EMERGENCY EPISODE: Reporting on the Front Line of the ICE Raids in Chicago w/Francia Garcia Hernandez

In this emergency episode, Francia Garcia Hernandez, a reporter for Block Club Chicago, joined me as a guest, focusing on the seismic impact of recent ICE raids across the city.

Francia shares her on-the-ground reporting, giving us a clear view of how these raids affect Chicago’s vibrant Latino communities and the real-world consequences for local, family-owned small businesses.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• The Climate of Fear: What it feels like on the ground in neighborhoods under the threat of enforcement, and how that uncertainty translates into daily life for residents and families.

• The CPD Question: The growing and uncertain role of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) as perceived by community members and leaders, and why this relationship with ICE is a major concern for local advocacy groups.

• Economic Impact: How the raids are creating a ripple effect, specifically hitting the revenue and stability of small businesses in the coverage area.

• The Institutional Response: How schools, local institutions, and the City of Chicago have stepped up—or fallen short—in their response to protect residents.

• Community Resilience: Stories of how community members are working together to protect one another, from setting up rapid response networks to providing legal and social support.

• Protection of local journalists: What Francia and her fellow journalist colleagues have experienced with the raids, the attack on her colleagues and the WGN producer who was forcibly detained, and how they are protecting themselves in their work.

This is essential listening to understand the dynamics at play in Chicago’s immigrant communities right now.

Connect with Francia Garcia Hernandez:

• Read her work at: Block Club Chicago

• Instagram: francia_garciah

To report any ICE activities caught on video, please send them to:

tinyurl.com/chicagojournalists

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Hi everyone. This is Randy Kim from the
Bundry Chronicles podcast. And I do have another emergency
episode edition. And so I am joined here today
with Francia Garcia Hernandez, who is the reporter of Black
Club Chicago. And Black Club Chicago provides
online digital journalism coverage of what's happening in
all of Chicago's neighborhoods. And the reason why I decided to

(00:28):
bring Francia on is because she and so many community
journalists have been covering the ongoing ICE raids.
And I do, as a firm believer in community journalism, it's very
important to bring information that's not being reported on
legacy media. And so I want to give a trigger

(00:48):
warning that there will be mention of ICE, violent ICE
detainment, violence and other topics associated with ICE and,
and police brutality and so forth.
So Francia, thank you so much for being on.
How are you currently navigatingthis week in terms of covering

(01:11):
covering the ICE raids? Yeah.
Well, thank you so much for having me.
That is a great question. And as you mentioned, this is
something that has been going onin, you know, it's just eyes and
Border Patrol being present in the city of Chicago and
Chicago's neighborhoods for overa month now.
And that's not to say agents weren't here before or the

(01:32):
tensions weren't happening before, but this really
intensified, ramped up a presence of federal agents and
operations has increased in the last month.
The way we are covering it at Block Club, and I think
personally I can speak to that as well, is by, you know,
monitoring what's happening day in and day out in Chicago

(01:54):
neighborhoods and tracking tips of ICE presence in neighborhoods
in specific establishments. We are approaching it it with a
daily recap of confirmed ice sightings or the tensions
relying on rapid response groupsacross the city and their
reports because they have ice everywhere and you know, boots

(02:17):
on the ground everywhere. And we're also following
specific tips, specific incidents like these very
visible operations in the Southwest side, in South Shore,
in East East Chicago this week. So it's kind of like A2 fold
approach, focusing on tips that we get, focusing on big very

(02:40):
visible operations and in some cases those that have been seen
with a lot of use of force by federal agents and then also
tracking individual attainments best as we can that are spotted
and reported through rapid response groups.
Speaking of rapid response groups, Meta had already
announced that, well, they had suspended the ice watch in for

(03:04):
the Chicagoland and that was also due the pressure of the DOJ
or the Department of Justice in the United States.
I was wondering because of what's going on, what community
groups? How have they pivoted since the
meta? Since the meta ban on ice
groups? Ice watch groups.

