Chicago–A “Community Defense Workshop” was hosted by various alderpersons and community organizations on Oct. 4 at Mather High School on the north side of Chicago. It was called in response to ICE and the feds’ ongoing attacks on immigrants—and of course non-immigrants—since early September when the Trump administration initiated “Operation Midway Blitz.” The entire auditorium was packed with more than 500 attendees, which brought some of the organizers to tears as they were not expecting such a huge turnout.
FIGHTING TO BE SAFE FROM OUR OWN GOVERNMENT
The goal was to keep our city’s people safe and supported as well as to manifest that we, the people, have the power to resist and organize against our increasingly fascist federal government that consistently flaunts its violation of our constitutional and human rights. In the words of one alderperson, “If you’ve ever been asked the question: ‘What would you have done in Germany in 1933?’ you now know the answer.”
Operation Midway Blitz’s thugs have already killed, physically injured and brutalized those entangled in its snare. It has caused immense emotional distress, including trauma for its victims and for witnesses or even those reading the news. It creates trauma for what seems like most of us living here—whether immigrants, documented or otherwise, or citizens, particularly citizens whose skin does not appear to be white. A neighbor of mine who has Middle Eastern ancestry said she looks Latino and is fearful of ICE targeting her though, for generations, she and her family have been born in the U.S.
Highlights from the Community Defense Workshop included two Mather High School girls, the principal and a teacher. The girls, one of whom was holding back tears, described the terror they and their classmates feel on a daily basis.
TRAUMATIZED STUDENTS, TEACHERS, PARENTS—ALL OF US
Poster on a telephone pole near Mather High School in Chicago, October 2025. Photo: News & Letters
They said it’s difficult to focus in class knowing what’s happening to my neighbors and it’s just because of how we look; not knowing if coming to school you or your friend will be next; not knowing when you or your friend goes home, whether their parents will be there. Parents are worried about their kids getting snatched from the street on the way to or from school. Everyone’s afraid. We’re not able to focus at school. When we eat dinner at home with our families, we talk about being thankful it wasn’t us this time but know that for other families, they will never share a dinner at home together again. Let’s show ICE that the color of our skin isn’t what they should be afraid of, but our unity!
The principal said he was getting emails from parents saying they are afraid to send their kids to school and that two homeless students living in a nearby shelter were in fact picked up by ICE at 7:30 am on their way to school. He, as well as the music teacher who spoke, made special mention of how incredibly supportive and also stressed the teachers are. They serve as lookouts before letting the kids go outside for PE and before leaving after school; they tend to them in class when they’re unable to stop worrying about whether their parents are OK, whether they’ll be home when they return from school.
Of note is that even the adults who spoke choked up at times. Also of note is that there were huge posters in the school: “Safety Plan If ICE Comes to Mather: 1. Follow soft lockdown (no one can enter or leave the building), 2. The front desk will not open the door. 3. Administration will meet ICE outside, and notify the legal department. 4. If someone is involved, their emergency contact will be notified, and asked to come to the school. 5. All entrances will be Secured.” It continued, “Mather is a safe school. Although it is unlikely that ICE will come to Mather, we are prepared for all situations. Hate has no home at Mather. We are committed to protecting the rights of ALL students and families.” The poster also had barcodes to scan for a Student Link Tree, a Student Q&A and a Know Your Rights slide show.
After the speakers there were three breakout sessions: Mutual Aid (to help with walking kids to school, accompanying families to court, delivering groceries, etc.), Know Your Rights distribution to businesses and others in the community, and ICE trackers—those who would sign up to confirm ICE activity in order to mobilize a rapid response team.
What also struck me was that walking into the school you had to have your belongings scanned in the same way you do at an airport and you also have to walk through metal detectors. This is the world children in the U.S. are living in.
–Angry and committed workshop participant