ICE Is Raiding Black Neighborhoods. But Here’s Why That Isn't New For Us.

During October’s raid on Chicago’s South Shore, armed ICE agents swarmed a 130-unit apartment building,  landing on its roof from helicopters and clambering out of U-Hauls. They detained and zip-tied residents, including citizens. Children were rounded up and terrorized, too.

One resident, a U.S. citizen, described being stuffed inside a van with his neighbors for hours. Newly obtained 9-1-1 call logs reveal how frightened detainees begged for help. Agents plundered the building, smashed windows, and left some units flooded. But there were preexisting issues before the raid, which was part of Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz.

Over the past few years, residents made 2,630 calls to 9-1-1 and 500 to 3-1-1, pleading for help in response to floods, shootings, broken elevators, rat infestations, caved-in ceilings, and more. The new owner, Trinity Flood, was no help with 15 code violations and a $27 million foreclosure lawsuit for South Shore properties.

Overall, landlords have threatened immigrant tenants who tried suing or calling out apartment violations. They push unionizing tenants out. Eviction courts then traditionally rule in favor of landlords. Crime-free housing ordinances, intertwined with anti-Black fearmongering about crime, unhouse Black tenants, many of whom are themselves victims of violence and anti-Black neighbors.

The criminal legal system, including immigration criminalization, works with landlords and investors to exploit Black community members. Now more than ever, it’s critical to build community with our neighbors, cultivating the relationships required to organize our collective power.