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2 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
SSW
SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is an independent non-profit newspaper by and for the South Side of Chicago. We provide high-quality, critical arts and public interest coverage, and equip and develop journalists, artists, photographers, and mediamakers of all backgrounds. Volume 10, Issue 29 Editor-in-Chief
Jacqueline Serrato
Managing Editor
Adam Przybyl
Senior Editors Martha Bayne Christopher Good Olivia Stovicek Sam Stecklow Alma Campos Jim Daley Politics Editor Labor Editor Immigration Editor
J. Patrick Patterson Jocelyn Martínez-Rosales Wendy Wei
Community Builder
Chima Ikoro
Public Meetings Editor Scott Pemberton Visuals Editor
Kayla Bickham
Deputy Visuals Editor Shane Tolentino Staff Illustrators Mell Montezuma Shane Tolentino Director of Fact Checking: Savannah Hugueley Fact Checkers: Rubi Valentin Isi Frank Ativie Bridget Killian Christopher Good Kate Linderman Layout Editor
Tony Zralka
Program Manager
Malik Jackson
Executive Director
Damani Bolden
Office Manager
Mary Leonard
Advertising Manager
Susan Malone
Webmaster
Pat Sier
The Weekly publishes online weekly and in print every other Thursday. We seek contributions from all over the city. Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, please contact: Susan Malone (773) 358-3129 or email: malone@southsideweekly.com For general inquiries, please call: (773) 643-8533
IN CHICAGO
IN THIS ISSUE
Welcome to the Migration Issue The politicization of the term “migration” has obscured just how common, and how human it is to move. Yes, a person who walked from Venezuela to the US-Mexico border is, perhaps most obviously, a migrant. But so are the half a million foreign-born Chicagoans who left their birth country, pulled by a dream or pushed by danger. So too were the estimated six million Black Americans who over the 20th century rode buses and trains up north and out west to escape the chokehold of the Jim Crow South. The human right to choose where we live is foundational, yet frequently undermined by forces like militarized borders, razor-wire barriers, tracking devices, and detention centers, which demonstrate an utter disregard for the humanity of people seeking refuge. In this issue you will read about how Southern politicians bussed Black migrants to Northern cities for political points in the 1960s, a local radio DJ who used his radio show to spark the largest immigrant march in Chicago’s history, the role that faith has played for recent arrivals in Chicago, and more. We compiled the stories you see in this Migration Issue to capture the vast range of spiritual, physical, political, and social experiences that stem from the human acts of moving in today’s world. –Alma Campos, senior editor; Wendy Wei, immigration editor
nyc offers migrants one-way flights anywhere—some are choosing chicago
City Council tensions This month, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) resigned as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s City Council floor leader and announced he would also give up his chairmanship of the powerful Zoning Committee. The blowback came from his attempts to stave off a special council meeting where Alds. Anthony Beale (9th) and Raymond Lopez (15th) tried to get a nonbinding referendum on March’s ballot about whether Chicago should remain a sanctuary city—first established in 1985 by Mayor Harold Washington. In his efforts to prevent a quorum, Ramirez-Rosa attempted to physically block Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) from entering the council chambers and allegedly told other alderpersons their projects could get held up in Zoning if they attended. Days later, Ramirez-Rosa narrowly avoided formal censure by his colleagues. The vote ended in a tie—Mitts notably voted against censure—which Johnson broke by voting no. The dramatic fall of one of the mayor’s key allies, and the political skulduggery that led to it, comes amid heightened Black-brown tensions stemming from the influx of Venezuelan asylum seekers to Chicago. It’s a political moment that right-wing actors are only too happy to exploit, whether in the Texas governor’s mansion or City Council. Anti-immigrant sentiment has long been a weapon of division. The best response Chicago can have is not more xenophobia, political infighting, or bullying— but cooperation, mutual respect, and solidarity.
alma campos...........................................10 op-ed: a camp is never a solution
115th and Halsted migrant site approved, but migration numbers decreasing After a delayed vote, City Council approved a new winterized migrant camp at 115th and Halsted, a former Jewel’s grocery store and parking lot that was donated for this purpose. The site was already planned for a future mixed-use project with affordable housing called Morgan Park Commons, as Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward) pointed out. The ordinance was then amended to indicate that the site would be used to house migrants “not beyond Nov. 21, 2024”. With another base camp already underway in Brighton Park, in addition to new shelters and resettlement efforts, there’s a possibility that the city may not have a need for the 115th and Halsted site. Recent data from Chicago’s Office for Emergency Management and Communications show a decrease in migrants being bussed to Chicago. In October, the city reported seventy-one buses arriving in an eight-day span, while in the last week, sixteen buses have arrived.
The Weekly spoke to evicted migrants outside a Manhattan reticketing office about their next destination.
wendy wei, oscar b. castillo..................4 finding comfort in a new spiritual home
South Side interfaith organizations lead efforts to link migrants to permanent housing and welcoming communities.
charlie kolodziej....................................7 bussing as a political pawn: the reverse freedom rides
In 1962, Southern segregationists bussed hundreds of Black Americans to Northern cities, hoping to expose liberal hypocrisy. It backfired.
jesús flores..............................................8 immigration activists reflect on 2006 marches and the need for solidarity
Around two million people across the country protested an anti-immigration bill that year.
What Johnson’s administration can learn from one of the top refugee-hosting countries in the world.
melissa gatter.......................................11 guía de recursos en español
Información de migración y asistencia paso a paso para migrantes
nick merlock jackson, wendy wei..............13 steppenwolf theatre’s sanctuary city delivers a compelling portrait of immigrant struggles
“An incredible commentary on the burdens that many immigrants have to carry in order to have a chance at a good life.”
alejandro hernandez...........................17 chinese americans in protests against tent encampments in brighton park
Safety concerns, political disenfranchisement, and language injustice fuel resistance against base camp
kevin hu. ...................................................19 explainer: a migrant’s journey for basic and long-term needs
A step-by-step breakdown of each stage of a migrant’s path to self-sufficiency in Chicago.
nick merlock jackson and wendy wei...22 the exchange
The Weekly’s poetry corner offers our thoughts in exchange for yours.
chima ikoro, alexa harris.....................24 expert voices on recent migration and humanitarian crisis
The Weekly spoke with Caroline Tracey and Todd Miller on the reasons for migration, what happens at the border, and what to expect going forward.
alma campos, wendy wei.......................25 calendar
Cover illustration by Nick Merlock Jackson
Bulletin and events.
zoe pharo, jackie serrato......................27
IMMIGRATION
NYC Offers Migrants One-Way Flights Anywhere–Some Are Choosing Chicago
As NYC shelters limit stays to thirty days, The Weekly spoke to evicted migrants outside a Manhattan reticketing office about their next destination. BY WENDY WEI AND OSCAR B. CASTILLO
T
he sky, clear and sunny last week above New York City’s East Village, was deceiving. It was a chilly morning, and a dozen people milled around the corner of 7th Street and Avenue B with backpacks, rolling suitcases, and plastic bags containing all their belongings. They were waiting outside St. Brigid, a former Catholic elementary school, in search of shelter. On October 16, Mayor Eric Adams announced stays in NYC’s public shelters would be limited to thirty days for single men and sixty days for families. The move challenged New York’s unique right-toshelter mandate, which requires the city to provide a bed to any unhoused person who requests one, and it has left many migrants scrambling to find a place to stay. “Every day the things in New York are getting uglier,” said Victor David, who left Venezuela in May to find work to support his young daughter. He spent two months crossing Central America and arrived at the U.S. border in July with only fifty dollars to his name, having sold most of his belongings to pay for safe passage through the Darién Gap. He recently had to leave the New York shelter system when his thirty days were up and has been struggling to find a place to stay. He has spent at least one night sleeping on the street. “Things are no longer the same as before” at the shelter, David said. “They woke me up. They told me that I had to go now and I asked them where I could go to, that I had no family, nowhere to go, but … they told me that I had to go now, that they couldn't do anything else for me.” As winter encroaches, New York
Venezuelan migrant Javier Gomez (right) and an unidentified Colombian migrant outside a Manhattan reticketing center. It was Gomez's thirty-eighth birthday; he spent the night in a shelter in the Bronx. Photo by Oscar B. Castillo
City shelters are evicting and turning away migrants, leaving them to fend for themselves. The only option the city now offers is a one-way plane ticket out of the city. As Mayor Eric Adams’s administration makes it increasingly difficult for migrants to be self-sufficient in New York, many are taking the city up on their offer to leave. Some are choosing Chicago. On October 24, New York City opened an office at St. Brigid whose sole purpose is to provide one-way tickets for migrants to any location of their choice. The Weekly spoke to several migrants outside St. Brigid who were evicted from the city’s shelter system about where they might choose to travel, and whether they consider Chicago
4 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
an attractive destination. The responses were mixed, and many said their ties to family or friends in destination cities were more consequential than the level of public services provided by the cities. Most of the people we spoke to were not aware of what services Chicago is providing.
M
ore than 130,000 migrants have arrived in New York since last spring, and the city currently provides emergency shelter to more than 65,000. Last month, New York began a more aggressive policy of evicting thousands of people from shelters and plans to push out even more, citing capacity shortages.
