The sanctuary city has a long history of protecting immigrant communities
“Know Your Rights” posters, with critical information for interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, are all over the city of Chicago. Plastered across subways or advertised along local bus routes, the Know Your Rights campaign is a coordinated effort on the part of city officials and local immigration advocacy groups to alert individuals of their rights during interactions with Ice. The posters are evidence of Chicago’s activism, long history of protecting its rich immigrant communities and resistance to attempts by previous administrations to weaken their protections. But now, as Donald Trump continues to roll out unprecedented attacks on immigrants – notably increased detentions and deportations without due process – organizers are stretched thin and scrambling to expand traditional tools used in the fight for immigrant rights to accommodate ballooning needs.
“I’ve been around since the beginning [in 2012], when we pivoted into doing multi-generational, anti-deportation work,” said Antonio Gutierrez, a co-founder of the immigrant advocacy group Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD). “We have never felt as stressed out or at capacity, even during the first Trump administration.”