November 13, 2025 • 47 mins
In continuation of the current Chicago ICE Raids, and recent SNAP benefits crisis affecting Chicago's Chinatown community, I invited two dedicated community leaders in the Chinatown community: Grace Chan McKibben and Andrew Frangos, to discuss the rapid response efforts in Chinatown and surrounding neighborhoods.
In a time when federal actions are creating widespread fear and instability, we dived into how local leaders, residents, and businesses are working in solidarity to protect one another.
Immediate ICE Response: Grace and Andrew detail the community's swift reaction to the recent, highly visible ICE raids in the Chicagoland area, including reports of violent and false detentions. We discuss what practices communities are using to monitor activity, provide alerts, and empower residents to Know Their Rights.
Protecting Neighbors and Businesses: We look at the practical ways the community—from small businesses to residents—are creating a protective net to ensure the safety and legal rights of immigrant families, seniors, and workers.
The SNAP Benefit Crisis: We explore the devastating and immediate impact of the recent SNAP benefit reductions and policy changes that are disproportionately affecting low-income seniors and vulnerable families in the area.
Mobilizing Resources: Both outline the community work that is being done to fill the resource gap, including emergency food distribution, legal aid services, and language support to help residents navigate the ongoing, shifting landscape.
A Call to Action: How listeners—both in and outside of Chicago—can support the community's defense funds, rapid response teams, and local organizations working on the front lines of this crisis.
Resources:
Contact ICIRR for ICE sightings in Illinois
From Andrew:Pilsen PUÑO, an organization that coordinates a Migra Watch team and provides regular trainings:
https://www.instagram.com/pilsenpuno/. https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ4bsY4jUcP/.
Sanctuary For All UIC (https://www.instagram.com/sanctuaryforalluic/) maintains this linktree with a link to a massive list of trainings offered beyond the Chicago area, as well as other resources: https://linktr.ee/sanctuaryforalluic.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Hey everyone, this is Randy Kim from the Bundy Chronicles
podcast. And today we are doing another
emergency episode and what's been happening with the Chicago
ICE raids and also now with the SNAP benefits being on hold.
And so I decided to bring in Grace Chan McKibben, who's been
(00:24):
a friend of mine for the last several years.
And she's a non profit leader inthe Chinese American community.
And also she does she was very kind enough to also bring Andrew
Fangos, who's been helping her with the rapid response on the
ice watch. So welcome, welcome, welcome.
And I would like to, you know, you know, have you be able to
(00:46):
talk a little bit more about thework that you're doing so far in
the Chicago Chinatown community?Yeah, maybe I'll start.
I think that when we first heardabout potential immigration,
increase in immigration enforcement, even as early as
(01:08):
the middle of December, I thought that it would be
important to form a response team in the Chinatown Bridgeport
community because a lot of the residents being new immigrants
or immigrants that are limited in English speaking, don't
really know what's going on. So I think that's the impetus
(01:30):
for starting the rapid response team that's connected with the
general rapid response team thatICIRI Sir has been organizing.
And the rapid response teams arenot new.
They actually started in, duringthe first Trump administration
with about 5 or 6 teams in different neighborhoods in
Chicago and then, and also in the suburbs.
(01:53):
And, and then this time, I thinkvery quickly there were 10 or 12
teams that got formed. And then now they're several
dozen in both the city and in the suburbs.
And, and it's important because it's really neighbors watching
out for each other. So even though, you know, we
started out with a small team and it really grew organically
(02:16):
because neighbors heard about itand want to have a way to
participate to protect their neighbors.
And Andrew, how did you get involved with this work?
Yeah, so I. I had worked with Grace.
And a couple other organizationsaround the Chinatown area and
other organizing efforts over the years.
(02:39):
And so I think it was around thesummer that they pulled me in to
see if I would help Co lead the team.
And I had capacity at that time.And so I, yeah, got involved
then. I think I've been trained
earlier. And so there's a few
organizations around the city that have been leading trainings
that are open to the public. So I just wanted to give that
(03:01):
context to. Yeah, and also with the
Chinatown community, what was the original response when the
first waves of ice waves were happening?
What was in place at that time? And how have you been able to
quickly respond to the to the constant movement of the ICE and
federal government? Yeah, so as I said, you know,
(03:25):
the rap Response Team actually have been in place since
December. And then in January we had, you
know, folks that are trained andall the rapper response team
members have a two-part training, one hour on know your
rights. Just knowing what the rights are
of each person when they encounter law enforcement.
And it's the same rights whetherit's federal agents, whether
(03:47):
it's, you know, police that you know, you have the same rights
to not answer any questions, to request an attorney to, to
request search warrants and so on.
So that's, you know, nothing new.
And then the second part is to do this observation to when
(04:08):
there are suspected ice action to go outside and observe and
take video and photographs as documentation.
I think those are. So those trainings have been
taking place and we've had this team since the beginning of
January. And the first ICE reports of
(04:30):
action on the street actually came in May, and we, one of our
team members observed it in in progress.
So that was reported in the local Chinese newspapers as well
as shared out on social media. And so there are folks in the
(04:51):
immediate community are, of course, you know, interested in
knowing what's going on because there had been this assumption
that ICE action was happening only in that night communities.
So I think that, you know, beingable to share that this is
happening in Asian American communities as well is
(05:13):
important. And with the Operation Midway
blitz that happened since since I I want to say September ish
and I know October was definitely a month where it
really escalated. And today the time step is like
November 12th on Wednesday and supposedly the the ICE or Border
(05:36):
Patrol Chief Greg Bovino said that he's going to push away
from Chicago as of today. We don't know if this is
official or not. So I want to be very mindful of
that. But I think, I think maybe
something that I'm very curious about is have there been people,
(05:58):
people, particularly Chinese American community being
detained during that particular wave?
And what was that like for that community during this past month
and 1/2? Yeah, I could.
I could answer a little bit on that.
So, yeah, when when we heard about the Operation Midway
(06:18):
Blitz, when that was like announced and I think all the
rapid response teams around Chicago were like gearing up for
it and preparing for it. We knew that we'd need more
capacity and also to make sure that the neighborhood was really
informed. I think with all the different
languages in the Bridgeport Chinatown area, information
doesn't always like travel in inreally.
(06:40):
Quick ways or equal? Ways across different groups.
And so the first thing we did inline with, you know, the.
Rest of the city. Cities Rapid Response teams was
ramp up canvassing efforts and we have both, we've been doing
both residential and business canvassing and we have a sub
team that's dedicated to canvassing that's grown a lot
(07:00):
and developed a lot of. Resources.
And with the help of. CBCAC also like.
You know, made sure that there'slanguage access across, you
know, Chinese, but also when we're going out and canvassing,
we try to have Mandarin and Cantonese speakers and we when
we talk to businesses around Chinatown or when we're just
knocking on doors or going around the community.
(07:23):
So a lot of the time we run into.
People that that are like. Yeah, You know, I'm fine.
I have a visa or I'm fine, I'm acitizen.
And I think that there is still,in some places around Chinatown,
people that think that like they're not the target of it.
And at the same time, there's also business owners that are
(07:44):
really eager for information. So when we talk to business
owners, they wanna keep their employees safe.
And so they really wanna know more about how to protect their
employees. So we see kind of both types of
reactions, but there have been afew detentions of people or
kidnappings of people in Chinatown.
And so I think the, you know, one of the first high profile
(08:06):
ones that was part of the Operation Midway Blitz was in.
Bridgeport right across the. Street from Minoso Elementary
School about 3 weeks ago and that person was a Chinese man
who was a Mandarin speaker and he seemed to just be in front of
his house doing, you know, working on something in the
front yard and some agents pulled up and and took him and
(08:27):
we did have two rapid response team members present one who you
know, works nearby and another one who.
Who lives very close by? And they recorded the whole
interaction and they were askingthe ICE agents if they had a
warrant or who they were lookingfor, if they knew the name of
who they were looking for. And none of those questions were
answered by the ICE agents. So that raises suspicions that,
(08:50):
like, they might not have. And they actually pushed one of
the neighbors down, you know, during that interaction and then
took that man. And I believe I want to check
with grace on this, but I. Believe that that.
Person is still being held in Michigan at a detention center
and I think that that family hadalready been connected with the
(09:13):
Chinese American Service League,you know, and so that
organization has been connectingthem to legal services and also
other forms of support because that was a family with a couple
elementary school age children that that was impacted by that.
Yeah. So I think that, you know, the
pattern that we've seen is similar that I sanctions seem to
(09:36):
focus on one neighborhood for a couple of days or a couple
neighborhoods for a couple of days and then move on to other
neighborhoods. So we literally were able to see
that there were two separate Bridgeport days in the course of
the past few weeks and they werevery intense.
