This is not normal. Here's what you can do.
Dear Neighbor,
You may have seen this news story about an amazing young woman, Ofelia Torres, whose father was kidnapped by ICE agents while she was recovering from chemotherapy.
Ofelia is a constituent. I've met her. She came to my office back in June to talk to me about healthcare policy — about her own experiences in the system, and the structural changes we need to make to improve care for everyone. I can't tell you how impressed I was by her wisdom, her passion, her strength, and her sense of humor.
I'm so heartbroken and angry to know that her family has to deal with this crisis on top of everything else they're going through. I'm coordinating with our elected officials and legal representation to bring Ruben home. And of course, I know that this isn't the only family going through an ordeal like this. Hundreds of our neighbors — like Ruben, hardworking taxpayers with nothing more than a traffic ticket on their record — have been snatched from our streets.
This has been escalating in our area recently, as you've seen. As part of the Northwest Side Rapid Response Team, my staff has responded to ICE sightings throughout the district, witnessing and documenting multiple neighbors getting detained. A member of City Council who represents part of my district was detained at a hospital for asking a law enforcement officer for a warrant. Tear gas was deployed near a school just outside our district. Smoke grenades launched at a grocery store parking lot.
And that's just around here. Children were paraded naked in the street in the middle of the night in South Shore. A woman was shot repeatedly by a federal agent on the Southwest Side for the crime of following his car. The President has called for our governor and our mayor to be thrown in jail. The list goes on.
I want to say a few things to you all during these deeply upsetting days.
1. This is not normal. This is illegal and unconstitutional. It's a deliberate effort to terrorize our neighbors, to undermine the rule of law, and to use the military to concentrate power in the hands of the President at the expense of his political opponents. It's what dictators do. Trump wants to be one, and he's using Chicago as a proving ground.
2. We will survive this. In addition to the scenes of fear and violence, I've watched neighbors pick each other off the ground, wipe tear gas out of each other's eyes, stop ICE from attacking people. I've heard whistles blowing to let folks know that agents are near. I've seen neighborhood watches helping kids and parents get back and forth from home to school safely, watching parking lots and streets where ICE has been sighted. Just this weekend I saw hundreds of thousands of people crowd downtown to protest, maybe the largest single day of protest in American history. The Torres family's GoFundMe has raised almost $50,000 in three days — and Ofelia's promised to donate everything their family doesn't need to other families impacted by ICE.
Our community is organized, powerful, and resilient. They will leave, and we will still be here, together
3. I'm fighting back. Next week I'm headed back to Springfield for what's known as "veto session," the two-week fall session before we restart our work in January. We're working on a package of legislation to ensure ICE doesn't come into sensitive locations like hospitals, daycares, and educational settings. It's incredible to me that we need to write that into law, but we do, and we will.
4. You can fight back too. I was going to include a sign-up link to join a rapid response group that I'm supporting with Senator Graciela Guzmán and Northwest Side elected officials and organizations, but we've actually closed sign-ups because too many people want to volunteer. That alone is a huge testament to our community. I'll share that link and ways to plug into rapid response work as capacity opens back up. But until then, there is much you can do: Buy a whistle. Dine at Belmont Cragin restaurants — lots of their usual patrons aren't leaving home. Buy some elotes or tamales from your neighborhood cart and leave a nice tip, or donate to support eloteros and tamal vendors across the city. If a 5K is your thing (run or walk!), check this one out. Share know your rights information with your neighbors. You can grab some yard signs at the district office. Join the Illinois "Eyes on ICE" Text Network, ICIRR's text alert system around verified ICE activity.
And share Ofelia's story with anyone in your life who might think that all this is okay.
Please stay in touch with our office if there's anything we can do to help. And don't forget, the ICIRR Family Support Network Hotline is 1-855-435-7693. If you see ICE activity, or if someone is detained, please call that number to report it and for further support. You can also access free and low-cost immigration legal services here.
Stay safe,
Will
Bickerdike Housing Openings
Waitlists are opening for multiple Bickerdike Apartments. These apartments are quality, affordable housing located in Humboldt Park, Logan Square, West Town, and Wicker Park. Each waitlist is open until the application limit is reached. Find more information here. Applicants will receive your waitlist number in the mail.
Crosstown Trail Town Hall
Have you heard about the Crosstown Trail? It is a proposed multi-use walking and biking path on Chicago’s Northwest Side that would transform the Kenton Avenue rail corridor into a car-free trail.
Friends of the Crosstown Trail, Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, and Commissioner Jessica Vasquez are hosting a virtual town hall on Thursday, November 13 at 6pm. Please register here: bit.ly/CrosstownRegister to learn more about this project.
Homeowner Relief Program Extended
The Cook County Homeowner Relief Program application has been extended! The deadline to apply is now Friday, October 31, at 11:59 pm. This is a one-time $1,000 lottery-based payment intended to help eligible households meet basic needs, reduce housing cost burdens, and provide financial relief.
There is also expanded eligibility: Households must have experienced a property tax bill increase of at least 30% in any of the 2021, 2022, or 2023 tax years. The previous requirement was an increase of at least 50%. All other previous eligibility requirements such as income and residency remain unchanged.
Homeowners who have already applied for the Homeowner Relief Fund program do not need to reapply. All previously submitted applications will be reviewed under the expanded eligibility requirement. More information, including a full list of eligibility requirements and a link to the application, is available here.