DOWNTOWN — Hundreds took over Downtown streets Tuesday to protest President Donald Trump’s large-scale immigration enforcement action in the city, which began over the weekend.

Organizers chanted, “Say it loud, say it clear — immigrants are welcome here!” and held up banners at Congress Plaza, 100 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, as the protest began 5 p.m. Tuesday. They marched north on Michigan Avenue to Trump Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave., before returning to the plaza. The protest ended about 7:30 p.m.

The protest was in direct response to Operation Midway Blitz, the federal immigration operation that was announced Monday. About 200 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with access to 100 vehicles have been sent to Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker said during a Tuesday press conference. Federal agents are targeting undocumented people in Chicago and throughout Illinois, according to a Monday press release.

Hundreds of people gathered and marched downtown to protest the increased activity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA), along with other groups like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, were leading this emergency protest in response to a surge in ICE agents and enforcement, part of a larger federal immigration operation. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago

“We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Waltrina Middleton, Community Renewal Society director, told Tuesday’s crowd. “If you believe in equity, diversity and inclusion. If you believe in love and if you believe that there is no place for ICE here, no place for Trump here, no place for occupation here, let me hear you say that we’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. This is our duty to envision a democracy where freedom rings resoundingly throughout the land, for every human life and for all creations.”

The rally and march were organized by the Coalition Against Trump and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Police cordoned off side streets and shut down Michigan Avenue and State Street to make way for marchers.

Kaz Merrick, a former schoolteacher, stressed the importance of showing up to protest during times of crisis. He handed out signs to fellow protesters that read “Hands Off Chicago” and featured the city’s flag.

“This is a fascist regime,” Merrick said. “We can’t sit idly by and watch this happen to our neighbors. This is going to take everyone to come together and fix — we have to stand up against bigotry and hate in all forms.”

Hundreds of people gathered and marched downtown to protest the increased activity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA), along with other groups like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, were leading this emergency protest in response to a surge in ICE agents and enforcement, part of a larger federal immigration operation. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago

It’s not yet known how many people federal agents have arrested as part of Operation Midway Blitz. Immigration agents detained at least three people on the Southwest Side over the weekend, according to local leaders.

“We have seen through American history how immigrants and communities of color continue to be oppressed, discriminated [against] because of the color of their skin and because of their legal status,” said Ana Guajarado with the United Workers Center on the Southeast Side. “As we fight back today, we can draw on lessons from the past.

“We must continue to educate our community members about the rights that they have, and when ICE and this administration changes their tactics, we change our strategy and we organize and we fight back now is the time. Now is not the time to sit back and watch. We ask and call upon our brothers and sisters who are not here, who are afraid: If you cannot come out, ask your family member to turn out for you.”

Hundreds of people gathered and marched downtown to protest the increased activity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA), along with other groups like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, were leading this emergency protest in response to a surge in ICE agents and enforcement, part of a larger federal immigration operation. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago

The demonstration drew loud cheers and horn honking from passersby and drivers, including a CTA bus driver. Retail workers on Michigan Avenue stepped outside of their shops to take videos of the march, led by organizers driving a rented U-Haul pickup truck.

The march passed by the ICE Chicago Field Office, 101 Ida B. Wells Drive, as protesters made their way back to Congress Plaza. Several Department of Homeland Security officers could be seen recording videos of protesters from the building’s lobby.

One protester, Adam, said that growing up as a Palestinian American in majority-minority communities in Chicago showed him the systemic injustices many face in cycles of poverty and structural violence.

“I know how minorities and immigrants in this country are treated, and it’s wrong,” he said. “This country was founded on white people who did irreparable damage to other minorities, and I see that in where I grew up, a place that criminalized being homeless. It’s the ultra-wealthy that are stealing from the working people and pitting us against each other.”

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