The day that Andrew mentioned was particularly intense because
(09:57):
there were reports of ice being seen questioning people or
arresting people at several different places within within
Bridgeport in a very short amount of time.
So there's very intense activitybetween like about 10:00 AM and
3:00 PM. With awesome with being in the
(10:20):
Bridgeport and Armor Square neighborhood.
There's also it's also closer tosome of the Black and Latin X
neighborhoods with Pilsen and Little Village, not far from
Little Village and Bridgeport and and and part of the South
side. I'm very curious, have you been
in communication with Black and Latin X communities around the
(10:44):
Chinatown? They're near the Chinatown area.
Yeah, definitely more with the Latin X community because you
know of the shared immigrant history and background so and
also geographically so. Archer Ave.
They've been. Targeted a lot as well, so
they've they've had. A lot of really intense activity
(11:06):
both in on the southwest side and in the little village in
Pilsen areas. For sure, yeah.
But I think in terms of communications, all the rapid
response networks are linked. And so if there's a general
announcement that came out, folks would then rebroadcasted
(11:26):
within their own local groups for support, for local support.
And because Chinatown and Bridgeport is along Archer Ave.
you know, all the way to McKinley Park and Brighton Park.
And then on the other side closeto Pilsen and Little Village,
our team members have supported the rest of the Southwest side
(11:47):
and they have supported our teamas well.
So it's a pretty close connection.
Oh, sorry. I'd love to just add one thing
there which is that. They're all also are.
Latin X people and black people who live in the greater, you
know, the Bridgeport Chinatown area and I think like, you know,
part of. We have to view this type of
(12:08):
work. As like a chance to build and,
you know, connections across ourcommunity because that's kind of
the only. Upside to this is that.
It's bringing people together inresistance.
And I, I just want to say like one, I have a friend who's part
of the Pilsen team and the Pilsen team has like an open
channel WhatsApp group, just because they want to have a
place where community concerns can be.
(12:28):
Raised that they're aware of. And there was one day about, you
know, sort of near the beginningof when the Operation Midway
blitz. Started where there was a.
Person in that. Public WhatsApp group who said?
Hey, you know, this was a message in Spanish and they were
saying I work at an elementary school in the Chinatown area and
I'm worried that the the people around me, the Asian American
(12:52):
people around me don't have don't know what's going on.
So I'm wondering where I can getlike good information.
So I'm aware of if there's ice activity in the area, right.
And to me that. Sort of highlights.
Just an issue when we have all these different language and
cultural groups in one, you know, in one area that.
There are barriers. Between them and so.
I thought it was really. You know, something that we want
(13:13):
to like work to change is that feeling of like someone being in
the neighborhood and thinking people don't have their.
Back right just because they. Are a different racial identity
or speak a different language. And so I think lately we've been
doing a lot of outreach to the elementary schools and the
different schools in the area and hopefully whoever that
employee was now feels differently, but.
(13:35):
That's sort of. Something that we're working to.
Build bridges. Around in our neighborhoods.
I'm curious about, I was just going to ask you like I'm
curious about the Asian owned businesses too, and
organizations and what have theyexperienced with ICE raids with
ICE agents? Because oftentimes we have seen
what ICE agents and CBP agents have gone through with Latinx
(13:58):
businesses or Latini businesses and, and with black-owned
businesses or any people of color, any business businesses
owned by anyone of color. So I'm very curious of what that
has interactions been like. Have they been targeting like
employees? Have they been, have they been
refused? Have business owners been
(14:20):
refusing to patron to patronize ICE agents?
I mean, obviously there's been so much to talk about.
What is the level of resistance and their role in trying to
protect the community? Yeah, we as part of the
canvassing we do some, we also do small business canvassing,
(14:43):
talking to all the business owners.
And we have not heard about any businesses that have been
targeted specifically by ICE agents.
But, but there is definitely a lot of openness from the
business owners to learn about what they should should do in
case their ICE agents present and they have are very open to
(15:07):
receiving the information that'sgiven to them or talking about
what it is that they should do. All of our information, we have
information in English and Spanish and Chinese.
So, so and try to reach all of the businesses because as Andrew
said, you know, like in Bridgeport you have a a mix of
(15:31):
different racial groups and not all the businesses are Asian.
Right. And there's a lot of businesses
in that community overall that because we have learned from
Little Village, from Tilson, Albany Park and many of the
Latinx heavy neighborhoods, a lot of their businesses have
(15:52):
suffered as a result. Foot traffic has been reduced
significantly because you have CBP agents and ICE agents
throwing tear gas. You have them like just coming
in unmarked vehicles and being very rogue.
I wonder about the impact that it has on the Chinatown
community so far from what you've observed and what have
(16:13):
you been told so far? Yeah, We definitely have heard
from businesses that foot traffic has been down,
particularly since Operation Midway Bliss has started in
September. So September, there's a fall off
in foot traffic to businesses inOctober.
(16:33):
And all the way, you know, the first few 3 days of November
definitely seem to be a lot of businesses reporting that
they've lost people coming. Yeah.
And I mean, given that we're so close to those neighborhoods, I
think. Usually I see.
(16:53):
A lot of people from those neighborhoods walking around
Chinatown. And so I have some friends that
are undocumented and I know for anyone who even friends that are
on visas, right, anyone who has anything but U.S. citizen and
some U.S. citizens feel like they might be targeted too based
on the way, you know, based on their racial identity.
So I think just. For a lot of people.
(17:14):
Right now, like going out. Is a little bit scary.
You know, because sometimes there's reports of ICE agents
you know, at, at L stations and sometimes you just don't know
where. They'll show up or.
Will there be where there might be stationed and things like
that? So I imagine that is affecting
business in a lot of neighborhoods, but particularly
in this very immigrant heavy part of Chicago.
(17:38):
What has the involvement of, andI don't know, I have had this
have I have had this conversation with Alderman Byron
Sigel Lopez before, but I'm curious about what has Chicago
Police Department and their involvement been in this
community in the wake of these raids?
Yeah, I think the role of CPD has always been very complicated
(18:01):
because even though they're bothChicago police and Cook County
police are not supposed to cooperate with ICE.
What we've heard are some practices that may be a little
marginally disruptive. So for example, one of our rapid
(18:23):
response team members works closely with the Chicago 9th
District Police District, which is which covers Chinatown,
Bridgeport, all the way to McKinley Park, by Bighton Park
and Back of the Yards. The 9th District police had told
the police officers to ticket people that are driving
(18:47):
erratically. And so the assumption was that,
you know, they're rapid responders and that are trying
to follow ICE agents and so on that that police would take
them. And so our volunteer asked the
Police Department, does it mean that they will also take it ICE
agents that are driving driving erratically.
(19:08):
And the answer was no, we're notgoing to take it any federal
agents. So I, you know, I think that it
is reports like this or practices like this that make
you wonder, even though the official policy is that local
police, meaning Chicago and CookCounty police, are not supposed
to cooperate with federal agents.
(19:29):
But if you're ticketing only civilians that Dr. erratically,
but not federal agents that Dr. erratically, that does seem to
be unfair. Yeah, and you know, it's.
Like also just to add to those. Questions when these federal
agents are driving unmarked. Vehicles How do the.
How does CPD or you know, the Cook County Sheriff's?
(19:50):
How do they know? That those are federal agents.
Because that's something that wehave been putting a lot of work
into, is figuring out, you know?Who is a federal?
Agent as. We try to keep a.
Watch and and keep our neighborhood safe and informed,
you know, so that, you know, that makes me wonder, without
cooperating and coordinating with each other, how do they
know that that car is a federal agent?
(20:10):
So I'm going to. Pull over the car.
That's. Behind them, yeah.
What support have the elected officials in this area provided
to the community and what has what resources have they been
able to share? Yeah, we've kept in close touch
(20:30):
with the local elected officialsthat, you know, that cover this
area. So I'll do them.
And Nicole Lee and State Representative Theresa May and
State Senator Selena Villanueva all have been, you know, we, we
keep in the rapper response team, keep in contact with them
(20:52):
and with their staff. And they've been very supportive
whenever there are reports of people in the in their district
being taken by ICE that they wanted to know and wanted to
know how they can be helpful. And so last Sunday there was a
(21:14):
volunteer event of just volunteers coming together to
pack whistle kits. We have the whistles and then we
have scenes, small instruction sheets that are in Chinese and
in Spanish. So volunteers were packing the
instructions and the whistles into a packet and ultimately
(21:36):
heard about the effort and she volunteered to supply pizza and
that was well received. Yeah.
