Elizabeth, a Chicagoan in the U.S. without legal permission and mother of three, is used to being involved in her community on the Northwest Side through volunteering at her children’s school and helping students. But after this week, she no longer feels safe even going near the school doors.
A day after President Donald Trump threw out policies that limited immigration arrests at sensitive locations, such as churches, schools and hospitals, a ripple of fear spread across the migrant community in the U.S. illegally who were stripped of protection in places they once felt safest.
The announcement also sent medical staff, educators and faith leaders scrambling to come up with plans to protect Chicago’s immigrants in the country without legal permission in spaces that historically have been the most secure.
Elizabeth — who asked to have her last name withheld due to her status — said her family would park their car to wait outside the school to retrieve their kids.
“Not anymore,” she said. “Now, we drive by and tell our kids to jump in quickly.”
On Tuesday, Trump announced his move to reverse guidance used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to not carry out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations — day care centers, schools, places of worship and health care facilities. The ICE guidance had been in place since 2011.
Indeed, immigrants have long used churches in Chicago to seek refuge. The movement dates back to the sanctuary movement in the 1980s, when liberal congregations around the U.S. took in illegal immigrants who were fleeing war in Central America. Elvia Arellano and Francisca Lino, prominent advocates against deportation, sought shelter in Adalberto United Methodist Church in Humboldt Park in the early 2000s.
And as tens of thousands of migrants have come to Chicago on buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott since 2022, many churches opened their doors to help house and feed them.
But Trump has made it clear his efforts run in stark contrast to previous administration’s guidelines for ICE to find and remove people who no longer have the authority to stay in the U.S., even reportedly directing the Justice Department to investigate local officials who obstruct enforcement in some cases.
Authorities in Chicago and Cook County reiterated this week that they would follow local, state and federal laws. In a statement issued Monday, the Chicago Police Department said that the city’s police officers do not “assist federal immigration authorities with enforcement action solely based on immigration status.”
The Cook County sheriff’s office told the Tribune in a statement that “existing state law and local ordinance prescribe our Office’s responsibilities regarding federal immigration regulatory programs.”
Likewise, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said in a statement Wednesday that the second-term Democrat “has been clear that we follow the law in Illinois and expects all federal and local law enforcement to do the same.”
“Threats to prosecute elected officials defending the law is unacceptable discourse in the United States,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said. “Republicans are attempting to intimidate officials from defending the Constitution — and it will not work.”
Still, this newest order — just one of Trump’s first-week salvo — has hit the people in the country without legal permission and their loved ones hard, including Elizabeth’s son, who is a U.S. citizen, his mother said. He just graduated high school and wants to go to college, but decided to take a year off before applying because he’s worried about his parents getting swept up in a raid.
“He wants to do the grocery shopping for us. He offered to do everything we usually do outside, just so that we wouldn’t have to leave the house,” she said.
With Trump making good on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants, universities, schools, churches and hospitals across Chicago scheduled a flurry of meetings and training sessions on how to respond if federal agents come knocking on their doors.
The University of Illinois Chicago, a large public university known for its programs and initiatives that support Latino students, said it sent a message to its staff earlier this week with its campus protocol: “If any documents are presented, please do not accept them. Direct the officers to UIC Police.”
Staff have installed “panic buttons” under nine or 10 desks in the offices that serve some of the most vulnerable students. The buttons connect directly to campus police dispatch.
‘People are hiding.’ Chicago immigrants stay home from work to avoid potential ICE arrests.
CPS, for its part, remains committed to protecting the rights of all students to a public education, despite the executive order language, a district spokesperson said in a statement.
CPS has provided guidance to staff to not allow federal immigration officers on school property unless they provide their credentials, the reason they are requesting access and a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge.
“CPS does not plan to share private student-level information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) except in the rare case where there is a court order or consent from a parent or guardian,” the spokesperson wrote.
