PILSEN — Chicago organizers stood together Friday in support of their Minnesota counterparts as they called for an end to immigration enforcement operations that have overwhelmed and traumatized the state’s two largest cities months after doing so here.
In Minneapolis and St. Paul, businesses shuttered in protest while neighbors there took to bitterly cold streets for a massive demonstration Friday, according to the Star Tribune.
“We are proud to rise in solidarity to say: ICE out of Minnesota, ICE out of Illinois and ICE out of everywhere,” said Veronica Castro, deputy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Dozens of members of Chicago, Cook, Lake, Will and DuPage counties’ rapid response groups, unions and pro-immigrant groups decried federal immigration agents’ escalating violence, unlawful tactics and detentions of immigrant families in Chicago, Minneapolis and across the country.
Organizers demanded accountability over the fatal shootings of Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop in the Chicago suburbs last year and Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis earlier this month. They have also not forgotten the shooting of Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park last October. Martinez survived and faced federal criminal charges that were later dropped after an agent was found to have bragged about shooting her in text messages with his peers.
“Thankfully, Marimar lived to tell the truth. She survived and her testimony exposed the inconsistencies, the exaggerations and all the false claims,” said Any Huamani, an organizer with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.
Chicago organizers also denounced the detention of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father as he returned home from kindergarten in a Minneapolis suburb. Ramos, a pre-schooler, was with his father in their driveway when federal agents approached and detained them, according to the BBC.
“I cannot stop thinking about a 5-year-old child, Liam Ramos, with his adorable blue hat, coming home from preschool and being picked up in his driveway by ICE, not just picked up, but being used as bait,” said Genie Kastrup, president of SEIU Local One.
Chicago organizers rally in solidarity with Minneapolis residents during a press conference in Pilsen on Jan. 23, 2026. Credit: Francia Garcia Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
In Minneapolis, federal agents are using “the same playbook” from Chicago, violently detaining people they suspect are immigrants, endangering communities, pulling out of unmarked vehicles and deploying chemical agents in residential areas, organizers said. Union leaders with the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Local 1 and 73 and organizers of Indivisible Chicago called to “abolish ICE,” vowing to stand united with immigrant groups, many of whom are workers in essential industries, they said.
While the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents has decreased in the Chicago area, immigrant communities remain on alert and continue reporting sightings of immigration agents. The Family Support Network hotline has received over 11,000 calls since December, Castro said.
“Every SUV is a reminder of suspicion, of persecution, of oppression,” said Marièn Casillas Pabellón, executive director of the West Suburban Action Project, or PASO.
Genie Kastrup, president of SEIU Local One, speaks out against federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota during a press conference in Pilsen on Jan. 23, 2026 Credit: Francia Garcia Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Earlier this week, a leaked memo revealed federal immigration authorities authorized ICE agents to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant, according to the Associated Press. The memo was not widely shared within the agency, but was used to train new ICE agents, the AP reported.
Advocates and legal aid groups across the country have said the directive violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment and contradicts years of legal precedent.
Chicago-area groups said they continue to urge neighbors to demand a judicial warrant if immigration agents seek to enter their home and document any violations, said Brandon Lee, spokesperson for the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights.
“Simply because a memo states it or Donald Trump says it does not make it legal,” Diego Morales, a rapid response organizer with Pilsen Unidos por Ñuestro Orgullo, told Block Club.
“It is unlawful and unconstitutional to enter a private home without a proper judicial warrant. That is how this country operates,” he said.
The Pilsen rapid response group circulated a call for a “solidarity strike” in support of Minneapolis organizers, urging neighbors not to shop, work or go to school Friday.
“These are ways that we can use our power as everyday people to put pressure on a system that is no longer acceptable to us,” Morales said.
Rapid response groups will continue to share Know Your Rights information, respond to ICE sightings and protect immigrants’ rights “to exist and live fulfilled and dignified lives,” Casillas Pabellón said.
“We will exercise our rights every single day, because if we don’t exercise our rights, it’s that much easier for them to take them away,” Castro said.
Organizers also called on Chicagoans to demand their elected officials reject additional federal funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Congress approved a funding bill Thursday, despite the opposition of Democrats over funding for immigration agencies. The Senate will vote next week.
“The work of exposing ICE’s violence and organizing alongside our neighbors is unifying a growing national movement demanding that we abolish ICE,” Castro said.
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