And just to uplift that event that happened a little bit,
which wasn't your question, I think we had two of those events
to pack these kits. With whistles over the past.
Week and over 100 people from the Bridgeport Chinatown area
(21:56):
came out and packed whistles whistle kits for I think they
packed like 1000 of them and have a whole plan to distribute
them to different schools and businesses around and.
And libraries. As well.
Around the area so and that's. Just a way for.
People to alert their neighbors if there's some suspicious
(22:17):
activity, you know, to help raise awareness.
As far as as we are also talkingabout the ICE raids, we are also
dealing with the SNAP crisis andthis also obviously effects the
Chinese and immigrant communities in this area in
particular. What has that looked like so far
(22:41):
and what has the response look like in terms of mutual aid,
food banks and and I am coalescing, but other nonprofit
organizations in that area to tohelp prepare for what would be a
very uncertain time right now. Yeah.
(23:02):
So since the SNAP benefits have been suspended on November 1st,
there have been a lot of different efforts, folks sharing
more information about food pantries and about the love
pictures. I know there's several social
service organizations has sharedthese in their offices as well
as on their social media. And then as far as mutual aid
(23:26):
efforts are concerned, I, I knowthat there are different groups
that are organizing different things.
The Rapper Response, our rapper Response team's care team also
have folks that are interested in getting together to to
deliver groceries to families that might be impacted.
(23:46):
So I think there's a pretty grassroots movement that is
afoot, very similar to when we had the migrant crisis here 2-3
years ago and folks just wantingto pull together resources to
help. Yeah.
(24:07):
So I think we have not heard, I mean, we, there's just general
concern and anxiety among the Chinese or Asian American
community about SNAP benefits. Most of the SNAP recipients in
the Chinatown, Bridgeport area that are Asian are older adults.
(24:29):
And then there's some families, but by and large they're older
adults. And so there's a lot of of
murmuring among the older adultsabout, you know, how they're
going to get their food resources.
Unfortunately, they're at at Midwest Asian Health
Association, they already have afood pantry that operates twice
(24:50):
a week. So I don't, I don't know if
they've had they've seen an increase in people accessing
that resource. I know that there are a lot of
churches and so on that are alsosupplying food and a New Life
(25:13):
Community Center and New Life Church, which did a lot, they
basically LED most of the effortin preparing food for migrants
during the migrant crisis. They they've offered to supply
both hot meals and food for pickup.
Yeah. And just to connect a little
more with the rapid response efforts.
(25:33):
Like Grace said so we have like a care sub.
Team and they, they help supportmembers internally, you know,
cuz after you see someone get kidnapped, it can be helpful to
have like a mental health debrief with someone, but
they're also trying to coordinate these external
efforts and at the same time as we're having this, you know,
crisis with snap. We also have people that.
(25:54):
You know, everyone has differentlevels of vulnerability.
And so people that are more vulnerable when it comes to ICE
agents are might be afraid to goand get food, you know?
And so part of, you know, what that team is trying to
coordinate is helping to providerides.
Or drop offs for people that feel scared.
(26:15):
To go to the food pantry themselves, you know, just so we
could make. Sure, that.
They can stay safe and and manage their own risk with the
way that they're going about their lives.
And then another thing that's also that crosses my mind is
because of what's going on with SNAP, this also effects Asian
supermarkets in general and especially with the tariffs on
(26:38):
top of it. I wonder what this looks like
moving forward because this is aalso very concerning because a
lot of these businesses do rely on SNAP recipients and also
folks that are above like the lower income threshold.
But also, like with food costs going high, especially with the
(26:59):
tariffs going on, I wonder what that looks like as we move
forward. Yeah, yeah.
We're continuing to monitor. As I said, you know, the general
cause among some of the seniors that we work with is that they
worry about, you know, where food is going to come come from.
(27:20):
A lot of them, even with the snack benefits are already
accessing some of the food pantries because they are able
to pick up additional groceries,especially raw ingredients for,
for themselves for cooking. So I would just imagine that the
need for these places where theycan get free food would be would
(27:42):
be even higher. As far as as this current
administration's been doing something that also sticks out
to me is what the Asian Americancommunity went through a
particularly with the anti Asianviolence that happened right
after or during COVID, during the first two years of COVID.
(28:04):
And I wonder how much of what has happened in that past has
carried over in terms of the infrastructure and how this will
and how this current ICE, the current ICE raids and set
benefits, how that's going to create newer challenges for the
future to build better infrastructures.
(28:25):
I was maybe if we could take it back to like what happened with
COVID and how this is kind of like been able to help in some
ways create a more rapid response or more of a robust
rapid response network. Yeah.
I think during COVID there was alot of needs for, you know,
(28:48):
trying to get food to some of the older folks.
So Chinese American service, they, for example, started
delivering hot meals to senior housing buildings.
I believe that that has continued even after COVID.
So that's one of the systems that had continued.
And then this food pantry at Midwest Asian Health Association
(29:10):
that I mentioned definitely grewout of the need that they saw
during COVID for people to pick up fresh vegetables and, and
fruit and staples like rice and so on from in order to cook for
themselves. Because the grocery stores were
closed at that time, Chinese Christian Union Church organized
(29:34):
weekly food pick up and in orderto have culturally appropriate
food, CBCC and Poitak Seller andChinese Christian Union Church
pulled together money to and andthen also solicited donations
from from some of the private companies in order to buy
(30:00):
culturally appropriate food for some of the Asian seniors.
Because the general food pantry offerings aren't always
appropriate, the one the food pantry that is offered at
Midwest Asian Health AssociationMaha on Wednesdays and Thursdays
every week is culturally appropriate.
So they basically have a system with the Greater Chicago Food
(30:22):
Depository where they would order particular items that they
know would appeal to Chinese seniors.
And, and then the seniors come in and instead of receiving a
bag that's pre packed, they actually come in and shop off
the shelves. So, so that they can say, oh,
you know, I want 5 apples and, you know, 2 cans of, of peas and
(30:47):
you know, and not some other stuff.
So I think that's a very good service that had really grown
out of the need that was seen during the pandemic.
Yeah, I think I also just want to add that the you know, I
think during that rise in anti Asian violence, a lot of people
were attending like you know, byby standard intervention
(31:10):
training, how to you know, and this idea of like going to a
training in order to know. How best to like?
Keep the people around you and keep your neighbors safe.
I think we. Saw a lot of people.
Like going out to try to learn how to be better members of
their community during the, you know, aftermath of COVID and
that rise of anti Asian violence.
(31:30):
And I think this is like anothertime where we're seeing that in
a, in a different context. So it's, you know, I think it's
important to note the way that things are building upon each
other and our communities getting stronger overtime.
And I think, like Grace said before, you know, even this
current effort for rapid response teams is learning from
the Migra Watch efforts from the2016 Trump administration.
(31:54):
And those efforts learned from Copwatch efforts in Black
neighborhoods that we're also looking out for situations in
which law enforcement might be violating rules and, you know,
not treating community. Members fairly or appropriately
or. Enacting violence and so the
connections across time, I thinkthey're really important
because. Those are the threads that help
(32:14):
us. Move forward in new ways, you
know. And also like the second part of
that question is because of what's been going on, what ways
are you looking to, to improve the current infrastructure with
the safety network and, and whatdo you see is still a big need
right now? Because I know that I think
(32:37):
anything could really happen thenext year.
I mean, ICE could leave like this week, but they might come
back again in two months or three months, who knows.
But I'm very curious what what do you feel like would be
helpful in being able to prepareto help better prepare this
community and provide stronger protection?
(33:03):
Get into that if you want with just a.
Couple ideas that we have. I mean right now.
We're still. Very much doing weekly
canvassing on Sundays and. Last week we had. 20 volunteers
come out to canvas and just knock.
Door to door the week before we did it.
Targeted small business canvassing, but we want to make
(33:26):
sure that like everyone who lives in the Bridgeport
Chinatown area. Has at least had the.
Opportunity for someone to explain what their rights are
and how they might enact those rights if they encounter, you
know, an ICE agent. Because one thing that we like
to point out. Is that like you have?
These rights being in the United.
(33:46):
States but that. Doesn't mean law enforcement.
Asserts your rights for you. You have to.
Assert that you know what. Your rights are otherwise.
You could be seen as willingly cooperating, right?
If you don't. Assert that your rights.
Are being violated. So that's one thing that we're
working on and I think. We also have a couple.
Communication channels, when we canvas that we're promoting.
(34:08):
So one is called Illinois Eyes on Ice, and it's actually run by
ISER and whenever you know. So what happens in the broader
system here is that if someone calls the Family Support Network
hotline to report a potential ice siding, there's a citywide
chat that that goes into and it gets sent out to whatever local
(34:28):
team is closest to that location.