(03:26):
Yeah. So I think that's something that
we're still seeing how it plays out.
This specific page that got shotdown was a larger one, very
active page where anyone was able to post ICE sightings or
reports of somebody getting detained by ICE.
Other rapid response groups use Facebook as well and other like

(03:48):
Meta company related social media platforms.
But they have their specific pages where they share
information. Some people you know are using
other types of communication like signal groups or WhatsApp
groups to to get this information out.
So it hasn't been like a widespread ban, like every

(04:11):
single account of the Rabbit response group in Chicago has
been banned or suspended. We haven't seen that happen.
But it was concerning, I think too many to see that one page
where people were posting kind of like immediately tips of
where they saw ice in Chicago and the Chicagoland area got
shot down. However, that hasn't stopped
other efforts and other pages. What neighborhoods have you been

(04:37):
specifically covering and what have you observed with the ICE
presence in these neighborhoods and how it's impacting small
businesses, community folks, institutional places where
there's churches, temples, universities, school districts?
I'm very curious to see what you're seeing from the

(04:59):
neighborhoods that you've covered specifically.
Yes, I cover Pilsen, Little Village, Back of the Yards and
parts of the Southwest Side likeBrighton Park, Gate Park,
Midway, W Lawn. At the very start of Operation
Midway Blitz and before Operation at Large, which is
Border Patrol's LAT operation here in Chicago was announced,

(05:22):
we had seen reports of three people getting detained on a
Sunday at the start of Septemberin Brighton Park, Archer Heights
area. The next day and in the weeks to
follow, we start seeing more ICEpresence and more reports of ICE
agents in this neighborhood, specifically Brighton Park, Back

(05:43):
of the Yards, in this neighborhoods, talking to
organizers, talking to officials, talking to neighbors.
What we have seen seen is a widespread sense that agents are
present at all times, followed by reports of rapid response
groups confirming that, indeed, you know, agents, Border Patrol

(06:05):
and ICE agents have been in corridors along these
neighborhoods, have been there pretty much every day since the
start of Midway Blitz. Small businesses have reported
from the beginning, lower foot traffic, lower people coming
into restaurants and shops. And that has only intensified as

(06:29):
the presence of federal agents has intensified as well.
We have seen and heard from business owners in Little
Village in Pilsen who are seeingless customers come in, who are
really kind of like worried about what this could look like.
I have reported on St. vendors as well.
We're very, you know, prominent in these neighborhoods.

(06:50):
Many of them are choosing to stay home out of fear for being,
you know, detained or targeted. Those who are going out have
reported lower sales or like, insome cases, it might not even be
worth being out there because they're just not selling their
products. So it is having a trickling
effect. Also, when it comes to schools,

(07:13):
there have been several times where like there has been an
alert about agents in the neighborhood near schools where
neighbors, you know, so those who can mobilize and try to keep
watch outside schools or near schools to alert people if
indeed agents come out near school let out time.
And in other cases, we have alsoheard that, you know, people are

(07:36):
choosing not to drive their kidsto school and other neighbors
who can offering and stepping upto say, like, I can do your
groceries, I can take your kids to school, I can pick up your
kids to school. So it's really disrupted, you
know, daily life for many of theneighbors who live in these
areas in a lot of different ways.

(07:58):
Thank you for sharing that part.And which also leads me to the
next question of law enforcement.
Where is Chicago law enforcementin Illinois State Police in
this, because they're in also obviously monitoring the
communities. What has that looked like from
what you've observed and from what the community folks have

(08:19):
shared with? I'm very curious to see what
their role is, whether they're abetting ICE agents, federal
agents, or are they protecting clients.
I think that there needs to be more of a clearer understanding
of what's happening. And their role, yes, that that
is a, you know, that's a question.
And that's a common that I thinkhas come up repeatedly since

(08:41):
really since the start of MidwayBlitz and even before when we
saw federal agents detain peoplein the South Loop and Chicago
police arrived at the scene. That was back in June.
Police is often or has often been seen at this larger
demonstrations where federal agents maybe have been in

(09:03):
certain neighborhoods like the Southwest Side and like East
Side Chicago this week. And they have police have stated
they're there because a big crowd forms and they're there to
assist with traffic control or public safety reasons.
They are by state and city laws not allowed to help ICE, but

(09:26):
they're also not allowed to intervene, meaning in some cases
they will be there. And in some cases, community
members have raised concerns that maybe it looks more like
they're there to guard federal agents and to protect the
community, but they're there in most of these cases, as they
have stated to to assist with like traffic control, crowd

(09:49):
control, that kind of thing. In some recent incidents, one in
the southwest Side of Chicago, one in East Side, there were
reports and video and photo evidence that even police got
tear gassed by federal agents and have to like seek
assistance. And in many cases, neighbors in
these areas have assisted policeas well.

