Good afternoon, Block Clubbers,
The tear-gassing of an Old Irving Park block by immigration agents has reverberated all week around Chicago. Late yesterday, as I stood in my deli’s dairy aisle, I overheard a pair of what looked like old friends briskly turn to that subject after embracing by the milk case.
It was one of several operations that flouted a federal judge’s order. It also canceled an annual Halloween parade scheduled to start minutes later. That same judge this week noted that federal agents’ tactics were traumatizing children in Chicago in ways that will take great time and effort to undo, if ever.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who spoke to reporters at the Gary International Airport, today refused a request from Gov. JB Pritzker to pause enforcement operations over the weekend as families and children celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Noem called the request “shameful.”
Tips? Feedback? I’d love to hear from you: stephen@blockclubchi.org.
Pritzker and Trump’s Homeland Security boss sound off on each other. The governor also slammed agents’ targeting of people without criminal records. Of Chicago enforcement operations now in their second month, Noem said, “we will keep it going.” Read more.
Citing no criminal record, a judge ordered ICE to release a father of a teenage cancer patient. Agents arrested Ruben Torres Maldonado one day after his daughter was released from a hospital where she had received chemotherapy for a month. Read more.
Pilsen’s massive ofrenda is back in time for Día de los Muertos. Every year, Pilsen neighbor Isabel Hernandez creates an elaborate ofrenda, honoring dozens of Pilsen neighbors’ family members and pets who have died. Read more.
Plain White T’s will headline next month’s Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. The fest and parade are expected to draw one million revelers to Michigan Avenue on Nov. 22 for family-friendly activities, live performances and fireworks. Read more.
Things to do in Chicago this weekend: Haunted Halsted Parade, a wine tasting/fashion show at The Promontory, ska fest. The weekend also features the Other Art Fair, a Hot Chocolate Run and the Green Corn Festival. Read more.
Thanks, as always, for spending time with us.
Stephen Montemayor
News Editor
|
