BACK OF THE YARDS — Southwest Side officials, neighbors and organizers are calling on a Back of the Yards property owner to block federal immigration agents from using its parking lot for enforcement work.
The parking lot of the Yards Plaza, 4636 S. Damen Ave., has been frequently used by agents as a place to detain neighbors, transfer detained people and stage operations, local organizers have said. They and others called on the plaza’s owner, Friedman Real Estate, to block federal agents from working there.
“Friedman, we want you to kick ICE out of your property today,” said Corina Pedraza, a member of the Southwest Side Rapid Response Team, at a press conference Tuesday held next to the lot. The group has been recording ICE sightings, among other things, as a way to protect neighbors.
Friedman Real Estate did not immediately respond to Block Club’s request for comment.
Tuesday’s press conference came as tensions are ever-heightening due to operations Midway Blitz and At Large, which the federal government launched last month to increase immigration enforcement in and around Chicago. People and officials have increasingly sought ways to peacefully resist — including by trying to limit places where ICE can work.
On Monday, Mayor Brandon Johnson issued an executive order restricting federal agents from using city-owned properties for immigration enforcement. Officials have called on private property owners to opt in to the program, with the city offering signs that could deter agents from properties where the owner has joined in.
Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) urged Friedman Real Estate to join the program. She called the property owners about two weeks ago to ask them to refuse entry to immigration agents, but company leaders refused and instead said they don’t want neighbors filming federal agents, she said.
“Friedman properties can well use their private security to inform agents that they are not allowed to stage on the back of this plaza,” Ramirez said at Tuesday’s press conference.
Those at the press conference called on other companies to join in, especially if their properties have been used by immigration agents, like Home Depot and Walmart. Local community groups have repeatedly warned Chicagoans that federal agents have detained people in Home Depot parking lots — which many immigrants frequent as they look for construction work.
The Yards Plaza shopping strip is home to a Planet Fitness gym, a Dollar Tree and a Taco Bell restaurant, among other businesses. It is across the street from Back of the Yards College Preparatory and near Agustin Lara Academy, an elementary school, and the Back of the Yards public library.
“ICE agents are standing across the street with guns and tearing families apart. That is impacting our students. … That’s not safety, that’s intimidation,” said Yesenia Lopez, a member of the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education representing the 7th District.
Southwest Side neighbors have been among the most targeted by immigration agents during the operations, Ramirez said. Masked and sometimes armed federal agents using “brutal tactics” have impacted the way people move in the neighborhoods, take care of their kids, shop for groceries and support one another, she said.
Russell Hott, ICE field director in Chicago, told Block Club more than 1,000 people have been arrested under Operation Midway Blitz and “several thousand” are still wanted.
Members of local rapid response teams said they’ll continue to coordinate their efforts to verify sightings of ICE agents and document their tactics, as well as to educate neighbors about their rights.
“We will use everything in our power to resist and to remind people that Chicago is our home,” Pedraza said. “We are putting business owners on notice [that] their silence and their complacent behavior towards ICE’s racist agenda will not be tolerated.
“We call on other business owners, corporations and companies that profit off of our money to step up and make sure you exercise your ability to kick ICE out of your private lots.”
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