Principals would be among the first to be called, said Kia Banks, chief of staff for the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association. Banks said the principals union is directing its members to not let anyone past a school’s check point without a warrant.
“The district has provided multiple resources, but we (still) feel that it is overwhelming for our members,” said Banks. “We want to streamline some of that information so our school leaders feel confident in addressing the situation should it arrive.”
Hospitals and medical centers are taking similar measures.
A spokesperson for Cook County Health said that law enforcement officials, including immigration agents, “are not permitted in these areas unless invited by a patient or if the official has a signed judicial warrant,” while adding that staff are being trained on how to best protect patients.
Erie Family Health Centers, an Illinois based medical program that serves a large number of immigrants, said it reviewed procedures with staff this week on how to handle law enforcement agencies that approach the health center and will continue to provide services to patients regardless of status.
Although it has not seen a dramatic drop in appointments this week, there is concern among staff that the new policies from the administration will have a “chilling effect” on whether migrants will seek out care, said Dr. Lee Francis, president and CEO of Erie Family Health Centers.
“People will be afraid to seek health care, and that could have strong negative impacts on both an individual’s health and public health in general,” Francis said, emphasizing how missing routine appointments can lead to unnecessary ER visits.
“When kids miss well-child visits or routine vaccinations, preventable infections can become serious enough to require a trip to the ER, hospitalization, or spread and affect a wider population,” Francis said. “If a person is pregnant but scared to access prenatal care, this has implications for the health of the patient and their newborn.”
Meanwhile, faith leaders across Chicago vowed to continue to offer resources, create rapid response teams and offer sanctuary for families who fear being arrested by ICE.
Matt DeMateo, executive director and pastor at New Life Centers, a network of nondenominational Christian churches throughout Chicago and Indiana, said that his team has been preparing to continue advocating and protecting their neighbors as they always have, “leading with faith over fear.”
“We have partners ready and willing to open up their spaces ready to care for those in need,” said DeMatteo, whose work focuses on Little Village, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood.
The Rev. Beth Brown of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, a longtime advocate of the immigrant community, said interfaith religious leaders have been organizing and preparing the last few months for the new Trump presidency.
“We were expecting this and we are prepared,” she said.
There are several faith communities that are considering providing sanctuary for families who need “a few hours or a few days to feel safe, not just traditional sanctuary,” she said.
Brown said that the community and faith leaders know that the executive order does not change much.
According to Brown, churches remain private places where ICE needs a warrant to enter. The only times the federal immigration enforcement agency can go inside is during a public service, but even then, there are spaces in churches where the public cannot enter, so neither can ICE, she said.
“They are doing this to create fear,” Brown said, adding that she doesn’t expect to see worship spaces raided anytime soon.
During a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago said that the reports of the mass deportations in Chicago are “disturbing,” according to a news release.
“The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defense of the rights of immigrants and asylum-seekers,” he said, adding that the church “would also oppose all efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other government agencies to enter places of worship for any enforcement activities.”
On Wednesday, Bishop Robert Casey, the vicar general of Archdiocese of Chicago, said the Catholic Church will continue to offer resources for immigrants in the city, including their immigration ministry and the services offered through Catholic Charities.
But Casey did not clarify if they will also offer sanctuary to those in need.
“We lift up the human dignity of every man, woman, and child in our community. Together with that we have to assist our communities in living in this country and so we have to be respectful of laws, we have to be faithful citizens,” he told the Tribune. “We don’t exist a part of society but we exist within society.”
At the Little Village community church, Pastor Paco Amador has switched over some of his daily prayer and other programming to online, hoping to provide some comfort to members.
On Wednesday evening, Amador was on his way to pick up one of their members from work because they feared driving back home. In the same manner, other members were helping other families to get groceries and take their kids to school.
“We don’t realize that fear hurts,” he said. “These families are hurting.”
Chicago Tribune’s John Kim, Sam Charles and Dan Petrella contributed.