“I cannot say this enough. You know, we are out of the room,” Adams said at a press conference two weeks ago. “It’s not ‘if ’ people will be sleeping on the streets, it’s ‘when.’” New York City released data showing that as of October 22, approximately 13,500 migrants have received sixty-day notices to vacate shelters, and more than 6,500 have received thirty-day notices, meaning that over the next two months, over 20,000 migrants will be kicked out of the shelter system, with the only city support being a free one-way ticket to anywhere they choose. Nearly 8,500 adults have already seen their thirty- or sixty-day notices expire so far. In recent weeks, some asylum seekers were evicted before their thirty days were up when the NYC Fire Department abruptly closed multiple shelters due to potential fire-code violations. Last month, prior to New York City’s adoption of the fly-out policy, members of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration conducted a site visit of the base camps operating in New York. According to Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, the Chicago team did not discuss New York’s plans to limit shelter and fly out migrants with anyone from the Adams administration. The migrants who the Weekly spoke with outside St. Brigid had recently come to the end of their city-run shelter time limits, upon which most were suddenly forced out and told to go to St. Brigid’s address for relocation. Many were shocked by the news, having been given notice to leave that very morning. Others were given a seven-day notice. Confusion was common. Locating St. Brigid was not easy. A letter-sized sign
IMMIGRATION
taped to a door is all that announces the center’s presence in the building. In five different languages, it reads: “THIS IS NOT A RESPITE SITE/SHELTER. THERE ARE NO BEDS AT THIS SITE. WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU GET TO TRANSPORTATION TO ANY STATE, OR COUNTRY OF YOUR CONVENIENCE.” Until the end of August, St. Brigid was a respite center offering cots for the night to migrants. The site reopened on October 21, but as a “reticketing center” where the only service offered is a one-way ticket to leave the city. Migrants said employees in St. Brigid were civil but did not give many answers or options to those who wanted to stay in New York. If the migrants did not accept a one-way ticket, they were given an address in the Bronx with no further details of the location’s purpose, an offer to come back to St. Brigid if no shelter was found, or, if they were lucky, a chair to rest on and spend some time inside while making a decision. Abdoulaye, a thirty-five-year-old man from Mauritania, was one of the migrants caught in the administrative confusion. The day before, he had gone to St. Brigid for a shelter reassignment but was directed towards an address in the Bronx where workers ultimately turned him away because they said they were full. By the time he made it back to St. Brigid, the center was closed, and without any other option, he spent the night sleeping on the subway. The reticketing service at St. Brigid did go smoothly for some who accepted the one-way ticket. A Venezuelan family of four was at St. Brigid that day to fix an error in their flight tickets to San Antonio. They are moving out of New York because their job search hadn’t been fruitful, and they wanted to try their chances in Texas. While NYC officials maintain that the reticketing option is purely voluntary, migrants say that the lack of other options and poor conditions at shelters are squeezing them out. Victor David said that staff at some shelters he stayed in were abusive. “They themselves make you go away, make you go into depression,” David said. “Because they treat you bad and you can't do anything, because if they raise their voice, and then you also raise your voice, they take you out
the city and for that job you’re late, you’re late for work and then they kick you out, why?” Ortega said. “Because you don’t arrive on time for work, because you’re now two hours away from work.” He said the new shelter policy is a major obstacle to becoming self-sufficient, lamenting the fact that NYC government support to migrants has “collapsed” compared to the prior policy that gave migrants enough time in shelters to get on their feet. “It’s another thing when what they give you is a month, who is going to improve anything in one month? What will one solve in a month? Nothing, man,” he said. “You don’t solve anything in just a month.”
Abdoulaye, a thirty-five-year-old man from Mauritania, outside St. Brigid. He spent the night on the subway because no shelter would take him in. Photo by Oscar B. Castillo
of the shelter.” The constant shuttling between shelters makes it difficult for migrants to hold down jobs and provide for themselves. Elio Ortega, originally from Venezuela, has been in the country for two months now. He tried his luck in Philadelphia but left
O
utside St. Brigid, some migrants said they were determined to stay in New York. Others were attracted to and eventually acquired tickets to locations such as Chicago, Boston, and San Antonio, despite not having much information on the resources available to migrants in those cities or how to start their legal processes again at a new address. Moving from state to state can delay temporary protected status and work permit applications because
“Who is going to improve anything in one month? What will one solve in a month? Nothing, man. You don’t solve anything in just a month.”—Elio Ortega for New York after two weeks to join his brother, whose motorcycle he now borrows for his job working as an UberEats delivery driver. In New York, Ortega spent fifteen days in one shelter before being sent to a different shelter that took him out of their system after his thirty days were up. They had sent him to St. Brigid that morning. “Here at St. Brigid, we waste all day, one day of work to make some money,” he said, expressing frustration with the new policy. “They give you a month here, then they send you another month somewhere else, then you get a job on another side of
migrants must follow up with a change of address or potentially start all over again. Currently, Chicago is the only sanctuary city that prioritizes resettlement into permanent housing as the longterm solution for migrants. The Johnson administration is opening new migrant shelters at a rate of one roughly every six days to keep up with demand, and Illinois offers migrants up to $9,000 in rental assistance over a six-month period. “All of those are steps that we’re taking to ensure that folks actually move on to be self-sufficient and independent, and then allow for additional space in our shelters,”
Pacione-Zayas said at a press conference on November 9. In response to the temperature drop in upcoming months, Chicago’s Mayor’s Office issued a press release on October 31 that reaffirmed the city’s commitment to move any new arrivals and unhoused Chicagoans sleeping outdoors into shelters, and in the immediate term, provide warming buses and increase collaboration with organizations to provide warm clothing. In terms of city assistance, Chicago can be an attractive destination for migrants in NYC offered a flight out. But most migrants do not want to rely on city services and most prioritize finding work so they can support themselves. Of the 23,000 migrants that have arrived in Chicago, 10,000 have moved on out of shelters or police stations, Pacione-Zayas said. That’s the plan for Dania Rojas, a thirty-year-old from Venezuela who was at St. Brigid trying to secure a ticket out to Chicago to join his girlfriend, who is also Venezuelan. “We’re not going after shelters or anything like that,” Rojas said. “We are already going to rent.” He said a friend in Chicago has a job and a room for rent lined up for them already. His girlfriend couldn’t find a job in New York for over a month but was able to find employment in Chicago through their friend. Rojas doesn’t know much about the types of services Chicago provides to migrants. He said he’s choosing Chicago because he has a supportive social safety net there that does not exist in New York. “My friend [in Chicago] says it’s not that easy, but it’s not impossible either,” Rojas explained. “When you are recommended, it’s easier, because you already have a [friend] there that can recommend you to a lot of work…Here, because I don’t know anyone here, and that’s why we’re asking to go to another state to look for other opportunities.” Social ties are a huge determinant of where migrants choose to settle. More than a decade of research in a field called “migrant network theory” has found that family and social relationships play as much of a role as economic opportunities in the decision. Such networks provide migrants not just with important information on the conditions of potential destinations, but
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 5
IMMIGRATION
also can be a source of social and economic support. Vianney Marzullo, a volunteer assisting with migrants at O’Hare International Airport, said not every migrant who was flown to Chicago did so solely because they were encouraged by an organization or because they were attracted to Chicago’s services to migrants. Some came simply because they knew someone in Chicago who could help them get on their feet. “It’s a combination of all that to be honest, because of technology and the accessibility,” Marzullo said. “A lot of people talk among themselves.” Marzullo added that a large portion of migrants who fly into O’Hare come with pre-determined plans to link up with existing family, and once they land in Chicago they will communicate with their family to meet up at the police station and will “exit” the shelter system to live with their family or friends. That was the case with Rojas, and Victor David, who ultimately took a ticket at St. Brigid to Boston to join his brother, who is already there. For the same reason, Miguel Angel Carreño, twenty-eight, from Venezuela, is adamant about staying in New York, even though his thirty-day stay in shelter expired. The Weekly spoke with him during his wait outside St. Brigid until 8pm for relocation to another shelter. Though the news to evacuate the shelter is worrying “because it is hard to arrive here at zero, to be here at zero and to be taken out from the shelters is hard,” Carreno said he keeps his faith in New York because there is nowhere else where he knows people who can help him. “To get somewhere else, where you don’t know anything, anyone or what to do, it would be difficult.”
A
ccording to City of Chicago data from the end of last month, 144 of the 536 people sheltering at O’Hare were flown in from New York City. But Chicago’s social services are also buckling under increased strain, particularly at O’Hare, a logistically challenging and newer location for sheltering migrants. The City only started tracking new arrivals in O’Hare in June, when eleven people were counted. By the
A Venezuelan family arrives at St. Brigid to fix an error in their tickets to San Antonio, Texas. The family accepted the ticket offer after they couldn't find work in New York.
Photo by Oscar B. Castillo
beginning of October, 828 migrants were staying at the O’Hare arrival area. Marzullo says that demographics of migrants flown in have “changed extremely” since mid- September, to include not just South American migrants sent from New York, Texas, and Colorado, but people from other parts of the world such as Nigeria and Afghanistan, as well as more families—though the majority are still from Venezuela and other South American countries. Currently, the number sheltering at O’Hare hovers between four and six hundred. The volunteer team is trying to reduce this number daily. O’Hare has additional airport security and is far from the Loop, so teams have more hurdles to jump through to provide aid than volunteers helping migrants at police stations do. “It’s very limited what volunteers can drop off. So [for] a lot of the things, I filter the aid,” Marzullo said, adding that the welcome team isn’t prepared for the recent uptick in arrivals. “O’Hare from the get-go technically was supposed to be a waiting [area] until they are to go to a police station so then they can go into shelter placement,” she said. “They’re only supposed to be [at O’Hare] for forty-eight hours, was my understanding from the beginning, like around June.” On average migrants at
6 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
O’Hare stay for two and a half weeks, but there are some who have been there for a month and Marzullo is still unclear if they’ve been moved. “We understand that [O’Hare’s staging area] is a difficult place…Our goal is to transition people out of that space,” said Beatriz Ponce de León, the deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant, and refugee rights, last week. “As the airport gets more traffic, we have to have a concerted effort to move them quickly from there and into regular shelter.”
A
s the sun set and temperature dipped in Manhattan, migrants’ repeatedly voiced concerns about being forced out of shelter during the impending winter. “Right now it's really cold, this cold, this cold makes anyone sick,” David said, explaining part of his motivation to leave New York, where he no longer has shelter and was sleeping on the streets. “What we don't understand is why they're doing it right now, I mean, right now when it's cold, do you understand me?” Carlos Romero, a twenty-two-yearold from Venezuela, still believes that New York City is providing adequate shelter, even if it’s not a place to stay overnight. “Of course they’re still providing shelter,”
he said. “At least, they keep throwing them there, so they sleep in chairs but they're not cold on the street.” According to David, after three nights of sleeping on the street, three of his friends eventually made it back into a city shelter, even though their stay had expired. “They had compassion and, well, thank God, they helped them,” David said. “They are now in a shelter where eight people live in a room, each one has a little bed, thank God.” Just like New York’s official policies of eviction are not lining up exactly with the possibilities on the ground, Chicago’s promises of permanent housing for all are also not fulfilled quite yet. As of October 27, 3,344 migrants were still waiting in police stations or O’Hare airport for a place in a city-run shelter. Poor conditions and lack of space in police stations have led migrants to prefer setting up and living in tents outside the stations or in parks. When temperatures dipped below freezing on November 2, hundreds, including children, were still sleeping in tents. Wearing multiple jackets donated by local volunteers, one migrant reported to Block Club Chicago that the experience was “like a nightmare.” Romero doesn’t think Chicago is a better option than New York for him to work and live independently. “I know a lot of people in Chicago and I watch the news and see people on the streets, if you understand me?” Romero said. “At least here in New York, I haven’t seen as many people [on the streets] as in other streets yet.” From his network in New York Romero has heard that in Chicago, “they are taking migrants out of shelters anyway.” Miguel Carreño was turning twentynine just two days after he spoke to the Weekly. Asked if he’s looking forward to it, he said, “I hope it will be great! We are in New York, the dream city of many people!” Like Carreño, Romero said he’ll stay in New York. “I plan to stay here for at least one more month, two more months,” he said. “Keep trying my luck. Get two jobs, three jobs, as many as you can take, the better. ¬ Wendy Wei is the Immigration Editor at South Side Weekly. Oscar B. Castillo is a Venezuelan documentary photographer, multidisciplinary artist, and educator.