And then a member of our team goes.
To check to see what's. Happening to see if anyone got
kidnapped and things like that and if there if we confirm that
ICE has been seen that a messagegets sent out.
So it's a text message based system and it's sent out in
English and Spanish, but something that I think you know,
(34:51):
Grace and her team have been working on also is making sure
that those are translated and there's also a channel through.
WeChat that we. Can send out notifications in
Chinese through too. So we really want to make sure
that community members are awareof those things because just
knowing that that that ice is inthe area and perhaps.
(35:13):
It'd be best if you. Go inside and lock your door
right? Because when you're inside, you
don't have to open your. Door for a federal.
Agent or police, unless they have a warrant signed by a judge
with your name on it, you know, saying that they can that, that
they have a reason to come into your home.
And so, you know, we just want to make sure that people know
these things and can protect themselves and the and their
(35:35):
loved ones, you know. So that's one effort.
Do you have other ones you want to bring up?
Grace? Yeah.
I think I'm just very encouragedin seeing, you know, how much
the team has grown organically and that, you know, that is a
distributed leadership. Now we have sub teams with sub
team leaves and and folks come up with ideas about, you know,
(36:01):
what else to do to care for eachother.
And the canvassing or like the whistle packing project was
initiated by one of the team members who then was able to get
access to the library to do the packing and and then they
quickly ran out of space at the library.
(36:22):
So they end up going to a Community Center across the
street, right. So, so it's stuff like that that
is very encouraging because as long as we have neighbors that
would spontaneously come up withways to care for each other,
yeah, we're, we have a team where we have a communication
structure, we have ways to coordinate.
(36:44):
But I think that it's really individual people being
motivated and individual people being energized and continuing
this work that makes this make make this project successful.
Yeah, actually you had taken away my actually my last
question in regards to what are your hopes and what are you most
(37:04):
encouraged about in this community, But I wonder if you
have any thoughts on that, FrankAndrew, sorry, I don't know how
I how are you, Frank, Sorry. That's all.
That's all good. It's been a long day.
It's been a long day for all of us.
Yeah, no worries at all. Yeah, you know.
We also have a. Training and onboarding team and
(37:24):
so we just had a meeting with that team today because we have
so many people that want to get involved and I've been doing a
lot of those onboarding calls, you know, so that's why we're
trying to get more people involved in helping with.
Those. But all of those onboarding
calls give me a lot. Of hope because every.
Time I talk to someone who's gone through at least a 2 hour
(37:46):
training and wants to be connected.
To be able to. Look out for their neighbors and
connect people with with more information and just.
Be like a pair of eyes to help with with this effort.
That gives me a lot of hope and I think like Grace said, like
having these sub teams where people can find spaces to
connect with other people who might have common interests and
then just start, you know, building a new network to make
(38:09):
those things become a reality makes our community stronger
and. Like if ice does leave.
Or, you know, if some percentageof the ICE agents leave this
week or next, we're not gonna stop because we know.
That this is like the first yearof.
This presidential administration, and we kind of
have seen, they've showed us their cards and what they're
(38:30):
trying to do and we know that they're trying to harass
immigrant neighborhoods. So we're going to continue to
build the numbers and capacity. So that we're.
Ready for whatever comes our wayand I think like you know one of
our. Goals is that we have.
Enough people involved that likethere's a pair, you know, at
least one or two people on everyblock in this area who are
(38:51):
connected to the group and will get a notification if something
is is happening and be able to go check it out.
And when that happens, that alsomeans less burnout for everyone
because when people, when a lot of people are connected, it
doesn't have to be, you know, 3:00 to 5:00.
People everyday. Trying to keep track of all
these things. So, yeah.
So we're just going to keep getting more organized and and
(39:12):
that, along with the growing number of people involved, gives
me a lot of hope. What advice would you give to
someone that or to communities that are outside of Chicago,
like particularly in places thatthe Ice Race haven't happened
quite yet? What advice would you give to
these communities that are starting to wonder what's going
(39:34):
on? Because I know unfortunately,
mainstream media, traditional media outlets have not really
carried the story, even though it is an absolute crisis that
Chicago's been dealing with in Portland and LA and New York.
I wonder what what could you tell folks in these communities
in terms of like if they need toget started or what they need to
(39:59):
look into doing to make sure that that?
The bug gets rolling once ICE comes into town.
I know it's a very loaded question there, but yeah.
Yeah, so there so, so there are already other teams too.
Let me just go back a little bit.
(40:19):
So the rapper response teams, there were about 5 or 6 teams
that started in 2016 and those were in Rogers Park, in Pilsen
and Little Village and in Aurora, IL mostly because, you
know, some of the immigrant communities were more active in
those areas. And then this time, as I said,
very quickly, we had 1012 teams.And then now we have teams in
(40:42):
suburban areas as well as in, you know, towns downstate and,
and elsewhere in Illinois. And mostly it is just neighbors
having seen some of the ICE kidnappings and wanting to be
involved, you know, forming these teams.
I would just say, you know, juststart somewhere, anywhere to
(41:03):
start and do something. We started out our team with
only six people when, you know, when I first started, you know,
calling folks and now we have how many people do we have,
Andrew 125 or something like that.
So you know, so this right is isit gross?
And then other teams are similarly, you know, have grown
(41:29):
a lot in the in the past few weeks.
So I think that what I would encourage folks to to do is just
start by gathering your neighbors and start doing
something you may not be able todo very much at the beginning.
And maybe you know, just small steps, but get the know your
rights information, understand what rights you have as a
(41:51):
resident of the United States, regardless of immigration
status. You know, get to know, you know,
the family support network resources, know the know the,
the family support resource support network phone number and
get all the information that youcan and, and share them.
(42:13):
Some folks might want to participate in protests and, and
use their voice that way. So just get involved in the
network whatever way you can, wherever you can.
Yeah, yeah. I'd say like pointing just like
highlighting that there's a lot of different ways to be involved
and starting with whatever ways make sense for, you know, city
(42:38):
or community that you're in. Is is what I advise people to
do. Because the rapid response, you
know, the actual going out to videotape, what an interaction
between an ICE agent is just onesmall part of what we do and
that might not. Be a part that.
A lot of people are comfortable doing, especially if they, you
(42:58):
know, are vulnerable in some way.
So I think it's important to. Look for those other ways.
Of getting involved, helping connect people because it's like
sometimes you have a protest that a bunch of people go to but
they have no way of actually connecting with new.
People there, right? And so finding ways to tap into
that and follow up and connect people with some kind of
(43:18):
positive action like going out and canvassing, which is a
pretty. Safe activity to do.
I think it's great and anytime we get people involved in new.
Ways that like builds our. Community's.
Capacity as a whole. I want to share any, any closing
remarks that you have. And also like before I get into
(43:40):
that, I also want to say thank you so much for, you know, being
on today and doing this hard laborers thankless work and
protecting all of our community members.
And I think 1 one thing I wantedto highlight when I came back to
the podcast was that that because of what we're not seeing
(44:01):
in the traditional media outlets, it was, it's so
important for me to like, show, showcase what is going on in
Chicago and also in the surrounding areas, but also to
show the resilience and the tenacity that Chicago has.
Is this a city that has been so civically engaged?
I've known so many great folks in the nonprofit and grassroots
(44:25):
communities, and I think that this is just another example of
how resilient this community is in trying to do its best to
protect communities at the most urgent of times.
So I was wondering if there's any like closing remarks that
you have or any suggestions or any any lasting thoughts?
(44:52):
Yeah, actually I want to make sure that folks online know the
ISER Family Support Network hotline, the FSN hotline, which
is 855-435-7693, 855-435-7693. And that's what what where you
can call in for any suspected ICE action or call to report any
(45:21):
incidents. But yeah, as far as closing
thoughts, I think, you know, we had Chicago is a complex city
with, you know, a lot of big city problems that just like any
city. But I think that what connects
all of us is the desire to to help one another and to work
(45:48):
together. And I think that the closing
thought that I would have is, you know, keep doing that, you
know, keep caring for each other.
And and that's what makes Chicago great.
Yeah. And I'd say like, you know, I
love cities. And it's really clear right now
that cities, and in particular certain cities, are under.
(46:09):
Attack by the federal. Government, you know, like we've
seen threats to cut, you know, and, and real.
Cuts to like our public. Transit funding and now with
this SNAP thing, you know, theseare things that make our cities
run well and a lot of people think, you know that.
All these resources. Are going to cities and somehow
(46:31):
this might make things more. Fair, but also like a lot of.
Resources are generated by. Cities.
