DOWNTOWN — Helicopters circled over a crowd of hundreds as people took to Downtown streets Wednesday night to protest the deployment of National Guard troops to the Chicago area.

Protesters gathered at Congress Plaza, 520 S. Michigan Ave., on Wednesday before marching north on Michigan Avenue and eventually turning back toward the Loop at Trump Tower, 401 N. Wabash Ave. Elected officials and activists spoke to a crowd frustrated with how federal officials have — against the wishes of local elected officials and many residents — increased immigration enforcement activity in the area and worked to deploy National Guard troops.

Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th), who a federal agent handcuffed Friday at a hospital, spoke at the rally to cheers.

“As your alderperson, not just of the 26th Ward because every Chicagoan matters, I will make sure that we utilize every legislative tool at our disposal to slow ICE down to protect our neighbors,” Fuentes told the crowd.

Protestors demonstrating against ICE and the National Guard deployment gather in Downtown on Oct. 8, 2025. Credit: Mustafa Hussain for Block Club Chicago

Jason, a teacher in a predominantly Latin-American community who declined to share his last name for safety reasons, turned out for Wednesday’s march and said he personally knows U.S. citizens who ICE agents have detained.

“In my community where I teach, there’s kids not coming to school for a month at a time because they’re scared of what can happen to them,” he said. “I’m overwhelmed with blinding anger and depression for the people who are being affected.”

Jason said he also attended a protest at the ICE facility in suburban Broadview and knows several people who federal agents brutalized there.

“They shot my friend in the face,” he said, referring to the non-lethal rounds and chemical agents that have regularly been used by immigration authorities in Broadview. “Luckily, they were wearing goggles — but I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if they weren’t. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Protesters chanted, “Donald Trump, you stupid clown; ICE ain’t welcome in this town.”

Protestors demonstrating against ICE and National Guard deployment gather Downtown Credit: Photo by Mustafa Hussain

Bicycle convoys of police officers accompanied the crowd as protesters marched.

The march was organized by a broad alliance of progressive organizations under the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda, including the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Chicago Teachers Union and United Working Families.

The protest was the latest way Chicagoans have rallied against the immigration enforcement operations.

In September, ICE and Border Patrol launched operations Midway Blitz and At Large, which are supposed to focus on arresting and removing undocumented immigrants with serious criminal histories.

But over the past month, federal agents have shot at least two people, killing one; repeatedly tear-gassed protesters and first responders; shot rubber bullets at protesters; detained U.S. citizens, including children; handcuffed a Chicago alderperson in a hospital; smoke bombed and tear-gassed a Chicago street; fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter and detained a journalist, among other incidents.

Many local protests have been centered around the Broadview facility. Trump’s administration has said National Guard troops are needed to protect ICE officials and facilities.

But officials have expressed concerns about the Trump administration taking control of the National Guard — deployments are typically only done at the request of a state’s governor — and forcing federal troops into Illinois against the wishes of elected leaders and residents.

Chris Purdy is an Army National Guard veteran who now heads up the Chamberlain Network, which organizes veterans around issues of democracy and human rights. He said it’s “incredibly uncommon is for guards to be federalized over the objections of a state governor.”

“These are school teachers, mechanics, firefighters,” Purdy said of the guardsmen. “They are not federal law enforcement. If they wanted to do that, they would have.”

Protestors demonstrating against ICE and National Guard deployment gather Downtown on Oct. 8, 2025. Credit: Mustafa Hussain for Block Club Chicago

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