(10:11):
But it's definitely been a question that keeps coming up
and something that many neighbors are wondering, like,
what is the role of police here?And when they show up with
federal agents having showed up before, what does that look
like? And what could police do, if
anything else? And Chicago Mayor Brandon

(10:32):
Johnson, What has his response been with talking with the
police, the Chicago Police Department, and also maybe for a
larger question with Governor Pritzker in terms of where the
role of where the role of policeplays into this.
Yes, both the Chicago mayor and Superintendent Larry Snelling

(10:57):
from the Chicago Police Department have clearly stated
and publicly stated multiple times that police will not be
cooperating or assisting with any immigration enforcement
operation. That has been a message that has
been repeated from the start andthat has been very publicly
said. That in itself does not always,

(11:23):
you know, resolve the question of like, how can police act in a
moment of action, right? Like, that is very easy to say.
That's a broad statement. But what that looks like when
there are 40 Border Patrol agents tear gassing people, even
peaceful protesters, older people, children or teenagers,

(11:47):
and police is there, that looks a little bit different.
But it's been that's been the message based on the sanctuary
city and state laws, right? Like police cannot help, but
police cannot intervene either. So that's been the message.
Another thing that has been clearly communicated by
Superintendent Larry Snelling isthat the existing laws and the

(12:09):
reason why sanctuary laws work is because police can, I don't
want they can help. But like, if there is a civil,
not a civil, if there's a criminal warrant for somebody's
attention, then that changes things.
But in essence, police will not cooperate on civil arrests or
just detaining someone or honoring ICE detainers.

(12:34):
If there is a criminal warrant for somebody, then that's
different. And that's why sanctuary laws
have been upheld in the past. Do we know the number of folks
that have been detained in Chicago, detained from Chicago
since the start of Operation Midway?
And also, do we know the whereabouts?

(12:54):
Because there's been a lot of uncertainty of where detainees
are being taken to, how long they are and the fact that they
are not getting access to talk to their family members, to
their immigration attorneys or attorneys, I should say.
What have you learned about their whereabouts?

(13:15):
What's happening to them right as we speak, especially for
those that have legalized statusand non legalized status?
Yes, that is a complicated question, But you know, we know
as of the latest release by the Department of Homeland Security,
it was looking like 1500 people have been detained in Chicago

(13:38):
and Chicagoland area since the start of Operation Midway Blitz.
That is as much of the information that is shared.
We don't necessarily have seen, you know, specifics of how many
arrests took place in each neighborhood or suburban town,
how many arrests happened daily,who was arrested or why people

(14:01):
were arrested. Like there is not no
transparency on the Department of Homeland Security side to do
this on a daily basis, but everyonce in a while they have
released figures as of how many people have been detained in
total. When it comes to knowing where
people are being taken, we have heard reports of people getting

(14:24):
detained and being immediately moved to the Brought View ICE
processing center in suburban Brought View.
It's important to know this was a processing center and it's not
supposed to be a detention center, meaning it doesn't have
like the infrastructure to hold people there for a long time or
more than 12 hours. There are like no beds, no

(14:45):
showers. There isn't like a cafeteria
where people can access food andand other things.
So there have been reports from really dating months back about
inhumane conditions that people were being held in at Brought
View and state lawmakers trying to investigate and visit the
center. In many cases, people are being

(15:08):
kept at Prop U longer than law allows them to be kept there and
then moved to out of state facilities everywhere in really
in the Midwest and even in otherparts of the country such as
Texas. And for those who are not able
to access legal aid or who are eligible for expedited removal,

(15:31):
they have been quickly deported in some cases.
So it's a mix of where people are being held and how they are
being held. What have you noticed from from
a journalism experience or journalist experience?
I should clarify because Black Club Chicago's has had like 4

(15:52):
reporters that were tear gassed or attacked by I believe it was
either ICE or police. I'm not exactly sure if you can
clarify that part but also what happened with the WGN producer
where she was forcibly detained on live video?
What are community journalists from what you have seen from

(16:16):
Black Club and maybe what other community journalists, what have
they been experiencing from ICE agents when they're covering
these stories? Yes, four of our blog club
reporters were tear gassed when they were covering protests in
brought view. They were part of crowds of

(16:36):
journalists and peaceful protesters that were tear
gassed, shot with pepper bulletsand it was mostly federal
agents. It's pretty clear that it was
either ICE and or Border Patrol in some of these instances.
It's been more than like 1 case and other media reporters have

(16:57):
called out the same thing. There was a CBSTV reported that
said she was targeted or it appeared to be targeted that her
van, her news van was shot with a chemical weapon that got
inside the vehicle and everybodyinside the vehicle had tear gas
in in on their faces. So it's been something that we

(17:20):
have seen the case you mentionedabout a WGN reporter, I mean,
producer, sorry, that happened Friday.
It is it appears that she was not working for the station at
the time she was detained. She was on her way to work when
she was detained by federal agents who threw her to the

(17:44):
ground as it is seen on video and witness statements.
Other witnesses from that incident said it appeared agents
have detained another man who was inside a van.
And then they moved to detain this woman who is AUS citizen
and an employee of WGN. She has She was later released.

