders in Detroit, Orlando, and New York, and all came without veteran guard Coby White, who remains out of the lineup with a calf injury.

The resurgence is being driven

by what might be the most eclectic and unexpected “Big Three” in recent memory. The team is led by big man Nikola Vučević, who’s embracing his role as a veteran leader and stepping his game up as a facilitator with a careerbest 4.3 assists per game on top of his typical workmanlike 19.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest. Then there’s twenty-three-year-old Australian and unorthodox point guard Josh Giddey, who’s sustained his surprise second-half surge from last season to the tune of 22.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game. Finally, you have young forward Matas Buzelis waiting in the wings, making good on what some predicted would be a breakout sophomore season with 16 points per game on 49 percent shooting. Buzelis, a Chicagoland native who attended Hinsdale Central High School, was selected with the eleventh overall pick in last year’s draft and averaged 8.6 points per game as a rookie.

White’s absence has also led to a chance for several of the team’s unheralded role players to shine. That includes Morgan Park High School and University of Illinois alum Ayo Dosunmu, whose 16.2 points and 58 percent shooting are career-bests, and sixth-year point guard Tre Jones, who’s stabilized the lineup with 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

With White expected to return to the fold in the coming weeks, the Bulls’ outlook may be rosier than most fans anticipated heading into the fall.

“The 10-5 [run] at the end of the last regular season, which I cautioned people against reading that much into… there’s something to it,” Chicago Sun-Times Bulls beat writer Joe Cowley, typically known as one of the organization’s harshest critics, recently opined. Also writing for the Sun-Times, Scoop Jackson may have put it most eloquently. “Things done changed; the Bulls done changed… [for] now, for being in this unexpected circumstance of unknown and way-too-

early-to-know truth, we can say that the potential within them has reared its beautiful head and shown us all that this has the potential to be their new norm.”

Fire finally reach playoffs, fall to Philadelphia Union

Several years after moving back into Soldier Field, the Chicago Fire seem to have finally put behind them nearly a decade of futility, sneaking into the Major League Soccer playoffs for the first time since 2017 by going unbeaten over their last five games of the regular season. Led by Belgian forward Hugo Cuypers, the Fire secured a full playoff berth with a 3-1 Wild Card round victory over Orlando City, earning a matchup with the formidable Philadelphia Union, who paced MLS this season with a 20-6-8 record (66 points).

The Fire battled the Union to a 2-2 draw in the first match of the best-ofthree set, with a last-gasp goal from Jack Elliott in the ninety-fourth minute nearly rescuing the match for Chicago. The subsequent penalty shootout, however, saw their luck finally run out with a 4-2 defeat. Their season then ended this past Saturday with a series-clinching 3-0 loss that was never particularly close.

The Union remain the favorites to take home the 2025 MLS Cup, which is currently held by the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Fire will spend the winter looking to build momentum under former Team USA manager Gregg Berhalter.

Malachi Hayes is a Bridgeport-based writer and South Side native.

Illustrations by Kristel Becares