So it's like the city of. Chicago generates a lot more in
tax revenues then come back to it through these different
federal systems like SNAP. And so I just think that's like
important to. Be aware of.
And I think like Grace was saying like.
There's there are big city. Problems.
(46:51):
We have so much diversity and somuch density of.
Different types of people. And whenever you have
differences, there's the. Possibility of.
Divides, you know, between groups forming.
But like, I think that, you know, what I'm heartened by is
just. That these attacks.
On our neighborhoods are bringing people together in new
ways to to create connections across those divides and and
(47:13):
that makes cities even more beautiful and I think that's
something. That Chicago is really good.
At and so we're just building upon that, you know, work that I
think has been going on for a long.
Time, Thank you so much for yourtime and also I just want to say
thank you once again for doing this incredible work.
And I really hope that people who are listening are going to
(47:36):
hopefully take something away from this from this episode.
And yes, wishing you all the safety and abundance for you and
the community. Yeah.
Thank you. Thanks for making.
Space for this conversation, highlighting it.
Hey everyone, this is Randy Kim from the Bundy Chronicles
podcast. And today we are doing another
emergency episode and what's been happening with the Chicago
ICE raids and also now with the SNAP benefits being on hold.
And so I decided to bring in Grace Chan McKibben, who's been
(00:24):
a friend of mine for the last several years.
And she's a non profit leader inthe Chinese American community.
And also she does she was very kind enough to also bring Andrew
Fangos, who's been helping her with the rapid response on the
ice watch. So welcome, welcome, welcome.
And I would like to, you know, you know, have you be able to
(00:46):
talk a little bit more about thework that you're doing so far in
the Chicago Chinatown community?Yeah, maybe I'll start.
I think that when we first heardabout potential immigration,
increase in immigration enforcement, even as early as
(01:08):
the middle of December, I thought that it would be
important to form a response team in the Chinatown Bridgeport
community because a lot of the residents being new immigrants
or immigrants that are limited in English speaking, don't
really know what's going on. So I think that's the impetus
(01:30):
for starting the rapid response team that's connected with the
general rapid response team thatICIRI Sir has been organizing.
And the rapid response teams arenot new.
They actually started in, duringthe first Trump administration
with about 5 or 6 teams in different neighborhoods in
Chicago and then, and also in the suburbs.
(01:53):
And, and then this time, I thinkvery quickly there were 10 or 12
teams that got formed. And then now they're several
dozen in both the city and in the suburbs.
And, and it's important because it's really neighbors watching
out for each other. So even though, you know, we
started out with a small team and it really grew organically
(02:16):
because neighbors heard about itand want to have a way to
participate to protect their neighbors.
And Andrew, how did you get involved with this work?
Yeah, so I. I had worked with Grace.
And a couple other organizationsaround the Chinatown area and
other organizing efforts over the years.
(02:39):
And so I think it was around thesummer that they pulled me in to
see if I would help Co lead the team.
And I had capacity at that time.And so I, yeah, got involved
then. I think I've been trained
earlier. And so there's a few
organizations around the city that have been leading trainings
that are open to the public. So I just wanted to give that
(03:01):
context to. Yeah, and also with the
Chinatown community, what was the original response when the
first waves of ice waves were happening?
What was in place at that time? And how have you been able to
quickly respond to the to the constant movement of the ICE and
federal government? Yeah, so as I said, you know,
(03:25):
the rap Response Team actually have been in place since
December. And then in January we had, you
know, folks that are trained andall the rapper response team
members have a two-part training, one hour on know your
rights. Just knowing what the rights are
of each person when they encounter law enforcement.
And it's the same rights whetherit's federal agents, whether
(03:47):
it's, you know, police that you know, you have the same rights
to not answer any questions, to request an attorney to, to
request search warrants and so on.
So that's, you know, nothing new.
And then the second part is to do this observation to when
(04:08):
there are suspected ice action to go outside and observe and
take video and photographs as documentation.
I think those are. So those trainings have been
taking place and we've had this team since the beginning of
January. And the first ICE reports of
(04:30):
action on the street actually came in May, and we, one of our
team members observed it in in progress.
So that was reported in the local Chinese newspapers as well
as shared out on social media. And so there are folks in the
(04:51):
immediate community are, of course, you know, interested in
knowing what's going on because there had been this assumption
that ICE action was happening only in that night communities.
So I think that, you know, beingable to share that this is
happening in Asian American communities as well is
(05:13):
important. And with the Operation Midway
blitz that happened since since I I want to say September ish
and I know October was definitely a month where it
really escalated. And today the time step is like
November 12th on Wednesday and supposedly the the ICE or Border
(05:36):
Patrol Chief Greg Bovino said that he's going to push away
from Chicago as of today. We don't know if this is
official or not. So I want to be very mindful of
that. But I think, I think maybe
something that I'm very curious about is have there been people,
(05:58):
people, particularly Chinese American community being
detained during that particular wave?
And what was that like for that community during this past month
and 1/2? Yeah, I could.
I could answer a little bit on that.
So, yeah, when when we heard about the Operation Midway
(06:18):
Blitz, when that was like announced and I think all the
rapid response teams around Chicago were like gearing up for
it and preparing for it. We knew that we'd need more
capacity and also to make sure that the neighborhood was really
informed. I think with all the different
languages in the Bridgeport Chinatown area, information
doesn't always like travel in inreally.
(06:40):
Quick ways or equal? Ways across different groups.
And so the first thing we did inline with, you know, the.
Rest of the city. Cities Rapid Response teams was
ramp up canvassing efforts and we have both, we've been doing
both residential and business canvassing and we have a sub
team that's dedicated to canvassing that's grown a lot
(07:00):
and developed a lot of. Resources.
And with the help of. CBCAC also like.
You know, made sure that there'slanguage access across, you
know, Chinese, but also when we're going out and canvassing,
we try to have Mandarin and Cantonese speakers and we when
we talk to businesses around Chinatown or when we're just
knocking on doors or going around the community.
(07:23):
So a lot of the time we run into.
People that that are like. Yeah, You know, I'm fine.
I have a visa or I'm fine, I'm acitizen.
And I think that there is still,in some places around Chinatown,
people that think that like they're not the target of it.
And at the same time, there's also business owners that are
(07:44):
really eager for information. So when we talk to business
owners, they wanna keep their employees safe.
And so they really wanna know more about how to protect their
employees. So we see kind of both types of
reactions, but there have been afew detentions of people or
kidnappings of people in Chinatown.
And so I think the, you know, one of the first high profile
(08:06):
ones that was part of the Operation Midway Blitz was in.
Bridgeport right across the. Street from Minoso Elementary
School about 3 weeks ago and that person was a Chinese man
who was a Mandarin speaker and he seemed to just be in front of
his house doing, you know, working on something in the
front yard and some agents pulled up and and took him and
(08:27):
we did have two rapid response team members present one who you
know, works nearby and another one who.
Who lives very close by? And they recorded the whole
interaction and they were askingthe ICE agents if they had a
warrant or who they were lookingfor, if they knew the name of
who they were looking for. And none of those questions were
answered by the ICE agents. So that raises suspicions that,
(08:50):
like, they might not have. And they actually pushed one of
the neighbors down, you know, during that interaction and then
took that man. And I believe I want to check
with grace on this, but I. Believe that that.
Person is still being held in Michigan at a detention center
and I think that that family hadalready been connected with the
(09:13):
Chinese American Service League,you know, and so that
organization has been connectingthem to legal services and also
other forms of support because that was a family with a couple
elementary school age children that that was impacted by that.
Yeah. So I think that, you know, the
pattern that we've seen is similar that I sanctions seem to
(09:36):
focus on one neighborhood for a couple of days or a couple
neighborhoods for a couple of days and then move on to other
neighborhoods. So we literally were able to see
that there were two separate Bridgeport days in the course of
the past few weeks and they werevery intense.
The day that Andrew mentioned was particularly intense because
(09:57):
there were reports of ice being seen questioning people or
arresting people at several different places within within
Bridgeport in a very short amount of time.
So there's very intense activitybetween like about 10:00 AM and
3:00 PM. With awesome with being in the
(10:20):
Bridgeport and Armor Square neighborhood.
There's also it's also closer tosome of the Black and Latin X
neighborhoods with Pilsen and Little Village, not far from
Little Village and Bridgeport and and and part of the South
side. I'm very curious, have you been
in communication with Black and Latin X communities around the
(10:44):
Chinatown? They're near the Chinatown area.
Yeah, definitely more with the Latin X community because you
know of the shared immigrant history and background so and
also geographically so. Archer Ave.
They've been. Targeted a lot as well, so
they've they've had. A lot of really intense activity
(11:06):
both in on the southwest side and in the little village in
Pilsen areas. For sure, yeah.