(18:08):
She was held for a few hours later released without charges,
even though the Department of Homeland Security has stated
that she threw a metal object atagents and that's the reason for
her detainment. But so far charges have not been
filed against her and she released a statement yesterday
with her attorneys saying that she will pursue legal action

(18:29):
about this detainment and deniesthat she through any sort of
metal object that agency was just filming from the detainment
of somebody. So these are like you mentioned,
these are some of the cases thatwe're seeing here on in Chicago.
And you know, as reporters, we are definitely taking
precaution. We, if we're covering protests

(18:53):
in Brought View or elsewhere, many of us are, are using
personal protection equipment like masks and goggles to
protect ourselves from tear gas and other chemical agents if
they're used. So we are taking precautions for
covering what's happening because of the escalating

(19:14):
tactics that we have seen are being used by federal agents.
I'm also wondering about where traditional media outlets like
WGNNBCABC, there's been a lot ofcriticism that they have been
receiving for not being for not being responsive are also like
really covering the full scope. What has black club or

(19:36):
borderless magazine or unraveled?
I know you can speak for other hyper community journalist, but
I am wondering about what have you have been doing that
traditional legacy media outletshave not been covering?
Because I think that there's a lot of different narrative
shifts. And I think that there needs to

(19:58):
be more of a clarity of of wherepeople are getting their
information or where the misinformation is coming from.
Right. I think one of the advantages of
Block Club, and I can speak about Block club because I work
there, is that we've been covering Chicago neighborhoods
for years. So we have the, you know,

(20:19):
understanding of the contacts. We have sources there.
We have a pretty good idea of what this neighborhood looks
like and what it looked like before, you know, federal agents
showed up and how it's changing or how it's being affected by
the presence of federal agents. I think that's very important
information when we're reportingabout what's happening because

(20:42):
we can understand and bring thatnuance, coverage of what is
happening in that, because we have those relationships as
well. We're talking to neighbors and
yes, we're talking to elected officials, but we're also
talking to the people who live in these neighborhoods and can
say first hand what they're seeing in their neighborhoods
happening. They can connect us to people

(21:03):
who have been affected. They can connect us to people
who have been detained. We're also tapped in to these
neighborhoods so we're able to share some of the ways that
Chicagoans are responding to what's happening and how they're
organizing themselves, how they're coming up with solutions
or ideas to try to protect each other, to protect their

(21:23):
neighbors, and to keep documenting the presence of ICE
and Border Patrol and other federal agents in their
neighborhoods. So these are some of the things
that we are covering. And I think that's what makes
our coverage unique that we are,you know, giving room for all of
these neighbors to really share what's happening in their in

(21:46):
their communities. And lastly, I think one of the
things we're doing is keeping like an 8 ice daily recap of
what we hear is happening. They in, then they out.
That's not to say we have, you know, every single thing that
happened in the city of Chicago every single day when it comes
to the detention of people by federal agents, but we are
keeping track and kind of like showing people information about

(22:10):
what has been confirmed. And I think that's helpful just
because there can be so much information on social media.
There can be so many tips in like videos shared and we are
doing our work to confirm and verify these and provide that
information. For the Illinois Coalition of

(22:30):
Immigrant Refugee Rights, they've been working overtime to
supply information, and they hadtheir own hotline to report ICE
sightings and also with immigration attorneys in the
courts. What are you seeing from their
response so far at this time when you know the goal post
keeps moving from the ICE, from the federal government and ICE,

(22:53):
yes, the. Both groups, Illinois Coalition
for Immigrant and Refugee Rightsand other like civil rights and
immigrant justice groups like the National Immigrant Justice
Center and the ACLU of Illinois have brought forward complaints.
So they have sued the federal administration for unlawful

(23:15):
arrests in both in the first day, 10 days of the Trump
administration and later during Operation Midway Bullets.
These groups have also provided,you know, legal aid.
And in the case of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights, they manage the statewide hotline where tips are
being sent to and then, you know, this purse through rapid