RELIGION
Finding Comfort in a New Spiritual Home South Side interfaith organizations lead efforts to link migrants to permanent housing and welcoming communities. BY CHARLIE KOLODZIEJ
W
e, like everyone, were on a very bad, difficult path,” said Fernando Medina. Fernando, his wife Yesica Chirino, and their ten-year-old daughter arrived in Chicago in July of 2023 after the family was forced to flee their hometown of Coro, Venezuela. Here the family joined more than 20,000 fellow asylum seekers that have arrived in Chicago since August 2022, most of whom are fleeing political oppression and worsening economic conditions in Venezuela. “You have to go in the name of God and get through it, but it’s not easy,” Fernando said. “What happens is that one has to get in the mindset that one has to get there, and one does get here. It’s about trying to find a way to help your family, to help oneself, even though sometimes it gets tough, but the good thing is that there’s always something good.” While Chicago slowly implements plans for more permanent housing, communities such as South Side religious groups have been picking up the slack in ways that align with the teachings of their respective faiths: delivering food and clothes to local police stations and helping recent arrivals find jobs and shelter. The Medinas are Catholic, a denomination that comprises more than sixty percent of Venezuela's population according to the most recent census. When the family arrived in Chicago, they felt it was important to seek out a faith community that reflected their values. “I told my husband let’s go look for a church, let’s go, but there are so many churches here,” Yesica said. “We found this church in district nine at the police station. They were handing out fliers and that's where it all started.” The family began attending services at Bronzeville’s St. James Catholic Church,
Tents line the outside of the 3rd (Grand Crossing) Police District.
2907 S. Wabash Ave., where Father Dennis Berry has opened the church’s rectory as a place of reprieve for migrant families. There they can wash clothes, take a shower, cook meals using supplies from the church’s food bank, or simply have a space to relax while their kids watch TV. ”The gift that I think the church can bring more than any other is the sense that God is with you. God loves you, God cares for you, the presence of the priest or the person from the church is a sort of symbol that we’re not alone,” Berry said. Berry and other members of St. James have also been distributing winter clothes at the 1st and 9th District police stations where they first met the Medinas. City data shows that over 3,000 refugees are currently living in and around district police stations and Chicago’s two major airports as of October this year. According to Dr. Saba Ayman-Nolley, president of the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council, there were few resources
Photo by Jordan Esparza
to assist migrants when they began arriving in larger numbers this past summer. “People were basically told to just get off the bus and live at the street corner with nothing,” she said. “No planning, no programming was happening for them, initially.” Ayman-Nolley and other council members began to notice that the city was only providing migrants with one meal a day. To make matters worse, the offerings at many local food banks were inaccessible to migrants without access to a stove or cooking supplies. “And one of the Interfaith Council representatives from the Buddhist community, Tzuming Liao, was actually helping with taking food to the two police stations in our area,” Ayman-Nolley said. “So we talked to her to see how the Interfaith Council could help.” The council now serves weekly hot breakfasts for recent arrivals at the 2nd and 3rd District police stations. First Unitarian Church in Hyde
Park, 5650 S. Woodlawn Ave., is one of the religious institutions helping to organize volunteers for these weekly meals. According to First Unitarian Senior Minister Dr. David Messner, this type of service is about more than just providing someone with a warm plate of food. “If you invite someone to your table and listen to their story and, and create a human connection, that’s kind of our most humble conception of ministry, straight in connection where there was none. It is an inter-recognition of dignity.” ”As humans, we have a call to be in relationship with those around us. That’s the hard question, to me. I mean, with whom are you going to be in [a] relationship?” Messner said. “And surely, when people are lying in the street outside the house, we have an essential relation that we can’t deny, we can’t avoid. And so how do you, instead of denying, sort of live into that?” Along with providing weekly meals, First Unitarian hosted a winter clothing drive for migrants that ended on November 12. The city’s plans to house migrants through the winter are still in development. In September, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his administration’s plan to open a winterized “tent city” for recent arrivals in collaboration with the private security firm GardaWorld Federal Services, a deal that would cost the city $29 million dollars. Amidst growing concerns for migrant safety as temperatures drop, Concord Missionary Baptist Church in Woodlawn, 6319 S. Kimbark Ave., is helping recent arrivals find permanent housing through their Home Away from Home Center. “The mission of the Home Away from Home Center, really is to welcome those who have been fleeing the effects of war, violence, persecution, and political
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 7
RELIGION
Bussing as a Political Pawn: The Reverse Freedom Rides
In 1962, Southern segregationists bussed First Unitarian Church members served breakfast to migrants outside a police station on hundreds of Black Americans to Northern cities, November 10. disruption from their countries, those that Elementary building shelter and frequent hoping to expose liberal hypocrisy. It backfired. have been displaced. And our goal is to church congregant. Photo by Jordan Esparza
assist in the integration of these migrants into our society,” said Senior Pastor Dr. Kenneth Phelps. Phelps created the center and runs it in partnership with Pastors David and Yolanda Cruz of Fathers Heart Church in Belmont-Cragin. Since February of 2023, the center has been helping migrants find permanent housing through their Home Locator Service. Many migrants have been given housing vouchers by the city but there is still a reluctance on behalf of many landlords to rent to new arrivals. The service partners with asylum seeker-friendly real estate brokers to find local landlords who are willing to compromise on common renter credentials such as credit score or proof of income. The center also provides legal counsel to support immigration work permits, English as a second language classes, and material resources such as hygiene products and winter clothes. The church holds bilingual mass every Saturday and Sunday. To donate winter clothing, email cmbc6319@gmail.com. “Many of them are suffering from, you know, trauma from getting here. Many of them are homesick. Many of them have even had some bad experiences here. So there's definitely opportunities for, you know, for spiritual counseling and chaplaincy services. So we’ve had great opportunities just to do life with them. I mean, everything from, we’ve had baby showers, you know, to help with whatever they need,” Phelps said. The church recently held a funeral service for Venezuelan migrant Luis Alberto Aguilar Peres, a resident of the former Wadsworth
“It’s a criticism of the churches that we’re hypocrites, right. We don’t live what we preach. And we’re just trying to do that. We’re trying to live what we preach,” Phelps said. “All of us who arrived here, immigrants, arrived sad,” Fernando Medina said. “You left your family, you left your land, you left your comforts, your home. And when you get here, you think America is going to work.” Since arriving in Chicago, the Medinas were living in the 9th District police station before being moved to the shelter last month. Back in their hometown of Coro, in the Venezuelan state of Falcón, the Medinas owned a sweets shop. “I spent years [working] with the government also working in a school and we had a business,” Yesica said. “No, we weren’t rich, but we were doing well.” Now the family is looking for work and more permanent housing. Despite a difficult path forward, the family remains optimistic. Their daughter has recently started at a nearby school. Through all of these challenges, their faith and the people at St. James Church has been a source of comfort and reprieve. “You arrive at the church and you don’t feel like there is discrimination. You arrive at the church and everything is tranquil, peaceful,” Fernando said. “It makes you feel good. We are looking forward to Sunday to come [to mass]. If they had mass every day, we would come every day.” ¬
Charlie Kolodziej is a Chicago-based journalist who covers culture, local politics, housing and education.
8 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
BY JESÚS FLORES
I
t's 1:15 at night, in the last week of December. A train comes to a screeching halt at a station on the South Side. A reporter on the scene describes it like this: "From the all-coach train came an assortment of human beings. Bewildered migrants who stepped out into sub-zero cold for the first time in their lives; small, sickly children, clad in tattered garments which were no match for Chicago's bitter weather." It might sound like a typical scene from the last year of Chicago’s humanitarian crisis, as thousands of migrants arrived from Texas—but these are the words of reporter Lloyd General for the Chicago Defender in 1962 referring to Black families from the South. The current humanitarian crisis is not the first time that Chicago has received an influx of migrants sent by Southern politicians. Today’s crisis is brought on by Republican Texas governor Greg Abbot in what he has called Operation Lone Star, with the participation of Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis. But in the ‘60s, Chicago and other Northern cities were targets of Reverse Freedom Rides, orchestrated by George Singelmann of the Greater New Orleans chapter of the white supremacist and segregationist White Citizens’ Council. Both campaigns had the same goal: to strain the city infrastructures of political opponents by sending hundreds of migrants. Both used destitute people as pawns in a political scheme, and both
exposed cracks in the cities’ ability to assist migrants as well as their own populations. The Reverse Freedom Rides of 1962 originated as a pro-segregationist public relations campaign. For about a year, from April 1962 to early 1963, the Councils in New Orleans and Little Rock transported several hundred African Americans to Northern cities by bus and train. The Council members paid the fares and sold migrants, who were often poor and jobless, on the economic opportunities and promises of the North. The name of the campaign was a callback to the Freedom Rides of 1961, when Black and white civil rights activists took buses en masse to the South to protest segregation of interstate travel. The White Citizens' Council was a white supremacist group established in July 1954 to oppose racial integration, and had chapters in cities across the South. At one point, the Council had some 300,000 members, who engaged in voter suppression of Black residents, set up private all-white schools, and fought to preserve or expand segregationist policies. While they were a powerful political force at their inception, the Council’s influence had waned by the ‘60s as the civil rights movement gained traction and the South began to integrate. Singelmann hoped press attention from the Reverse Freedom Rides would restore the Council’s former influence, and that the strain of a sudden influx of migrants to Northern cities would expose the hypocrisy of their integrationist stances and re-
POLITICS
establish Southern support for the Council. For Singelmann and the White Citizens’ Council, the Reverse Freedom Rides had mixed results, but they did partially succeed in embarrassing Northern cities. While there were efforts to assist revere freedom riders in Chicago and other cities, they were arriving at urban centers that already had inadequate social safety nets for their existing Black residents. In cities receiving riders, various organizations, including the local NAACP chapters, religious leaders, and the Urban League, attempted to help the reverse freedom riders. But as Lloyd General reported for the Chicago Defender, “The victimized migrants reached their destinations to find that all were in sympathy with them, but they could find no jobs.” Cities were forced to admit that they did not have the capabilities to meet the needs of new migrants, as they were barely meeting the needs of their existing Black populations. According to Clive Webb, Professor of Modern American History at the University of Sussex, “Media interest in the fate of the riders made it uncomfortable for Northern politicians to admit that they could not offer preferential treatment when their own black communities were already burdened by unemployment and overcrowding.” Riders coming to Detroit were told to bring a return ticket because there were already too many unemployed people in the city; likewise, those arriving in Washington, D.C. were warned they wouldn’t be eligible for welfare until they had lived there for a year. “The Reverse Freedom Rides therefore strengthened the longstanding segregationist argument that the race problem was not a symptom of Southern backwardness, but a phenomenon that afflicted the entire nation,” wrote Webb in a 2004 paper, ‘A Cheap Trafficking in Human Misery.’ Singelmann told a Newsweek reporter, “This is a crude way of putting it, but we are telling the North to put up or shut up.” Operation Lone Star was launched by Abbot last year and described in a press release as “a series of aggressive actions by the State of Texas to secure the border.” As part of this operation, Texas began bussing
migrants to Washington, DC, last April to pressure the Biden administration into enacting more punitive border policies. The operation soon expanded to other cities, including Chicago, New York City, Denver, and Los Angeles. Abbott’s campaign has been condemned by Democrats, but shows no sign of stopping—Chicago alone has received over 20,000 migrants since August 2022. Many of the Reverse Freedom Riders ended up returning South when they were unable to find jobs and housing. “One by one, family by family, most of the reverse freedom riders have returned home, still poor and illiterate—and broke,” wrote General in December 1962. “The recognition of restricted employment opportunities and inadequate welfare resources provided the Citizens' Councils with plenty of political capital,”
neighborhood wondering why the city is suddenly investing in shelter for the area despite years of neglecting the needs of current residents. Some residents are also unhappy they had little say in the matter; many protested the decision. At the administrative-level, some city alderpersons have proposed a bill to create a ballot measure for whether Chicago should remain a sanctuary city. In many ways, however, the Reverse Freedom Rides were a failure for Singelmann and the White Citizens’ Councils. They were condemned by leaders around the country, who saw the rides as cruel and inhumane. President John F. Kennedy told reporters, “I think it’s a rather cheap exercise,” while others had stronger words, like Illinois Governor Otto Kerner’s comparison that "it's like Hitler and his Nazis forcing Jews out of Germany.”
