09/30/25
(Special thanks to photographer Paul Goyette for all the following images.)
ALBANY PARK, CHICAGO — On September 21, upwards of 600 advocates, community groups, elected officials, and concerned neighbors gathered in Albany Park on Sunday for the Northwest Side Progressives Emergency Response Town Hall. A coalition of local leaders emphasized how critical the current moment is for rejecting militarized federal immigration enforcement and protecting our communities.
“It’s fascism out there,” Ald. Rodríguez Sánchez (33) began to wild applause. “We come together because we have to get things together right now. We don’t have time.” Ald. Rodríguez Sánchez played a critical role in organizing this community-building event.
Actionable ways to help the community were a primary concern of the programs. Organizers and activists encouraged community members to use the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights’ resources, including the Family Support Network hotline (855-435-7693), to call in suspected ICE encounters or to access help. Other resources for ICE encounters include the new Northwest Side Rapid Response Team instagram, the Organized Communities Against Deportations, and the coalition of Chicago independent journalists gathering videos about ICE encounters.
Additional tips included asking community members to keep their phones charged and with a backup battery, instructing children not to open the door to law enforcement, carrying a whistle to distract ICE agents and alert others, and creating a Family Preparedness Plan.
Elected officials also used the town hall to relay the opportunity for grassroots community power to work hand-in-hand with lawmakers on new ideas, and to share recent governmental accomplishments in protecting our communities.
Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez (8), who is also a chair of the Northwest Rapid Response Network to ICE, reported that the Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday that calls upon all Cook County Offices to report on ICE activities on county property. She said that she had already received word from locations like courts, hospitals, and clinics, that they were ready to be in compliance with the resolution.
State Rep. Lilian Jiménez (4th) reported on how allies in the State House are working to close loopholes in the 2017 TRUST Act, a measure that limits state and local law enforcement's participation with ICE, in order to expand the rule to include other federal agencies being used as immigration enforcement. The state legislature also recently passed a law keeping law enforcement out of schools. The legislature’s Latino Caucus also has filed a bill to ban masks for law enforcement in the state, and there are plans for bills to require law enforcement in the state to visibly display IDs and to prevent law enforcement in places of healthcare. Jiménez also announced a new united platform roundtable and policy forum to engage community members on policymaking.
Beatriz Ponce de León, Chicago’s first-ever Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights, and Sheila A. Bedi, Chief of Strategy and special counsel, explained two recent Executive Orders from Mayor Brandon Johnson. The first, “Protecting Chicago Executive Order” reinforced Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, and created a hub of resources to help residents navigating homelessness and asserting their rights during the current political crisis. The second, “Maintaining CPD Independence,” prohibits CPD from joint patrols or arrest operations with federal immigration agents and permits federal cooperation only when aligned with Chicago’s laws. It also instructs CPD, when federal agents and protestors are in conflict, to protect protestors and their first amendment rights, Ponce de León said. They also offered the following new and updated city resources:
Throughout the day, speakers highlighted the importance of community and solidarity in making enduring change against fascism.
“Thank you for being willing to fight with whatever you have,” said Miguel Alvelo-Rivera, Executive Director of the Latino Union of Chicago. “Your well-being is intimately tied to that of the people around you… We can build the world we deserve through education, advocacy, and coalition building.”
The program concluded with neighbors taking a pledge led by State Senator Graciela Guzmán (20) and Ald. Anthony Quezada (35): “I pledge to defend my neighbors, to protect my community, to reject fear and division, to uplift joy and love, to build a movement for justice, and to fight for a future that liberates all of us.”
Attendees then broke out into various working groups centered on specific topics, such as: safety practices for ICE watch, organizing a canvass, worker support networks, supporting unhoused neighbors, parent support and student protections, and organizing a "walking bus" program at your school. Because at the end of the day, we have to be organized on various fronts, from getting progressives into elected office, to building up our rapid response and mutual aid networks, to getting our neighbors organized.
Take Action
If you'd like to be a part of the movement, join us on Saturday, 10/04, at 10AM, at 3248 W Montrose Ave to hit some doors for our #ProvenProgressives: Delia Ramirez, Graciela Guzmán, and Jessica Vásquez! Afterward, we will meet up with our fellow Northwest Side progressives to celebrate at 1PM at 3128 N Milwaukee!
RSVP: https://bit.ly/33wfCanvass100425