(23:38):
response groups. But they also provide services
for families who are affected byby the detention of a family
member or, you know, someone they know.
So in the legal front, I think it's been important to see one
of these lawsuits that was brought forward earlier this

(23:59):
year. There was a decision about it, I
want to say it last week or maybe 2 weeks ago.
Now the weeks are all blurring together.
But a federal judge ruled that in 22 out of 26 cases that NIJC
and ACLU of Illinois brought forward, ICE have made an

(24:20):
unlawful arrest. There is context to this.
So previously, ICE agreed to a settlement agreement out of
another lawsuit from a 2018 ICE operation here in Chicago.
And that agreement established that ICE could not make arrests
without a warrant and that it had to have probable cause to

(24:41):
make arrests. The the court found that in 22
of 26 cases that did not happen and ruled that these settlement
agreement needs to be extended until next year, the start of
next year, and that ICE must abide by this.
And for those who were detained unlawfully, it ruled that ICE

(25:04):
had to pay them back the bond costs and any other costs that
they incurred during those detentions.
There are more cases that were brought forward under this type
of lawsuit that are still being litigated.
And I know these two groups saidthat they have received reports
of about 70 more cases that they're looking into.

(25:26):
So there is something that thesegroups are doing and the courts
are deciding on that could impact how Eyes and Border
Patrol do these operations. Yeah.
So I also want to give a time stamp to listeners.
It is 11:30 AM U.S. central Standard Time, October 16th,
Thursday. With that said, October 18th is

(25:47):
the No Kings protest. What have you learned so far
from communities and elected officials and folks that are
getting prepared for No Kings and how?
Maybe from what years seeing what responses do you What
responses are ICE making and thefederal government making in

(26:13):
preparation for the No Kings protest in Chicago?
That's a, that's a good question.
I know we have heard a lot of interest in many groups and
neighbors and organizers planning to attend the No Kings
March, similar to what we've seen in the past where, you
know, some of these protests garnered thousands of people to,

(26:35):
to join in terms of, you know, prepping for them.
I know many organizers and groups have shared information
about how to stay safe during a protest, how to prepare and how
to, for some people, how to assess the risk and decide
whether they should be attendingor not.
So this this has been ongoing since the start of protests and

(26:58):
this continues to the case. So far, I have not heard much
about the response from federal agents, but we do know that
there is a, you know, a constitutional right to protest
and peacefully protest and peacefully assemble in this
country. So there should that should

(27:18):
prevail when people gather and protest this incoming Saturday
Thank. You so much for sitting down
with me and really breaking downthe real time happenings in
Chicago as we speak in regards to ICE.
I wonder if there's any lasting remarks or anything that comes
up that you feel listeners really need to be aware of.

(27:42):
Yes, there is, you know, a lot going on.
And we at Blog Club and many other local media outlets are
trying to bring out coverage. But one of the things that I
think is important is if people are seeing something and
recording it on their phones and, you know, getting
documentation of any detention or the presence of agents in

(28:06):
their neighborhoods, it's important that they can share
that as well with Chicago journalists because that's the a
way to for us to also investigate and figure out
what's happening. So there, you know, there's an
effort by Chicago journalists tocollect video and photo evidence
of, of the tensions to report and for reporting purposes.

(28:27):
So, you know, if if people are interested in sharing that
footage with us, you can do so. There is a link that I can share
with you and maybe you can include with the episode where
people can send their video footage.
And that's also in, you know, mypersonal professional page on
social media. And, you know, many other

(28:48):
journalists in Chicago have shared it as well.
Yeah. And.
I want to say thank you so much,Francia, for being Amish.
So I really believe in the valueof community journalism, hyper
community journalism in this case.
And, and also I think it's very important for folks to really
see what is happening and also how communities are responding.
So thank you for really sheddinga lot of light into that.

(29:10):
And also I hope that for folks that they could follow Block
Club Chicago on social media, but also do their web page where
they can get updates on what is happening in real time with dice
raids, but also with the currentatmosphere of this climate in
Chicago. So I really thank you so much

(29:32):
for your time. And I really look forward to
what I don't want to say I really look forward, but I'm I'm
eager to see what's more storiesare coming out or what what is
emerging from what is happening.So keep up the wonderful work
that you are all doing. And I think this is such a very
important time right now to speak on what's happening.

(29:55):
Thank you so much for. Having us and thank you for
everyone who reads, shares, reposts our stories, and also
anyone who shares tips. We're we're doing our best to
cover what's happening in our neighborhoods and we can't do it
without people sharing what they're seeing as well.
Thank you so much. And please take care.
Thank you.