“The victimized migrants reached their destinations to find that all were in sympathy with them, but they could find no jobs.” Lloyd General for the Chicago Defender, 1962 wrote Webb. “Singelmann succeeded in accomplishing one of the central aims of the campaign: to publicize the inadequate provision of municipal services for African Americans in the Northern inner cities.” Today, Operation Lone Star seems to have had a similar effect: publicly testing the resolve of cities like Chicago and New York City to their status as sanctuary cities while highlighting existing problems faced by their Black populations, such as a lack of housing and well-paying jobs. In an August 2022 press release, echoing Singelmann’s put-up or shut-up comments, Governor Abbot said, “[fromer] Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action.” Tensions have risen in Chicago as the city struggles to accommodate migrants. In Woodlawn, for example, the opening of a migrant shelter in the area left many residents of the predominantly Black
Singelmann’s campaign backfired most of all in the South, where moderate segregationist political and civic leaders were concerned the campaign painted them in a negative light and condemned the Reverse Freedom Rides “as an unnecessarily provocative measure that could only compound Northern prejudices about the racial intolerance and bigotry of white Southerners,” wrote Webb. Economic pressure may have played a part, too, as companies didn’t want to be associated with the campaign. In one instance, an auto group placed Arkansas and Louisiana (where the majority of reverse freedom riders came from) on a vacation blacklist. In the end, the Councils failed to generate more support and influence in the South. By comparison, Operation Lone Star has transported tens of thousands more migrants, is being directly carried out by state government officials, and shows no signs of stopping. Leaders in
cities receiving migrants have called for federal investigations into the operation and explored legal action. Meanwhile, in October, Governor J.B. Pritzker received a warning from Texas that Chicago should expect up to twenty-five buses of migrants per day this winter, a dramatic increase from the rates so far. In the meantime, ordinary Chicagoans are lending a receptive hand. Thousands of volunteers from mutual aid groups have been working tirelessly in the background to pick up the slack in city-provided services. Some spiritual community members are trying to work through the tensions stirred up by the recent arrivals. In Woodlawn, Dr. Kenneth Phelps has been a pastor at the Concord Missionary Baptist Church for twenty-nine years. The church has hosted Thanksgiving dinners for the unhoused, back-to-school book bag giveaways, and clothing drives. “We’ve been providing services for the Black and Brown community for sixty years,” said Phelps. Now, his church is trying to meet the needs of Woodlawn residents while also assisting migrants. The church tries to foster community by offering English and conversational Spanish lessons. “At our home away from home center, we have English as a second language, which we've been doing on Saturday, but we also have conversational Spanish classes with Pastor Yolanda Cruz,” said Phelps. The church is partnering with Kennedy-King College to expand its ESL classes, and has also been hosting bilingual masses to be inclusive to migrants in Woodlawn. “A lot of people are questioning why we’re doing what we’re doing. And, for us, it’s pretty simple. We believe they’re human,” said Phelps. The church is also partnering with legal aid groups to connect migrants with immigration professionals and runs a housing locator service that helps migrants find landlords open to renting to new arrivals. “For us, it's not either-or it’s, andboth,” said Phelps. “We’re not just going to serve the black community or the migrant community. We’re going to serve both.” ¬ Jesús G. Flores is a Latino multimedia journalist from Hegewisch.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 9
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Immigration Activists Reflect on 2006 Marches and the Need for Solidarity
Around two million people across the country protested an anti-immigration bill that year. BY ALMA CAMPOS
O
n March 10, 2006, an estimated 100,000 people—mostly of Mexican descent, but also Middle Eastern, African, Asian, and Eastern European immigrants and their children and grandchildren—took to the streets of downtown Chicago in one of the largest immigration marches in U.S. history. People protested proposed legislation which would make unlawful entrance into the country a felony, and jeopardize the security and safety of the eleven million undocumented immigrants living in the country. The proposed legislation was known as the Sensenbrenner Bill, sponsored by then-Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner from Wisconsin. Various Chicago groups and organizations banded together to organize the march. More followed in cities across the U.S. on May 1, 2006, inspired by Chicago’s demonstration, in a day of actions that collectively became known as “La Gran Marcha” (“The Great March”) and “El Día sin Inmigrantes” (“A Day Without Immigrants”). Those demonstrations brought between 1.6 and 2.2 million people together across the U.S. in a remarkable display of unity and power. Rafael Pulido, a then-local radio broadcaster from WOJO, Que Buena 105.1 FM station known as “El Pistolero”, played a key role in igniting the flame of the first Chicago demonstration by reaching thousands of immigrant listeners. “I read about the proposed law that came out in the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>,” he said. “I was on the radio during that time. I thought it was very impactful— what was about to happen because the
Thousands of people rallied in Chicago against the Sensenbrenner bill, H.R. 4437 on March 11, 2006. Photo by Samuel Du Bois
proposed bill automatically criminalized every unauthorized person.” When Pulido began hearing more about the anti-immigration bill, he asked various organizations and legal experts for information to give listeners a wellrounded, reputable understanding of the bill’s trajectory. Pulido’s morning program turned into an open forum for Chicago’s Latinx immigrants to express their views. Pulido and other hosts also invited legal experts and activists to the show. “So apart from telling people to go out and march, we also informed people about what else they could do,” he said. “Who were their state representatives in their districts, that they could call, and what was their stance on the issue?” Pulido immigrated to the U.S. in 1980 at the age of nine with his recently widowed mother and five other siblings. “It became important to me because I am an immigrant,” he said. “I learned from a
10 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
very young age that an immigrant is that person that has to give up their country of origin because that country was not able to provide the basic necessities to survive.” But before the 2006 Chicago demonstration, Pulido banded with Centro Sin Fronteras, to call attention to the Sensenbrenner Bill in a July 2005 march in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Pulido learned a lot about how to organize protests effectively from that march. Not everyone ended up making it to the meeting place, a stage at the Swap O’Rama, to rally. He said folks were diverted, and had to walk under a bridge because street permits only allowed people to walk on the sidewalks. Despite that, and even though the initial march hardly got any media coverage, Pulido said it surprised a lot of people and ultimately sparked the megamarch of 2006. “We thought, if we organize ourselves better next time, this can become
bigger.” He had thought they’d get between 18,000 to 20,000 people, but said the march exceeded his expectations. The scale and success of the 2006 march became so well known that radio DJs in other cities, such as L.A., reached out to him for advice so that they could also inform their local listeners who wanted to march in different cities. Xanat Sobrevilla was attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during the height of the 2006 marches, but her mother and sister were able to attend the March 11 demonstration in Chicago. She and her family came to the U.S. in 1996 when she was nine years old. She said that being undocumented wasn’t something her family hid. “But it wasn’t anything that we spoke about to just everybody.” Sobrevilla was able to afford her studies by working, taking scholarships, and with her parents’ savings. After college, Sobrevilla became involved in immigrant rights, specifically with the “Coming out of the Shadows” campaign in Chicago. The campaign, made up of mostly undocumented college students, motivated other undocumented people to voice in public their stories and struggles, such as not being able to apply for authorized work, not being able to get a driver’s license, and not being able to qualify for financial aid for college—all things that Sobrevilla was personally dealing with. “We saw sharing our stories…as contributions to the movement,” Sobrevilla said. “We knew they were important as a tactic of visibility not only for those unfamiliar with the situation, but it was also the way other undocumented people
OPINION
would find community.” Sobrevilla had first heard about the Coming Out campaign in the news, and in 2012, she joined college students at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where her sister attended, and where other college students had been organizing demonstrations. She eventually started working for one such organization, the Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL). “It was difficult for me to share not so much my status, but the ways it had impacted my life,” she said. “I remember the process of preparing for that moment. The hardest thing was being vulnerable when for so long, we had tried to disguise our status. I think what we’re told is to assimilate and just put our head down. And this is just the way it’s gonna be. And it's
Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city upon the arrival of nearly 21,000 migrants. Pulido said he is disappointed because institutions and individuals are using the issue of immigration to make a profit. “Guilty is not the refugee who is here today,” he said. ”Guilty is the system, guilty is the government, guilty are the politicians who have made the need for legalization part of their political agenda, because the undocumented [person] generates votes in favor, generates anti-immigrant laws, generates money from imprisoning people—the detention centers.” Pulido also noted the importance of solidarity, and recalled the sense of unity amongst groups during the marches in which he participated. “It was like a different unity that you don’t see much,” he said. “It was not
It’s a necessity of a human being that has been going on for thousands of years,” “What part of history says that people haven’t had to migrate to other parts out of necessity? –Rafael Pulido so demoralizing. And so a lot of harm is allowed to happen.” Sobrevilla’s work with the Immigrant Youth Justice League and “Coming out of the Shadows” evolved into Organized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD), an organization that works to stop deportations of immigrants who find themselves in removal proceedings. Sobrevilla said solidarity amongst various groups is key in pushing for immigrant rights and finding the connections that unite other groups. She said it’s important to see the similarities between immigration removal proceedings and the criminalization of Black and brown people by Chicago police. “I think all of this has led to increased networks of support, and the ability to be there for each other,” she said, “And dream of a place where Black and brown people can be better.” She thinks this unity is especially important now amid efforts to threaten
only Mexican immigrants but also from other countries: Africans, Chinese, Poles, everything, and more workers.” Sobrevilla and Pulido, while part of different time periods within the immigrant rights movement, share the belief that people should have the ability to migrate freely. Sobrevilla said she wants to continue to push the idea that borders can become obsolete. “In the sense that humans truly can practice the right to stay and move and be safe,” she said. “I think it’s just keeping that vision, that goal, in sight.” “It’s a necessity of a human being that has been going on for thousands of years,” Pulido said. “What part of history says that people haven’t had to migrate to other parts out of necessity? Only that nowadays, it has been made into a political strategy to benefit from.” ¬ Alma Campos is a senior editor for the Weekly.