But I think in terms of communications, all the rapid
response networks are linked. And so if there's a general
announcement that came out, folks would then rebroadcasted
(11:26):
within their own local groups for support, for local support.
And because Chinatown and Bridgeport is along Archer Ave.
you know, all the way to McKinley Park and Brighton Park.
And then on the other side closeto Pilsen and Little Village,
our team members have supported the rest of the Southwest side
(11:47):
and they have supported our teamas well.
So it's a pretty close connection.
Oh, sorry. I'd love to just add one thing
there which is that. They're all also are.
Latin X people and black people who live in the greater, you
know, the Bridgeport Chinatown area and I think like, you know,
part of. We have to view this type of
(12:08):
work. As like a chance to build and,
you know, connections across ourcommunity because that's kind of
the only. Upside to this is that.
It's bringing people together inresistance.
And I, I just want to say like one, I have a friend who's part
of the Pilsen team and the Pilsen team has like an open
channel WhatsApp group, just because they want to have a
place where community concerns can be.
(12:28):
Raised that they're aware of. And there was one day about, you
know, sort of near the beginningof when the Operation Midway
blitz. Started where there was a.
Person in that. Public WhatsApp group who said?
Hey, you know, this was a message in Spanish and they were
saying I work at an elementary school in the Chinatown area and
I'm worried that the the people around me, the Asian American
(12:52):
people around me don't have don't know what's going on.
So I'm wondering where I can getlike good information.
So I'm aware of if there's ice activity in the area, right.
And to me that. Sort of highlights.
Just an issue when we have all these different language and
cultural groups in one, you know, in one area that.
There are barriers. Between them and so.
I thought it was really. You know, something that we want
(13:13):
to like work to change is that feeling of like someone being in
the neighborhood and thinking people don't have their.
Back right just because they. Are a different racial identity
or speak a different language. And so I think lately we've been
doing a lot of outreach to the elementary schools and the
different schools in the area and hopefully whoever that
employee was now feels differently, but.
(13:35):
That's sort of. Something that we're working to.
Build bridges. Around in our neighborhoods.
I'm curious about, I was just going to ask you like I'm
curious about the Asian owned businesses too, and
organizations and what have theyexperienced with ICE raids with
ICE agents? Because oftentimes we have seen
what ICE agents and CBP agents have gone through with Latinx
(13:58):
businesses or Latini businesses and, and with black-owned
businesses or any people of color, any business businesses
owned by anyone of color. So I'm very curious of what that
has interactions been like. Have they been targeting like
employees? Have they been, have they been
refused? Have business owners been
(14:20):
refusing to patron to patronize ICE agents?
I mean, obviously there's been so much to talk about.
What is the level of resistance and their role in trying to
protect the community? Yeah, we as part of the
canvassing we do some, we also do small business canvassing,
(14:43):
talking to all the business owners.
And we have not heard about any businesses that have been
targeted specifically by ICE agents.
But, but there is definitely a lot of openness from the
business owners to learn about what they should should do in
case their ICE agents present and they have are very open to
(15:07):
receiving the information that'sgiven to them or talking about
what it is that they should do. All of our information, we have
information in English and Spanish and Chinese.
So, so and try to reach all of the businesses because as Andrew
said, you know, like in Bridgeport you have a a mix of
(15:31):
different racial groups and not all the businesses are Asian.
Right. And there's a lot of businesses
in that community overall that because we have learned from
Little Village, from Tilson, Albany Park and many of the
Latinx heavy neighborhoods, a lot of their businesses have
(15:52):
suffered as a result. Foot traffic has been reduced
significantly because you have CBP agents and ICE agents
throwing tear gas. You have them like just coming
in unmarked vehicles and being very rogue.
I wonder about the impact that it has on the Chinatown
community so far from what you've observed and what have
(16:13):
you been told so far? Yeah, We definitely have heard
from businesses that foot traffic has been down,
particularly since Operation Midway Bliss has started in
September. So September, there's a fall off
in foot traffic to businesses inOctober.
(16:33):
And all the way, you know, the first few 3 days of November
definitely seem to be a lot of businesses reporting that
they've lost people coming. Yeah.
And I mean, given that we're so close to those neighborhoods, I
think. Usually I see.
(16:53):
A lot of people from those neighborhoods walking around
Chinatown. And so I have some friends that
are undocumented and I know for anyone who even friends that are
on visas, right, anyone who has anything but U.S. citizen and
some U.S. citizens feel like they might be targeted too based
on the way, you know, based on their racial identity.
So I think just. For a lot of people.
(17:14):
Right now, like going out. Is a little bit scary.
You know, because sometimes there's reports of ICE agents
you know, at, at L stations and sometimes you just don't know
where. They'll show up or.
Will there be where there might be stationed and things like
that? So I imagine that is affecting
business in a lot of neighborhoods, but particularly
in this very immigrant heavy part of Chicago.
(17:38):
What has the involvement of, andI don't know, I have had this
have I have had this conversation with Alderman Byron
Sigel Lopez before, but I'm curious about what has Chicago
Police Department and their involvement been in this
community in the wake of these raids?
Yeah, I think the role of CPD has always been very complicated
(18:01):
because even though they're bothChicago police and Cook County
police are not supposed to cooperate with ICE.
What we've heard are some practices that may be a little
marginally disruptive. So for example, one of our rapid
(18:23):
response team members works closely with the Chicago 9th
District Police District, which is which covers Chinatown,
Bridgeport, all the way to McKinley Park, by Bighton Park
and Back of the Yards. The 9th District police had told
the police officers to ticket people that are driving
(18:47):
erratically. And so the assumption was that,
you know, they're rapid responders and that are trying
to follow ICE agents and so on that that police would take
them. And so our volunteer asked the
Police Department, does it mean that they will also take it ICE
agents that are driving driving erratically.
(19:08):
And the answer was no, we're notgoing to take it any federal
agents. So I, you know, I think that it
is reports like this or practices like this that make
you wonder, even though the official policy is that local
police, meaning Chicago and CookCounty police, are not supposed
to cooperate with federal agents.
(19:29):
But if you're ticketing only civilians that Dr. erratically,
but not federal agents that Dr. erratically, that does seem to
be unfair. Yeah, and you know, it's.
Like also just to add to those. Questions when these federal
agents are driving unmarked. Vehicles How do the.
How does CPD or you know, the Cook County Sheriff's?
(19:50):
How do they know? That those are federal agents.
Because that's something that wehave been putting a lot of work
into, is figuring out, you know?Who is a federal?
Agent as. We try to keep a.
Watch and and keep our neighborhood safe and informed,
you know, so that, you know, that makes me wonder, without
cooperating and coordinating with each other, how do they
know that that car is a federal agent?
(20:10):
So I'm going to. Pull over the car.
That's. Behind them, yeah.
What support have the elected officials in this area provided
to the community and what has what resources have they been
able to share? Yeah, we've kept in close touch
(20:30):
with the local elected officialsthat, you know, that cover this
area. So I'll do them.
And Nicole Lee and State Representative Theresa May and
State Senator Selena Villanueva all have been, you know, we, we
keep in the rapper response team, keep in contact with them
(20:52):
and with their staff. And they've been very supportive
whenever there are reports of people in the in their district
being taken by ICE that they wanted to know and wanted to
know how they can be helpful. And so last Sunday there was a
(21:14):
volunteer event of just volunteers coming together to
pack whistle kits. We have the whistles and then we
have scenes, small instruction sheets that are in Chinese and
in Spanish. So volunteers were packing the
instructions and the whistles into a packet and ultimately
(21:36):
heard about the effort and she volunteered to supply pizza and
that was well received. Yeah.
And just to uplift that event that happened a little bit,
which wasn't your question, I think we had two of those events
to pack these kits. With whistles over the past.
Week and over 100 people from the Bridgeport Chinatown area
(21:56):
came out and packed whistles whistle kits for I think they
packed like 1000 of them and have a whole plan to distribute
them to different schools and businesses around and.
And libraries. As well.
Around the area so and that's. Just a way for.
People to alert their neighbors if there's some suspicious
(22:17):
activity, you know, to help raise awareness.
As far as as we are also talkingabout the ICE raids, we are also
dealing with the SNAP crisis andthis also obviously effects the
Chinese and immigrant communities in this area in
particular. What has that looked like so far
(22:41):
and what has the response look like in terms of mutual aid,
food banks and and I am coalescing, but other nonprofit
organizations in that area to tohelp prepare for what would be a
very uncertain time right now. Yeah.
