President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar vows that the biggest city in the Midwest will be “ground zero” for mass deportations, and officials across the political spectrum in Chicago are bracing for a showdown.
On one end, Lincoln United Methodist Church, in the historically Hispanic Pilsen neighborhood, has canceled in-person Spanish services to protect its congregation from potential immigration roundups or targeted hate crimes. Worshippers can still access services online.
“I think people are scared right now for what is to come with the new administration,” the Rev. Tanya Lozano Washington said. “We’re doing everything we can to explore every single option to continue to protect our community members that are vulnerable.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were planning a major enforcement operation that would target immigrants for several days after Trump’s inauguration, according to a document reviewed by NBC News and a person familiar with the planning. Tom Homan, the incoming border czar, said Saturday that the administration hadn’t “made a decision yet” after news of the planned operation began to leak.
Chicago will not be the first city to see mass deportations begin, two sources with knowledge of the plans told NBC News Sunday night, after the operation in the city was postponed (but not canceled) due to media leaks.
Still, the fight over illegal immigration in Chicago has the potential to be among the fiercest nationwide during the initial weeks of Trump’s second term — and it could be a microcosm of an unprecedented ramp-up of immigration enforcement, one of the major themes of Trump’s 2024 campaign.