Op-Ed: A Camp is Never a Solution
What Johnson’s administration can learn from one of the top refugee-hosting countries in the world. BY MELISSA GATTER
I
learned one major lesson after having spent much of the last decade researching and working in refugee camps in Jordan: a camp is an easy response to mass displacement, but never a solution. You can imagine my concern when I heard that my home city, Chicago, had announced plans to build two winterized base camps on the South Side. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration claims that this base camp will not be a refugee camp. But what they choose to call it is less important than what it could actually entail for the thousands of asylum seekers who have been bussed to the city as pawns in an unfortunate political game. In Jordan, politicians have been moving refugees around metaphorical chess boards for decades, blaming the displaced communities for depleting the country’s scarce resources. Jordan has provided lesson after lesson on hosting those who have been deemed undesirable. The country is home to millions of refugees, 80,000 of whom live in Zaatari camp, the second largest refugee camp in the world. Here, I offer five of these lessons to Chicago’s mayor, who should rethink his plans for the base camps. Asylum seekers should not be treated as a security issue The city’s plans for the camp contain two major red flags. The first is the role of the contentious private security company GardaWorld and its subsidiary Aegis Defence Services as camp managers.
Handing over the camp to a security company with a checkered past in migration management will only turn the winterized shelter into a military operation, despite the mayor’s insistence to the contrary. Putting the city’s faith in GardaWorld would require ignoring the second red flag: the rows of identical shelters. Rows are surveillance tools used to discipline large numbers of people in places like camps, jails, barracks, and classrooms. In Jordan, everything in Azraq camp, from community center benches to caravan shelters, stands in looming rows, turning Azraq into what its residents call an open-air prison. They fear deportation daily in a place intended for their safety, where the Jordanian military has installed checkpoints and armed vehicles along the perimeter. The Jordanian government also insists the camp is not a military operation—actually, they’ll tell you it’s the best-planned camp in the world. Integration should always encouraged over isolation
be
Jordan’s treatment of Syrian refugees as a problem to be hidden away in camps has turned them into scapegoats for the country’s rampant corruption. Integration efforts led by humanitarians have focused on solidarity-building, helping to improve relations between host and refugee communities living in urban areas. As in Jordan, Chicago’s marginalized neighborhoods are also the first to host refugees. The ‘problem’ of asylum seekers
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 11
OPINION
should instead be seen as a potential part of the solution to the city’s housing crisis. This must involve intentional resourcebuilding for community organizations and initiatives that have long been active in the divested neighborhoods of the South and West Side. The Inner-City Muslim Action Network, for example, has twenty-five years of experience running a transitional housing program on the South Side for the formerly incarcerated and could offer insight on building a dignified housing system for asylum seekers, who experience similar legal and social precarity while their asylum claims are processed. The city could turn to the Greater Southwest Development Corporation, which is focused on developing Chicago’s Southwest neighborhoods, and consider key insights from local projects working to transform vacant lots in these neighborhoods into opportunities for wealth-building through homeownership. In addition to housing inclusion, community-building work led by organizations like My Block My Hood My City and The Black Star Project can aid social integration for asylum seekers, who the mayor warns may become ‘desperate’, alluding to the criminal activity some City Council members have said they observed in migrant shelters. Let asylum seekers work One of the biggest impediments to camp refugees’ wellbeing in Jordan is their inability to seek formal employment, due to both legal barriers and physical isolation. Humanitarian organizations have bypassed these restrictions by hiring refugees in ‘volunteer’ positions that offer monthly cash stipends. Being able to work gives refugees not only financial stability, but a sense of purpose and inclusion in their new community. One of the main reasons asylum seekers in Chicago cannot find housing and meet their basic needs is when they cannot access legal employment. Temporary protected status (TPS), a federal program that enables migrants in the U.S. to work legally while on a path to citizenship, has not been extended to those entering the country after July 2023.
Aerial image of an example of winterized tent base camps proposed for housing hundreds of asylum seekers in Chicago. City of Chicago
However, Chicago should incentivize community initiatives that creatively and responsibly connect asylum seekers with income-generating opportunities, learning from local organizations like Growing Home, which offers paid job training and employment seeking assistance for the formerly incarcerated on a South Side farm, and Blue Tin Production, an ethical apparel manufacturing co-op that employs immigrants and refugees and is soon to open a community center on 63rd Street. Editor’s note: On November 7, the Resurrection Project announced a pilot work permits program that will pair bilingual staffers with new arrivals to assist with legal screenings and applying for work authorization, in partnership with city, state, and federal administrations. USCIS agents will be on site along with attorneys and volunteers.
camp will be ten years old and the Zaatari camp will be twelve. Dadaab camp in Kenya, the largest refugee camp in the world, is more than thirty years old. All of these camps, like the mayor’s planned base camps, were built to be temporary. The problem with camps is that they too easily become the default long-term solution when no viable alternative is made available. The mayor should prioritize alternative long-term solutions—like affordable housing and access to incomegenerating opportunities for everyone— over the camp, especially as asylum claims can take months or even years to process. The city should make the reception of asylum seekers a humanitarian priority Asking for aid is a matter of pride; the American approach to humanitarian emergencies has traditionally been to fund aid organizations working elsewhere in the world, but seldom within our own
The mayor should prioritize alternative long-term solutions—like affordable housing and access to income-generating opportunities—over the camp, especially as asylum claims can take months or even years to process. Always plan for the long term It is likely that the winterized base camp will far outlive the winter. In 2024, Azraq
12 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
borders. As long as the government does not provide the appropriate infrastructure to receive asylum seekers, it would be
a shame to neglect the humanitarian expertise that is readily available in Chicago: RefugeeOne, Heartland Alliance, World Relief Chicago, the International Refugee Assistance Project at the University of Chicago Law School, as well as mutual aid groups like Brave Space Alliance and volunteers, can and should be invited to offer immediate assistance and support integration efforts. Most importantly, the asylum seekers at the receiving end of this assistance should be actively involved in the designing of programs intended to support them. As I witnessed in Jordan, ignoring refugee perspectives can result in well-intended but misplaced help. For example, many aid agencies have prioritized offering skills-training programs over advocating for more formal work opportunities for refugees who are often already highly skilled. Asylum seekers have the best understanding of their own needs, and the city should build its support systems around their expertise. Chicago’s response to the question of what to do with asylum seekers must be a collective effort. Mayor Johnson should endeavor to involve communities of the North Side as well as the South Side in making space for the newest Chicagoans. Resources and responsibility must be shared. In the still early days of his tenure, Mayor Johnson should view the arrival of asylum seekers as an opportunity to set a precedent for other American cities to show how we can benefit, as we always have, from welcoming newcomers. ¬ Melissa Gatter is a Lecturer in Anthropology and International Development at the University of Sussex, where she researches forced displacement and humanitarian aid in the Middle East. She has worked and consulted for leading aid agencies, including Save the Children and CARE International, in Jordan. She is the author of Time and Power in Azraq Refugee Camp: A Nine-to-Five Emergency. Melissa is a native Chicagoan and a graduate of the University of Chicago.
INMIGRACIÓN
Una guía breve para un sistema muy confuso
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 13
INMIGRACIÓN Tendrá usted que solicitar una tarjeta municipal llamada CityKey por su propia cuenta. Esta tarjeta de plástico funciona como un documento de identidad que le permite recoger dinero enviado de su país en una casa de cambio, obtener una tarjeta Ventra para el transporte público y entrar en edificios que requieren identificación.
La primera noche lo llevarán a una “Zona de Reagrupamiento”, en el Aeropuerto O’Hare o en una de las 25 comisarías de policía de la ciudad. La gente duerme tanto dentro de la comisaría como fuera de ella, en casas de campaña. Cuando usted llegue a Chicago -probablemente llegará a la estación de autobuses Greyhound cercana a la estación Union Station de Chicago - o quizá llegue al Aeropuerto O’Hare. Allí lo recibirá un equipo de bienvenida de la Oficina de Gestión de Emergencias y Comunicación de Chicago.
Recopilarán su información. ¿Es usted soltero? ¿O una familia entera? ¿Tiene familiares que ya están en la ciudad? Esta información se utilizará para saber adónde enviarlos en la ciudad.
En las comisarías, los agentes o voluntarios recopilarán su información y llamarán al 311, el teléfono de ayuda de la Municipalidad, para solicitar alojamiento. Recibirá un número de solicitud de servicio (SR), que es tu sitio en una larga lista de espacios vacantes en los albergues. Cada tres días, debe coordinarse con los oficiales para renovar este SR a fin de mantener su puesto en la fila.
El tiempo que permanecerá en la comisaría variará. Puede ser tan breve como una semana, pero puede alargarse unos meses. Las familias con niños pequeños y las personas con necesidades médicas o especiales suelen tener prioridad.
Entregan donativos: alimentos y agua, medicamentos sin receta, ropa, artículos de acampada, etc.
Las tarjetas CityKey se han distribuido por toda la ciudad en fechas especificadas en el sitio web de la Oficina de la Secretaría Municipal. Sin embargo, solo 250 CityKeys están disponibles para cada evento, lo que no basta para satisfacer la demanda. Esto ha provocado largas filas y una “situación inmanejable”, según la oficina - y no hay nuevos eventos en su calendario. Consulte regularmente la página web de la Secretaría Municipal para informarse de las últimas actualizaciones.
Cada uno de estos lugares cuenta con su propio grupo de ayuda mutua, formado exclusivamente por voluntarios. Lo que son capaces de hacer puede variar, pero generalmente estos voluntarios:
Realizar visitas periódicas a las personas que se alojan en las comisarías y recopilan información sobre sus necesidades.