(23:02):
So since the SNAP benefits have been suspended on November 1st,
there have been a lot of different efforts, folks sharing
more information about food pantries and about the love
pictures. I know there's several social
service organizations has sharedthese in their offices as well
as on their social media. And then as far as mutual aid
(23:26):
efforts are concerned, I, I knowthat there are different groups
that are organizing different things.
The Rapper Response, our rapper Response team's care team also
have folks that are interested in getting together to to
deliver groceries to families that might be impacted.
(23:46):
So I think there's a pretty grassroots movement that is
afoot, very similar to when we had the migrant crisis here 2-3
years ago and folks just wantingto pull together resources to
help. Yeah.
(24:07):
So I think we have not heard, I mean, we, there's just general
concern and anxiety among the Chinese or Asian American
community about SNAP benefits. Most of the SNAP recipients in
the Chinatown, Bridgeport area that are Asian are older adults.
(24:29):
And then there's some families, but by and large they're older
adults. And so there's a lot of of
murmuring among the older adultsabout, you know, how they're
going to get their food resources.
Unfortunately, they're at at Midwest Asian Health
Association, they already have afood pantry that operates twice
(24:50):
a week. So I don't, I don't know if
they've had they've seen an increase in people accessing
that resource. I know that there are a lot of
churches and so on that are alsosupplying food and a New Life
(25:13):
Community Center and New Life Church, which did a lot, they
basically LED most of the effortin preparing food for migrants
during the migrant crisis. They they've offered to supply
both hot meals and food for pickup.
Yeah. And just to connect a little
more with the rapid response efforts.
(25:33):
Like Grace said so we have like a care sub.
Team and they, they help supportmembers internally, you know,
cuz after you see someone get kidnapped, it can be helpful to
have like a mental health debrief with someone, but
they're also trying to coordinate these external
efforts and at the same time as we're having this, you know,
crisis with snap. We also have people that.
(25:54):
You know, everyone has differentlevels of vulnerability.
And so people that are more vulnerable when it comes to ICE
agents are might be afraid to goand get food, you know?
And so part of, you know, what that team is trying to
coordinate is helping to providerides.
Or drop offs for people that feel scared.
(26:15):
To go to the food pantry themselves, you know, just so we
could make. Sure, that.
They can stay safe and and manage their own risk with the
way that they're going about their lives.
And then another thing that's also that crosses my mind is
because of what's going on with SNAP, this also effects Asian
supermarkets in general and especially with the tariffs on
(26:38):
top of it. I wonder what this looks like
moving forward because this is aalso very concerning because a
lot of these businesses do rely on SNAP recipients and also
folks that are above like the lower income threshold.
But also, like with food costs going high, especially with the
(26:59):
tariffs going on, I wonder what that looks like as we move
forward. Yeah, yeah.
We're continuing to monitor. As I said, you know, the general
cause among some of the seniors that we work with is that they
worry about, you know, where food is going to come come from.
(27:20):
A lot of them, even with the snack benefits are already
accessing some of the food pantries because they are able
to pick up additional groceries,especially raw ingredients for,
for themselves for cooking. So I would just imagine that the
need for these places where theycan get free food would be would
(27:42):
be even higher. As far as as this current
administration's been doing something that also sticks out
to me is what the Asian Americancommunity went through a
particularly with the anti Asianviolence that happened right
after or during COVID, during the first two years of COVID.
(28:04):
And I wonder how much of what has happened in that past has
carried over in terms of the infrastructure and how this will
and how this current ICE, the current ICE raids and set
benefits, how that's going to create newer challenges for the
future to build better infrastructures.
(28:25):
I was maybe if we could take it back to like what happened with
COVID and how this is kind of like been able to help in some
ways create a more rapid response or more of a robust
rapid response network. Yeah.
I think during COVID there was alot of needs for, you know,
(28:48):
trying to get food to some of the older folks.
So Chinese American service, they, for example, started
delivering hot meals to senior housing buildings.
I believe that that has continued even after COVID.
So that's one of the systems that had continued.
And then this food pantry at Midwest Asian Health Association
(29:10):
that I mentioned definitely grewout of the need that they saw
during COVID for people to pick up fresh vegetables and, and
fruit and staples like rice and so on from in order to cook for
themselves. Because the grocery stores were
closed at that time, Chinese Christian Union Church organized
(29:34):
weekly food pick up and in orderto have culturally appropriate
food, CBCC and Poitak Seller andChinese Christian Union Church
pulled together money to and andthen also solicited donations
from from some of the private companies in order to buy
(30:00):
culturally appropriate food for some of the Asian seniors.
Because the general food pantry offerings aren't always
appropriate, the one the food pantry that is offered at
Midwest Asian Health AssociationMaha on Wednesdays and Thursdays
every week is culturally appropriate.
So they basically have a system with the Greater Chicago Food
(30:22):
Depository where they would order particular items that they
know would appeal to Chinese seniors.
And, and then the seniors come in and instead of receiving a
bag that's pre packed, they actually come in and shop off
the shelves. So, so that they can say, oh,
you know, I want 5 apples and, you know, 2 cans of, of peas and
(30:47):
you know, and not some other stuff.
So I think that's a very good service that had really grown
out of the need that was seen during the pandemic.
Yeah, I think I also just want to add that the you know, I
think during that rise in anti Asian violence, a lot of people
were attending like you know, byby standard intervention
(31:10):
training, how to you know, and this idea of like going to a
training in order to know. How best to like?
Keep the people around you and keep your neighbors safe.
I think we. Saw a lot of people.
Like going out to try to learn how to be better members of
their community during the, you know, aftermath of COVID and
that rise of anti Asian violence.
(31:30):
And I think this is like anothertime where we're seeing that in
a, in a different context. So it's, you know, I think it's
important to note the way that things are building upon each
other and our communities getting stronger overtime.
And I think, like Grace said before, you know, even this
current effort for rapid response teams is learning from
the Migra Watch efforts from the2016 Trump administration.
(31:54):
And those efforts learned from Copwatch efforts in Black
neighborhoods that we're also looking out for situations in
which law enforcement might be violating rules and, you know,
not treating community. Members fairly or appropriately
or. Enacting violence and so the
connections across time, I thinkthey're really important
because. Those are the threads that help
(32:14):
us. Move forward in new ways, you
know. And also like the second part of
that question is because of what's been going on, what ways
are you looking to, to improve the current infrastructure with
the safety network and, and whatdo you see is still a big need
right now? Because I know that I think
(32:37):
anything could really happen thenext year.
I mean, ICE could leave like this week, but they might come
back again in two months or three months, who knows.
But I'm very curious what what do you feel like would be
helpful in being able to prepareto help better prepare this
community and provide stronger protection?
(33:03):
Get into that if you want with just a.
Couple ideas that we have. I mean right now.
We're still. Very much doing weekly
canvassing on Sundays and. Last week we had. 20 volunteers
come out to canvas and just knock.
Door to door the week before we did it.
Targeted small business canvassing, but we want to make
(33:26):
sure that like everyone who lives in the Bridgeport
Chinatown area. Has at least had the.
Opportunity for someone to explain what their rights are
and how they might enact those rights if they encounter, you
know, an ICE agent. Because one thing that we like
to point out. Is that like you have?
These rights being in the United.
(33:46):
States but that. Doesn't mean law enforcement.
Asserts your rights for you. You have to.
Assert that you know what. Your rights are otherwise.
You could be seen as willingly cooperating, right?
If you don't. Assert that your rights.
Are being violated. So that's one thing that we're
working on and I think. We also have a couple.
Communication channels, when we canvas that we're promoting.
(34:08):
So one is called Illinois Eyes on Ice, and it's actually run by
ISER and whenever you know. So what happens in the broader
system here is that if someone calls the Family Support Network
hotline to report a potential ice siding, there's a citywide
chat that that goes into and it gets sent out to whatever local
(34:28):
team is closest to that location.
And then a member of our team goes.
To check to see what's. Happening to see if anyone got
kidnapped and things like that and if there if we confirm that
ICE has been seen that a messagegets sent out.
So it's a text message based system and it's sent out in
English and Spanish, but something that I think you know,
(34:51):
Grace and her team have been working on also is making sure
that those are translated and there's also a channel through.
WeChat that we. Can send out notifications in
Chinese through too. So we really want to make sure
that community members are awareof those things because just
knowing that that that ice is inthe area and perhaps.
(35:13):
It'd be best if you. Go inside and lock your door
right? Because when you're inside, you
don't have to open your. Door for a federal.
Agent or police, unless they have a warrant signed by a judge
with your name on it, you know, saying that they can that, that
they have a reason to come into your home.
And so, you know, we just want to make sure that people know
these things and can protect themselves and the and their
(35:35):
loved ones, you know. So that's one effort.
