Chicago Alderman Warns Of ICE Resurgence In The Spring: "The Tactics Are Getting Scarier"
Chicago 44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson recently sat down for an interview with Guerrilla Press' EJ Cameron and Nick Hausman
Almost as soon as Donald Trump retook the Presidential office, he and his cartoonishly villainous administration went about manufacturing attacks on the United States’ democratic strongholds. Their assaults on cities like Los Angeles, Portland, and, of course, Chicago, have mostly manifested in the form of ICE raids on vulnerable immigrant communities.
In the months that followed “Dumb-Dumb” Donald Trump’s return to the highest office in the land, Chicago’s Little Village and Broadview communities became ground zero for their most brutal actions. Routinely, citizens were harassed, antagonized, and roughed up before being dragged into detention, often with the charges against them being dropped.
This past Sunday night, Chicago 44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson sat down with Guerrilla Press’ EJ Cameron and Nick Hausman at The Annoyance Theatre to discuss his concerns about a potential ICE resurgence in the city.
Hausman asked the Alderman directly how Chicagoans should prepare if things begin to unfold as they have in Minneapolis.
“I’ll take a step back,” Lawson began. “We had a hearing this week in the Committee on Health and Human Relations with the city council president from Minneapolis and the council vice president from St Paul, and some things that really just stuck out to me... we had 250 officers here. ICBP, whatever letters, they had 3000. 3000!
“So, just the scale alone, right? And in a city that’s smaller, there are 600 police officers in Minneapolis. Before George Floyd, there were 850. So, they probably have a very low ratio. We have a very high ratio. Typically, in Chicago, we have 10,000. Give or take, you know, maybe a little higher.”
“Just the sheer scale of what they were bringing to a community was so disproportionate,” he continued. “It was everywhere. Not that there were neighborhoods that were unaffected, but there were certainly some targets here in the city, more so than others. But you know, it was everywhere.
“They were also changing their tactics, right? So now they’re not driving around in big cop-looking SUVs, wearing fatigues, and covering their faces in big groups. They’re going around in groups of two in like, maybe an Uber car, right? Or they’re putting Mom stickers, like Renée Good’s car, on a van just to blend in.
“They’re infiltrating mutual aid groups and rapid response groups, because everybody’s just on a Signal chat or a group chat, right? Or, you know, one of those. And so they’re actually having to go to meet people in person to have some sort of vetting.
“The tactics are getting scarier. The numbers are frightening. So while there’s been good news, I suppose, in the last week, with a little quieter, yeah, I have no faith that they’re not going to hit it hard, especially when the weather changes in a place like this. I don’t know why they go to Minneapolis in December. It’s charming. It’s a beautiful city.
“But, you know, I mean, for what they’re doing, I think we all expect to see something come up in the Spring. And so we got it ready for it.”
Lawson’s full interview with Guerrilla Press is available on the Guerrilla Press YouTube channel or podcast feed, available on all major podcast platforms.
Guerrilla Press returns to The Annoyance Theatre this Sunday night, February 8, for their Big Game Watch Party and post-game live podcast with Illinois 7th Congressional District candidate Jazmin Robinson. Tickets are $15 and available at www.TheAnnoyance.com.