Coordinar el transporte esencial (como visitas al médico o visitas a la oficina de inmigración).
14 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
Ayudarlo a solicitar beneficios municipales como la tarjeta LINK (asistencia en efectivo para alimentos) o WIC (nutrición y atención médica para mujeres, bebés y niños).
Asistencia para inscribir a los niños en las escuelas públicas. Ésta no será necesariamente la escuela más cercana, por lo que podría ser necesario viajar en autobuses de la CTA. La ciudad puede proporcionar una tarjeta de transporte gratuito a través de un programa llamado Estudiantes en Situaciones de Vida Temporal (STLS). La inscripción a la escuela se basa en el espacio disponible.
Ponerlo en contacto con profesionales del derecho de inmigración.
INMIGRACIÓN Cuando por fin termine su espera, un operador del 311 le dirá cuál de los 24 alojamientos de la ciudad tiene una disponibilidad para usted. El grupo de ayuda mutua le ayudará a trasladarse hasta allí.
En el refugio, le asignarán una persona encargada de ayudarte en su caso, que evaluará sus necesidades y le ayudará a solicitar los servicios municipales y estatales. Esto es similar a lo que ofrecía el grupo de ayuda mutua de la comisaría (LINK, WIC, etc.), pero hay un servicio clave que no puede solicitar hasta que haya llegado a esta fase:
Se trata del Programa de Ayuda de Emergencia para Solicitantes de Asilo (ASERAP). Este programa le proporciona los fondos necesarios para empezar a vivir en su propio apartamento. El gestor de su caso te dará un “Certificado de Arrendamiento”. Se trata de un acuerdo legal entre inquilino y propietario, en el que se establece que el inquilino alquila una vivienda durante seis meses y el propietario recibe los pagos correspondientes a través del programa ASERAP (financiado por una agencia del estado de Illinois).
Los asistentes sociales ayudan a encontrar propietarios, pero tienen dificultades para satisfacer la gran demanda. Muchos migrantes, con el certificado de alquiler en la mano, han conseguido buscar apartamentos por sí mismos.
En esta fase, ha encontrado un apartamento y el contrato de arrendamiento ha sido firmado. Grupos de voluntarios como la Iglesia New Life Community Church suelen proporcionar vehículos para ayudarle a trasladarse físicamente de los alojamientos a su nuevo hogar. Otro reto ahora es conseguir que los servicios públicos como el suministro de gas y electricidad estén registrados a su nombre. Por lo general, se requiere algún tipo de identificación estatal, y CityKey, por ejemplo, sólo sirve como identificación municipal. Algunas casas de cambio han sido comprensivas y han ayudado a coordinar alternativas (por ejemplo, utilizando documentos de inmigración), pero de momento no hay una solución sencilla que abarque todo el sistema.
Después de vivir seis meses con una ayuda al alquiler en su apartamento, la esperanza es que le hayan aprobado el permiso de trabajo y pueda ser económicamente independiente. Pero esto puede ser un pronóstico demasiado optimista, así que tendrá que estar atento a otras soluciones.
Es posible (aunque no está garantizado) que recursos como el Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust, financiado con fondos privados, puedan concederle ayuda en esta fase.
Las soluciones a largo plazo son muy inciertas en este momento. Manténgase informado y proactivo.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15
INMIGRACIÓN
TPS
Asilo
Tal vez usted ya tiene el Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS). Este es un estatus concedido a las personas de países designados que no pueden regresar a su país con seguridad debido a la guerra civil, desastres naturales, u otras circunstancias que impidan su regreso seguro a su país.
El TPS protege a las personas de países considerados inseguros por el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS). Puede que su país no esté incluido pero aún puede solicitar asilo. Para ello debe demostrar que usted sufre o teme sufrir persecución por motivos de raza, religión, nacionalidad, pertenencia a un determinado grupo social u opinión política. Su caso se revisará individualmente.
Durante un periodo temporal, las personas que tienen TPS no pueden ser deportadas fuera de los Estados Unidos, pueden obtener un documento de autorización de empleo (EAD) y se les puede conceder autorización para viajar.
Además de una autorización de empleo (EAD) los solicitantes de asilo tienen derecho a una tarjeta de Seguro Social sin restricciones, asistencia médica, ayudas para encontrar empleo y un documento de viaje (Refugee Travel Document.) Tendrá autorización para trabajar en los Estados Unidos mientras permanezca en estatus de asilo.
¿Cómo calificar? ¿Cuándo se solicita?
Si es usted ciudadano de un país designado, puede solicitar el TPS. Los países actuales son: … Los plazos de solicitud varían en función de su país de origen.
Debes solicitar el asilo en el plazo de un año desde su llegada a los Estados Unidos; de lo contrario, será más difícil demostrar tu caso. Puede trabajar en los Estados Unidos mientras espera la decisión sobre su solicitud de asilo, si el plazo lo permite.
¿Cuánto cuesta? ¿Qué formularios se necesitan?
Formulario I-821 La primera vez cuesta $50.00 (la reinscripción es gratuita). Los servicios biométricos son gratuitos para los menores de 14 años y cuestan $85.00 para los demás
Formulario I-589 No requiere pago. Los datos biométricos son gratuitos
¿Cómo se obtiene la autorización para trabajar a través del TPS?
I-765 Para la autorización de empleo (EAD) puede presentarse simultáneamente y es más caro: $410.00
Después de presentar una solicitud de asilo, debe esperar 150 días antes de poder solicitar permisos de trabajo. Si esta es su primera solicitud de permiso de trabajo como solicitante de asilo, USCIS debería procesar su solicitud en 30 días, pero el gobierno se demora mucho. A partir de agosto de 2023, el gobierno está tardando entre 30 y 60 días en tramitar muchas solicitudes iniciales de permiso de trabajo, por lo que pueden pasar algunos meses más antes de que reciba un permiso de trabajo.
El TPS es temporal y no otorga la residencia permanente en los Estados Unidos. El tiempo que puede permanecer en los Estados Unidos bajo el TPS depende de la naturaleza de la situación de emergencia en su país y por cuánto tiempo el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional designa a su país de origen como elegible para el TPS. Algunos beneficiarios del TPS han podido vivir y trabajar en los Estados Unidos durante diez o más años, mientras que otros sólo durante uno o dos años. Su autorización de empleo (EAD) expirará en la misma fecha que su estatus de TPS. Tenga en cuenta que USCIS con frecuencia emite una extensión automática a los beneficiarios del EAD conjuntamente con sus renovaciones del estatus de TPS para cierto país. Por ejemplo, la elegibilidad para el TPS fue renovada recientemente para todos los migrantes venezolanos. Si usted es venezolano y ha estado continuamente en los Estados Unidos desde el 31 de julio de 2023 o antes, usted es elegible para el TPS. El nuevo período de TPS comienza el 3 de octubre de 2023 y se extiende hasta el 2 de abril de 2025.
Un asilado no es un residente permanente legal, pero pueden solicitar la residencia permanente un año después de la fecha de aprobación de la solicitud de asilo. También puede solicitar el asilo derivado para traer a su esposo/a y/o hijos a los Estados Unidos.
¿Para qué se utiliza? ¿De qué se trata?
¿Qué pasa después de conseguirlo?
ESTATUS LEGAL FEDERAL Asistencia legal:
Cambios de domicilio:
La organización National Immigrant Justice Center ofrece consultas legales en sus oficinas (224 S Michigan Ave Ste 600), pero se requiere cita previa. Llame al 312-660-1370.
Si su domicilio cambia después de haber presentado su solicitud, debe notificarlo inmediatamente al USCIS. Para obtener información sobre cómo notificar al USCIS, visite www.uscis.gov/addresschange.
16 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
STAGE AND SCREEN
Steppenwolf Theatre’s Sanctuary City Delivers a Compelling Portrait of Immigrant Struggles Sanctuary City takes the audience on a poignant journey through the challenges and triumphs of two young immigrants that resonates deeply in today's world. BY ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ
C
hicago is an immigrant city. The first wave of European immigrants arrived in the 1840s and 50s, and from the 1920s onward, Chicago would become home to immigrants from Mexico, Poland, Vietnam, Nigeria, Palestine, and many more countries. This can be seen today—from the North Side’s diverse West African and South Asian communities, to the ethnic enclaves in the South Side like Chinatown and Pilsen. The city has enacted policies over the past few decades to make Chicago a sanctuary city that provides certain protections for immigrants, such as placing restrictions on ICE cooperating with local police. Steppenwolf Theatre’s recent production Sanctuary City examines the life of two young immigrants living in New Jersey and the obstacles they have to hurdle because of the country in which they were born. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and University of Chicago alum Martyna Majok, Sanctuary City follows two young DREAMers—undocumented residents who were brought to the U.S. as children and would benefit from proposed federal legislation known as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The DREAMers go by B (Grant Kennedy Lewis) and G (Jocelyn Zamudio). B is a well-meaning and ambitious student who prioritizes his education, but due to his mother’s decision to overstay their visa, he can’t take out any loans or financial aid to apply for school, causing him immense stress. G takes school much less seriously and often provides comic relief, but also lives in a toxic household with her mother and her mother’s abusive boyfriend. As such, G often spends the night at B’s apartment, and this is how the story
Proposed 2023 Metra system fare zone map
begins, with G knocking on B’s bedroom window and convincing him to let her stay the night. From here, their relationship evolves in a nonlinear format. Taking place in New Jersey in the aftermath of 9/11, the first half of the play features B and G going back and forth in a series of flashbacks that build exposition on their history as friends and status as immigrants. B’s situation becomes increasingly difficult after he decides to stay in New Jersey to pursue an education while his mom returns to their home country that is not specified. G, on the other hand, is eventually naturalized after her mother passes her citizenship test, and they both finally leave their abusive living situation. With G now a citizen, she and B come up with a plan to marry so that B can get his green card, further strengthening their bond. The flashbacks eventually all lead to three and a half years later when the duo are reunited after their initial plan goes awry in the wake of post-9/11 America’s hyper surveillance of immigrants and the passage of the Patriot Act. It’s in this second half that the play goes from good to great with riveting and heart-wrenching
Photo by Michael Brosilow
dialogue, as the two accuse one another of emotional betrayal and unearth secrets they’ve kept hidden from each other. B’s new roommate Henry (Brandon Rivera) adds a dynamic voice of reason between the two estranged friends. Lewis and Zamudio play the two leads with impeccable chemistry, absolutely carrying much of the show as the only two characters on the stage for most of its run time. Zamudio’s timing with G’s sarcastic humor help bring much-needed laughs to an otherwise heartbreaking story, while Lewis’s performance provides an emotional anchor. Their execution of B and G’s “will they, won’t they” tension is done with believable performances, and Rivera delivers a scene-stealing performance in his own right as the energetic and passionate Henry. All in all, Sanctuary City, which runs until November 18, is an incredible commentary on the burdens that many immigrants have to carry to have a chance at a good life in the United States, due to the government’s policies that criminalize their existence. The title of this play is a reference to the policy that offers protections to
undocumented immigrants from ICE in certain cities across the country. This policy has contributed to the decision by Republican governors Greg Abbot in Texas, and Ron DeSantis in Florida, to bus thousands of Central and South Americans seeking asylum to Chicago, which has sparked controversy in neighborhoods across the city. Attempts by mutual aid groups and the city to provide for and house these migrants have drawn ire from long-time community members who feel they’re receiving the short end of the stick due to already limited resources and overcrowded shelters, and some alderpersons have proposed revoking some of Chicago’s sanctuary city policies. Given the recent timing of Central American migrants seeking asylum in Chicago, Steppenwolf is partnering with the Community Care Network, a mutual aid network that supports migrants in the 33th Ward, which includes parts of Avondale, Irving Park, Albany Park, and Ravenswood. In a country where xenophobic politicians and conservative news media try to vilify migrants for no other reason than simply being different, stories like Sanctuary City that shed light on the lives of the unseen and give a platform for the voices of the unheard are needed. ¬ Alejandro Hernandez is a freelance writer born and raised in Chicago. Growing up in the city gave him the sense of perspective that can be found in his work. With combined experience doing broadcast and written journalism, Alejandro has been actively documenting the stories of everyday Chicagoans for over seven years.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 17
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IMMIGRATION
Chinese Americans in Protests Against Tent Encampments in Brighton Park
Safety concerns, political disenfranchisement, and language injustice fuel resistance against base camp. BY KEVIN HU
T
he Johnson administration’s announcement to construct a winterized base camp in a Brighton Park industrial lot has sparked ongoing protests from residents in the neighborhood, which resulted in an attack on Ald. Jessica Ramirez on October 19th after a brief community meeting. Jacquelyn Zuniga, the organizer of the multiracial protest on the 19th, told the Chicago Sun-Times that due to language barriers it was difficult to de-escalate the conflict after protesters ambushed Ramirez. Many of those confronting the alder were holding protest signs written in Chinese characters. Recent clashes between Chicagoans and city officials are drawing a demographic not often seen in public displays of protest— Chicagoans of Chinese descent. As a consistent lack of affordable housing over the past decade pushes Chinese residents out of Chinatown and into neighborhoods further southwest, longstanding frustrations over decreased property values and lack of political representation are boiling to the surface. South Side Chinese residents are an emerging voice in city politics and community organizers emphasize the importance of language justice to support healthy civic engagement.
