CHICAGO – A large anti-ICE protest was held Tuesday evening in downtown Chicago.
Demonstrators started at Federal Plaza and were protesting ICE and other federal agents engaged in the mass deportations happening nationwide.
Images of people in Chicago being lured to immigration appointments before being detained are fresh in the minds of many. Comm’r. Jessica Vasquez saw what happened last Wednesday in the South Loop.
“I have never seen anything like, and I know I have a resident who was detained. She has a daughter at one of our elementary schools. She was the only parent in the city. What’s going to happen to what child?” Vasquez said.
Those protesting on Tuesday said solidarity is key.
“I feel like ICE is treating the immigrants wrong and they’re not giving them the freedom that everybody else should, so I feel like we should stand up and protest it, because that’s the right thing to do,” demonstrator Dezirre Harris said.
Dozens of protesters first gathered on East Adams Street outside an immigration court. Many of those protesters then joined with others at Federal Plaza later in the day.
The crowd then moved throughout the downtown streets, appearing to reach as far as DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Chants also filled the air for much of the day.
All appeared to be peaceful, but our cameras did catch a car appearing to drive through the crowd of marching protesters, narrowly missing them. It is unclear if the person in the vehicle has been apprehended by law enforcement.
A WGN-TV employee said he saw the car parked first on State and Monroe. The driver appeared to be taunting officers with a can of spray paint before she got in the car and drove through the protest.
In addition to the vehicle, WGN-TV crews saw a few skirmishes with police and a few people being detained.
The CTA temporarily suspended bus services in the Loop due to the protests affecting traffic in the area. No buses are running from North Avenue and Roosevelt Road, and Clinton Street to the Lake Front, according to the CTA.
Officials added some buses may experience major delays from congestion as routes approach the Loop area and return back in the other direction.
The CTA suggests customers utilize the ‘L’ trains if possible as an alternative.
Sources also told WGN-TV that CTA and Chicago Police Department vehicles were damaged, but it is unclear how many were damaged at this time.
Tensions in Los Angeles also remain high after President Trump sent the National Guard and Marines to the city of angels to assist with immigration raids.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) spoke Tuesday reflecting on the deployment of National Guardsmen to Los Angeles.
“Addressing it effectively means not grandstanding, but giving law enforcement the resources they need to control the situation,” Durbin said.
Durbin added on Tuesday what we’re seeing in Los Angeles is the first time the National Guard has been deployed for a domestic operation without the request of a governor since the 1960s, when the National Guard was sent to Alabama to protect Civil Rights demonstrations.
