6/5/25

By Lee Goodman

A nondescript storefront on a lightly traveled street in Chicago. A place almost no one ever heard of until yesterday, when ICE rounded up at least ten immigrants there. It's where migrants come to check in. They all wear ankle monitors, the bulges visible under their pants. They were ordered to appear, and they did, in good faith, expecting a routine process. They were not expecting to be deceived and put into handcuffs and dragged off to be deported. Some people in the neighborhood noticed. A crowd gathered, shouting at the ICE agents. ICE pushed back with force. The police came and controlled the crowd, allowing ICE to complete its raid, but they said they hadn't helped ICE. I learned about all this on the news.

I went and stood in front of the storefront today. All was quiet. A few migrants showed up, but the place was closed. A reporter asked me why I was there. I said, “Yesterday, the Gestapo operated in broad daylight on the streets of Chicago. It's not time to be quiet.”