A
ccording to a 2023 community data report, by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Asian American population in Brighton Park has grown from 2.9 to 9.9 percent between 2000 and 2021. Many of these new residents come from the Chinese community centered around the cultural hub of Chinatown. COVID-19 rapidly displaced low-
Brighton Park residents protest a planned migrant base camp site at 38th and California on November 10. Photo by Barry Hu
income Chinese Americans from their longtime residences in the Chinatown area due to a loss of jobs and inability to pay rents, according to data provided by the Chinese American Service League (CASL). Paul Luu, the CEO of CASL, recently corroborated this trend, referencing U.S. Census Data, in an opinion piece in the Sun-Times. “Nearly 30 percent of Asians 60 and older in the Bridgeport, McKinley Park, and Chinatown/Armour Square Areas live in poverty,” he wrote. The piece goes on to add that the current waitlist for senior housing is so long that some folks pass away before being able to access a unit, and called on the government to provide more affordable housing solutions to the Chinese-American community. Would-be homeowners also wrestle with finding affordable housing close to Chinatown. When asked whether
affordable housing contributed to his decision to live in Brighton Park, Michael Lin, a Chinese resident who has been actively protesting the encampments, said, “Yeah, the housing price is relatively cheaper than the North Side, the West Side, and even the downtown area.” He said that before he decided to settle in Brighton Park, he also looked for housing in Bridgeport and on the North Side. According to Redfin, the median prices for housing is $390,000 in Bridgeport and $438,000 in Armour Square. In Brighton Park, on the other hand, the median price is almost half, at $265,000.
T
he desire for safe, stable housing is what connects the protesters in Brighton Park with the migrants seeking refuge. Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce De Leon said that capacity
for the encampments will begin at five hundred, but can expand to accommodate up to two thousand people. Lin said that he isn’t opposed to housing migrants in Brighton Park, but expressed concerns about the high concentration. “If we only take two hundred, maybe we’re not that much concerned, but two thousand is different,” he said. “If you asked [Chinese] people what the top three concerns are, the number one concern would be overwhelmingly safety,” said Grace Chan McKibben, the executive director of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC). CBCAC is a coalition that offers resources for the Chinese community through civic education and issue advocacy, among other things. The climate of xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated AsianAmerican concerns about public safety. The Guardian reported that Stop Asian Hate, a national anti-Asian discrimination coalition, documented over 9,000 reports of incidents from 2020 to 2021. The same report showed that the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found a 339 percent increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans. There were no reports of hate crimes in the Chinese community in Chicago, but incidences of violent crime reported during the pandemic increased paranoia. Public safety became an urgent concern, and one of the main issues that propelled Nicole Lee to victory in the 11th ward alder election. David Li, a policy officer at CASL, told the Weekly that feelings of neighborhood safety dropped significantly from 2020 to 2021 based on their Social Determinants of Health (SDH) report—a report that drew participants from Bridgeport, Armour
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 19
IMMIGRATION
Square, Brighton Park, and McKinley Park. The overall percentage of respondents who reported feeling safe dropped from 70.7 to 54.5, even though reported incidents of violent crime had actually decreased overall from 2020 to 2021, according to Chicago Police Department data. McKibben explains that what constitutes neighborhood safety for Chinese Americans often means to live in a neighborhood with racial or ethnic similarities, a tendency that has itself left Chinatown residents open to charges of racism and xenophobia. “The average Chinese American or Chinese immigrant probably does feel safer if there are more Chinese people around, mostly because that’s what they are familiar with,” said McKibben.
F
eelings of political disenfranchisement among the Chinese protestors are strong, and are exacerbated by significant Englishlanguage barriers. Many Chinese public commenters at the October 24th Kelly High School community meeting were angry that they were not consulted about the migrant camps in Brighton Park. “Although this meeting was planned earlier, extensive construction had begun two weeks ago,” said Sonya Zu, one of the many commenters. “What’s the point of having a hearing if you’re going to do whatever you want?” Armour Square, where Chinatown is located, has been a majority-Asian neighborhood for more than thirty years now and as of the 2020 Census so is Bridgeport, as the number of Asian residents has surpassed that of the neighborhood’s traditionally white base. Many of these new residents are Chinese. However, a majority Chinese American voting bloc did not emerge until 2023, when in the wake of a remap of the 11th Ward, Nicole Lee officially won the aldermanic seat over Anthony Ciaravino. With Lee’s election came stronger advocacy for resources for the Chinese-American community, such as Lee’s call for greater inclusion in the city’s affordable housing plans. A majority voting bloc bolsters the chances of political representation, but historically low Asian voter turnout shows
Brighton Park residents march on November 10 in protest against the tent camp lease. Photo by Barry Hu
that there might be other barriers to entry into the political process. McKibben said that language accessibility often keeps Chinese Americans from civic engagement. “I think language justice is key. The concept of language justice versus language access is that language access is creating ways for you to understand the information, possibly through translation. Language justice is honoring the fact that you may prefer to use Chinese or Spanish because that’s how you feel the most comfortable, better understood, and better empowered,” she said. She has been advocating for language justice in Chicago since 2003 and has been active in supporting the Language Equity and Access Act currently on the Senate floor. A study by Asian Americans Advancing Justice shows that even though Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act is meant to close the language barrier by offering translated material, other accessibility issues often occur, confirming that more needs to be done around language justice beyond translation at the polls. McKibben said that language barriers directly contribute to Chinese residents’ reliance on WeChat, a Chinese messaging and social media application, as a source of information, because the need for translation becomes a non-issue. But the platform is also a hotbed for misinformation and disinformation. For example, right-
20 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
wing extremists spread lies on the platform about riots and military presence at voting sites to scare Chinese Americans out of going to the polls in the 2020 presidential election. The lack of both language proficiency and the resources to bring about language justice pervades the everyday lives of the average Chinese American, making political disenfranchisement less of a feeling and more of a condition of life. “In 2019, 13 percent of Asian people who did not speak English very well, according to proficiency standards, hindered the ability to understand and engage complicated homebuying processes,” Li said. He went on to detail how this contributes to subpar utilities, faulty pipes, and other infrastructural elements, such as protection from weather flooding and stable heating systems, that greatly affect one’s quality of housing and can ripple out to other forms of unhealthy living standards.
E
ven though the election of the first Chinese-American alderperson in Chicago’s history is a victory for the larger Chinese community, those in Brighton Park still stand on the outside looking in. Despite protests and without consultation with Ald. Ramirez, on November 1 the city went forth to finalize a land use contract to build the tent camp with Barnacres Corporation, the owner of
the lot on 38th and California, effectively disregarding community concerns. The contract stated that the city will pay $91,400 a month to Barnacres for use of the land for an initial time period of six months, with allowance for extensions at a 3% increase. When asked whether he feels like their voices are being heard, Lin said, “I don’t think so. They’re not doing anything to help us right now.” However, the fact of the encampment protests does demonstrate a growing sense of community belonging. Lin said that this was the first protest he’s ever participated in. When asked whether he has felt closer to his neighbors, he said, “Yeah. We feel like we are all on the same page. We all feel the same thing.” Those protesting the tent encampments consist not only of Chinese residents, but Black and Latinx folks as well. Many attendees at the Kelly meeting agreed that building encampments on an industrial lot is not a sufficient housing solution for anyone. Across all demographics, voices were unified in expressing the right to adequate and safe housing for the migrants seeking refuge. McKibben says, “Interracial solidarity is always a difficult one because Chicago has historically been such a racially segregated city… There is a perceived fight for resources.” Despite these systemic forces, the Brighton Park protests show that residents across racial lines are finding solidarity in a common struggle. Other voices in the community are calling them to go a step further by identifying connections with the migrants in need of refuge. “I’d just like to warn us against this culture of fear because it has been used against Black communities, Asian communities, Muslims, as a political tactic,” said Jessica Suarez Nieto, who joined in a chorus of voices that appealed to the community’s common humanity that evening. ¬ Kevin Hu is a multidisciplinary writer, tech worker, and a recent Chicago re-transplant. You can find more of their writing at www. kevinhu.dev.