Do you have other ones you want to bring up?
Grace? Yeah.
I think I'm just very encouragedin seeing, you know, how much
the team has grown organically and that, you know, that is a
distributed leadership. Now we have sub teams with sub
team leaves and and folks come up with ideas about, you know,
(36:01):
what else to do to care for eachother.
And the canvassing or like the whistle packing project was
initiated by one of the team members who then was able to get
access to the library to do the packing and and then they
quickly ran out of space at the library.
(36:22):
So they end up going to a Community Center across the
street, right. So, so it's stuff like that that
is very encouraging because as long as we have neighbors that
would spontaneously come up withways to care for each other,
yeah, we're, we have a team where we have a communication
structure, we have ways to coordinate.
(36:44):
But I think that it's really individual people being
motivated and individual people being energized and continuing
this work that makes this make make this project successful.
Yeah, actually you had taken away my actually my last
question in regards to what are your hopes and what are you most
(37:04):
encouraged about in this community, But I wonder if you
have any thoughts on that, FrankAndrew, sorry, I don't know how
I how are you, Frank, Sorry. That's all.
That's all good. It's been a long day.
It's been a long day for all of us.
Yeah, no worries at all. Yeah, you know.
We also have a. Training and onboarding team and
(37:24):
so we just had a meeting with that team today because we have
so many people that want to get involved and I've been doing a
lot of those onboarding calls, you know, so that's why we're
trying to get more people involved in helping with.
Those. But all of those onboarding
calls give me a lot. Of hope because every.
Time I talk to someone who's gone through at least a 2 hour
(37:46):
training and wants to be connected.
To be able to. Look out for their neighbors and
connect people with with more information and just.
Be like a pair of eyes to help with with this effort.
That gives me a lot of hope and I think like Grace said, like
having these sub teams where people can find spaces to
connect with other people who might have common interests and
then just start, you know, building a new network to make
(38:09):
those things become a reality makes our community stronger
and. Like if ice does leave.
Or, you know, if some percentageof the ICE agents leave this
week or next, we're not gonna stop because we know.
That this is like the first yearof.
This presidential administration, and we kind of
have seen, they've showed us their cards and what they're
(38:30):
trying to do and we know that they're trying to harass
immigrant neighborhoods. So we're going to continue to
build the numbers and capacity. So that we're.
Ready for whatever comes our wayand I think like you know one of
our. Goals is that we have.
Enough people involved that likethere's a pair, you know, at
least one or two people on everyblock in this area who are
(38:51):
connected to the group and will get a notification if something
is is happening and be able to go check it out.
And when that happens, that alsomeans less burnout for everyone
because when people, when a lot of people are connected, it
doesn't have to be, you know, 3:00 to 5:00.
People everyday. Trying to keep track of all
these things. So, yeah.
So we're just going to keep getting more organized and and
(39:12):
that, along with the growing number of people involved, gives
me a lot of hope. What advice would you give to
someone that or to communities that are outside of Chicago,
like particularly in places thatthe Ice Race haven't happened
quite yet? What advice would you give to
these communities that are starting to wonder what's going
(39:34):
on? Because I know unfortunately,
mainstream media, traditional media outlets have not really
carried the story, even though it is an absolute crisis that
Chicago's been dealing with in Portland and LA and New York.
I wonder what what could you tell folks in these communities
in terms of like if they need toget started or what they need to
(39:59):
look into doing to make sure that that?
The bug gets rolling once ICE comes into town.
I know it's a very loaded question there, but yeah.
Yeah, so there so, so there are already other teams too.
Let me just go back a little bit.
(40:19):
So the rapper response teams, there were about 5 or 6 teams
that started in 2016 and those were in Rogers Park, in Pilsen
and Little Village and in Aurora, IL mostly because, you
know, some of the immigrant communities were more active in
those areas. And then this time, as I said,
very quickly, we had 1012 teams.And then now we have teams in
(40:42):
suburban areas as well as in, you know, towns downstate and,
and elsewhere in Illinois. And mostly it is just neighbors
having seen some of the ICE kidnappings and wanting to be
involved, you know, forming these teams.
I would just say, you know, juststart somewhere, anywhere to
(41:03):
start and do something. We started out our team with
only six people when, you know, when I first started, you know,
calling folks and now we have how many people do we have,
Andrew 125 or something like that.
So you know, so this right is isit gross?
And then other teams are similarly, you know, have grown
(41:29):
a lot in the in the past few weeks.
So I think that what I would encourage folks to to do is just
start by gathering your neighbors and start doing
something you may not be able todo very much at the beginning.
And maybe you know, just small steps, but get the know your
rights information, understand what rights you have as a
(41:51):
resident of the United States, regardless of immigration
status. You know, get to know, you know,
the family support network resources, know the know the,
the family support resource support network phone number and
get all the information that youcan and, and share them.
(42:13):
Some folks might want to participate in protests and, and
use their voice that way. So just get involved in the
network whatever way you can, wherever you can.
Yeah, yeah. I'd say like pointing just like
highlighting that there's a lot of different ways to be involved
and starting with whatever ways make sense for, you know, city
(42:38):
or community that you're in. Is is what I advise people to
do. Because the rapid response, you
know, the actual going out to videotape, what an interaction
between an ICE agent is just onesmall part of what we do and
that might not. Be a part that.
A lot of people are comfortable doing, especially if they, you
(42:58):
know, are vulnerable in some way.
So I think it's important to. Look for those other ways.
Of getting involved, helping connect people because it's like
sometimes you have a protest that a bunch of people go to but
they have no way of actually connecting with new.
People there, right? And so finding ways to tap into
that and follow up and connect people with some kind of
(43:18):
positive action like going out and canvassing, which is a
pretty. Safe activity to do.
I think it's great and anytime we get people involved in new.
Ways that like builds our. Community's.
Capacity as a whole. I want to share any, any closing
remarks that you have. And also like before I get into
(43:40):
that, I also want to say thank you so much for, you know, being
on today and doing this hard laborers thankless work and
protecting all of our community members.
And I think 1 one thing I wantedto highlight when I came back to
the podcast was that that because of what we're not seeing
(44:01):
in the traditional media outlets, it was, it's so
important for me to like, show, showcase what is going on in
Chicago and also in the surrounding areas, but also to
show the resilience and the tenacity that Chicago has.
Is this a city that has been so civically engaged?
I've known so many great folks in the nonprofit and grassroots
(44:25):
communities, and I think that this is just another example of
how resilient this community is in trying to do its best to
protect communities at the most urgent of times.
So I was wondering if there's any like closing remarks that
you have or any suggestions or any any lasting thoughts?
(44:52):
Yeah, actually I want to make sure that folks online know the
ISER Family Support Network hotline, the FSN hotline, which
is 855-435-7693, 855-435-7693. And that's what what where you
can call in for any suspected ICE action or call to report any
(45:21):
incidents. But yeah, as far as closing
thoughts, I think, you know, we had Chicago is a complex city
with, you know, a lot of big city problems that just like any
city. But I think that what connects
all of us is the desire to to help one another and to work
(45:48):
together. And I think that the closing
thought that I would have is, you know, keep doing that, you
know, keep caring for each other.
And and that's what makes Chicago great.
Yeah. And I'd say like, you know, I
love cities. And it's really clear right now
that cities, and in particular certain cities, are under.
(46:09):
Attack by the federal. Government, you know, like we've
seen threats to cut, you know, and, and real.
Cuts to like our public. Transit funding and now with
this SNAP thing, you know, theseare things that make our cities
run well and a lot of people think, you know that.
All these resources. Are going to cities and somehow
(46:31):
this might make things more. Fair, but also like a lot of.
Resources are generated by. Cities.
So it's like the city of. Chicago generates a lot more in
tax revenues then come back to it through these different
federal systems like SNAP. And so I just think that's like
important to. Be aware of.
And I think like Grace was saying like.
There's there are big city. Problems.
(46:51):
We have so much diversity and somuch density of.
Different types of people. And whenever you have
differences, there's the. Possibility of.
Divides, you know, between groups forming.
But like, I think that, you know, what I'm heartened by is
just. That these attacks.
On our neighborhoods are bringing people together in new
ways to to create connections across those divides and and
(47:13):
that makes cities even more beautiful and I think that's
something. That Chicago is really good.
At and so we're just building upon that, you know, work that I
think has been going on for a long.
Time, Thank you so much for yourtime and also I just want to say
thank you once again for doing this incredible work.
And I really hope that people who are listening are going to
(47:36):
hopefully take something away from this from this episode.
And yes, wishing you all the safety and abundance for you and
the community. Yeah.
Thank you. Thanks for making.
Space for this conversation, highlighting it.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.