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IMMIGRATION
Explainer: A Migrant’s Journey for Basic and Long-term Needs
A step-by-step breakdown of each stage of a migrant’s path to self-sufficiency in Chicago.
BY NICK MERLOCK JACKSON AND WENDY WEI Note: This is the English version of the information presented in the Spanish insert in the middle of the paper. PART ONE: CHICAGO BASIC NEEDS Stage 1 - Arrival When you arrive in Chicago—probably at the Greyhound Bus Station near Chicago’s Union Station, or maybe at O’Hare airport—you’ll be met by a welcome team from Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication. They’ll gather information about you. Are you a single man? Or a whole family? Do you have relatives that are already in the city? This information will be used to figure out where to send you next. Stage 2 - Staging Area (Police Station) By the first night, you’ll be brought to a “Staging Area” at O’Hare airport or one of the city’s twenty-five police stations. People sleep both inside the station and outside it, in tents. At the stations, police officers or mutual aid volunteers will gather your information and call 311, the city’s helpline, to make a shelter request. You’ll receive a Service Request (SR) Number—essentially your
spot in a long line for limited vacancies in shelters. Every three days, you must coordinate with officers to renew this SR to maintain your spot in line. How long you’ll stay at the police station will vary. It might be as short as a week, but could stretch to a few months. Families with small children and individuals with medical or special needs are generally prioritized. Each one of these sites has its own allvolunteer mutual aid group. What they are able to do can vary, but they generally: a) Deliver donations: food and water, over-the-counter medications, clothing, camping supplies, and more. b) Make regular check-ins on those staying at the station and gather information about people’s needs. c) Assist in enrolling children in public school. This won’t necessarily be the school that’s closest, so it might be necessary to travel by the CTA. The city can provide a transit card free of charge through a program called Students in Temporary Living Situations (STLS). School enrollment is based on space available. d) Help you apply for city benefits like a LINK Card (cash assistance for food) or WIC (nutrition and healthcare for women, infants and children) e) Coordinate essential transportation (like doctor’s visits or check-ins with
22 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
ICE) f ) Put you in touch with professionals in immigration law You’ll need to apply for a CityKey on your own. This plastic card functions as a city-wide ID, allowing you to pick up money at a currency exchange, get a Ventra card, and enter buildings that require ID. CityKeys have been distributed at printing events, staged around the city on dates specified on the Office of the City Clerk’s website. However, the 250 CityKeys available at each event aren’t enough to match the demand. This has resulted in long lines and an “unmanageable situation” according to the office, and there are no new events on their calendar. Check the City Clerk’s website regularly for new developments. When your wait for a Service Request is finally over, a 311 operator will tell you which of the city’s twenty-four shelters has an opening for you. The mutual aid group will help you move here. Stage 3 - City-run Shelter At the shelter, you should be paired with a case manager who will assess your needs and help you apply and manage city and state services. This is comparable to what the mutual aid group at the police station provided (VTTC, WIC, etc.), but there
is one key service that you can’t apply for until you’ve reached this stage: That’s the Asylum Seeker Emergency Assistance Program (ASERAP). This program provides the funds to start living in your own apartment. Your case manager will give you a “Lease Attestation.” This is a legally binding agreement between a tenant and a landlord, stating that the tenant will rent a unit for three to six months and the landlord will receive appropriate payments through the ASERAP program (financed by an Illinois state agency.) There is some support from caseworkers in finding landlords, but they’ve struggled to meet the high demand. Many migrants, lease attestation in hand, have successfully conducted the apartment search themselves. Stage 4 - Rental Apartment Your apartment has been found and the lease has been signed! Volunteer groups like New Life Community Church often provide vehicles to help you physically move from the shelters to your new home. Another challenge now is getting utilities like gas and electricity registered in your name. Some form of state ID is generally required, and CityKey, for example, only serves as a city-specific ID. Some sympathetic currency exchanges have helped to coordinate alternatives (i.e. using immigration documents) but there isn’t
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currently a simple, system-wide solution. After living for six months with rental assistance at your apartment, the hope is that your work permit has been approved and you can be financially independent. But this may be an overly optimistic forecast, so you’ll need to be on the lookout for other solutions. It’s possible (thought not guaranteed) that resources like the privately funded Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust can grant assistance at this stage.
prove that you face or fear persecution based on your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Unlike TPS, your case will be reviewed on an individual basis. On top of an EAD, asylees are eligible for an unrestricted Social Security card, cash and medical assistance, employment assistance, and a Refugee Travel Document. You will be authorized to work in the US as long as you remain in asylee status.
PART TWO: LEGAL STATUSES EXPLAINED
How do you qualify? When do you apply?
Avoid Scams: Affordable and verified legal assistance is available at the following: a) The National Immigrant Justice Center provides legal consultations at their offices (224 S Michigan Ave Ste 600), but an appointment is required. To make an appointment, call 312-660-1370.
If you are a national of a designated country, you can apply for TPS. The current countries are - Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras,
First-time I-821 filing costs $50 (reregistering is free) Biometric services are free for those younger than 14 / $85 for all others For Asylum: Form I-589 No filing fee, biometrics provided at no cost How do you get work authorization through it? What’s the wait? Form I-765 for EAD can be filed simultaneously with your TPS application and is more expensive ($410) than TPS. If applying for EAD through asylum, after you submit an asylum application, you must wait 150 days before you can
“How long you’ll stay at the police Address changes: If your address station will vary. It might be as changes after you file your application, you must notify USCIS immediately. For short as a week, but could stretch information about how to notify USCIS go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange. to a few months.” What are they for? What are the reasons behind it?
Maybe you already have Temporary Protective Status (TPS)—this is a status granted to individuals of designated countries who are unable to return home safely due civil war, natural disaster, or other circumstances preventing their safe return home. For a temporary period, individuals who have TPS are not removable from the United States, can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD), and may be granted travel authorization. TPS protects nationals of certain countries deemed unsafe by DHS. Maybe your country isn’t included. You can still apply to receive asylum. To do so you must
Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen. Application deadlines are different depending on your home country. For asylum, you must apply within one year of arriving in the US, or it will be more difficult to prove your case. You are allowed to work in the U.S. while waiting for your asylum decision if the timing works out.
apply for work permits. If this is your first work permit request as an asylum application, USCIS should process your application within thirty days, but the government is very delayed. As of August 2023, the government is taking about thirty to sixty days to process many initial work permit applications, so it can take a few months more before you receive a work permit.
How much does it cost? What forms do you need?
What’s Better? Applying for Asylum or TPS? You can apply for and hold both TPS and asylum. TPS does not affect the status of your asylum application. TPS’s main advantage is that though TPS is a
For TPS: Form I-821
temporary status, you can more easily and more quickly obtain work authorization. What happens after you get it? TPS is temporary and does not lead to permanent residence in the US, or a “green card.” How long you can stay in the US under TPS depends on the nature of the emergency situation in your country and for how long DHS designates your native country TPS-eligible. Some TPS holders have been able to live and work in the U.S. for ten or more years, while others only for a year or two. Note that USCIS frequently issues an automatic extension of EADs jointly with their renewals of TPS status for a certain country. For example, eligibility for TPS was recently renewed for all Venezuelan migrants. If you are Venezuelan and have been continuously in the USA since July 31, 2023 or earlier, you are eligible for TPS. The new TPS period begins on October 3, 2023, and runs through April 2, 2025. An asylee is also not a lawful permanent resident, but asylees can apply for permanent residence (a “green card”) one year after the date of asylum approval. You can also petition to bring your spouse and/or children to the United States by requesting derivative asylum status for them. ¬ Wendy Wei is the Immigration Editor at South Side Weekly.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 23
LIT
T
Our thoughts in exchange for yours.
he Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.
africans make fire affirmations
Sunflowers
the african tendency to shorten everything, to scramble sayings and shape them to your liking. i imagine this is how most of our proverbs are formed. last night before bed, i take “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” i say “when we reach, we will cross.”
To find myself is A dance Late night tears A breath Sunflowers And liberation To find myself is The courage The power To be, Me.
by chima “naira” ikoro
and so shall it be. not “we will solve a looming problem when we get around to it” rather, “when we make it to whatever is next we will surely continue forward.”
by alexa harris
i sometimes think about the threshold of life how nothing last forever and one day this skin will dissolve into the dust that birthed it. i am enjoying a beautiful day, or sharing a meal and the reminder crosses the horizon of my subconscious a cloud threatening to become a hurricane brandishing a panic attack like wind invisible to the naked eye but powerful enough to destroy whatever comfort I’ve built to shield myself. death. hear how it just sinks to the bottom of this poem. but who of us can add a single moment to our lives by worrying when we reach, we will cross. and the church said, amen.
Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder. THIS WEEK'S PROMPT: “WRITE A POEM THAT CONTAINS INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOURSELF IF YOU ARE EVER HURT OR STRUGGLING. USE A REPEATING MANTRA.” This could be a poem, journal entry, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces. Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com
24 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
IMMIGRATION
Expert Voices on Recent Migration and Humanitarian Crisis The Weekly spoke with Caroline Tracey and Todd Miller on the reasons for migration, what happens at the border, and what to expect going forward. BY ALMA CAMPOS AND WENDY WEI
T
he recent arrival of asylum seekers in Chicago is just one example of a broader humanitarian crisis that has grown over decades. Growing numbers of people migrate to the U.S. for various reasons—political dysfunction, war, natural disasters made worse by economic instability, gender inequality, violence and much more. To find new opportunities and safety in the U.S. migrants endanger their lives in treacherous journeys with aspirations of a better life. Many questions are left unanswered as Chicago and other cities receiving new arrivals set off on a steep learning curve to better understand the current situation both locally and internationally. The Weekly interviewed Caroline Tracey and Todd Miller for their perspectives. Tracey is a writer focused on migration, and the environment in the U.S. Southwest, Mexico and the borderlands. In 2023, she received the Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Fellowship in Journalism and Human and Civil Rights. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. Miller is an author and independent journalist. His books include Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security and Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security. He has fifteen years of experience working and writing about U.S.-Mexico border issues and writes a weekly column for The Border Chronicle. What is the difference between asylum seekers, migrants, immigrants, and refugees?
Tracey: There is overlap and blurriness between these terms, but here’s how I see the breakdown: A migrant is an individual who is moving from one place to another. Migrants are both emigrants from somewhere (the Latin prefix -e is “from”) and, eventually immigrants to another place; those terms would be used contextually—you can be an emigrant from Nicaragua and an immigrant to Chicago, though we also commonly in say English that someone is an “immigrant from Mexico,” because the destination is implied to be the United States. So, migrant is an umbrella term that captures movement. But it doesn't specify why people move. A refugee is a person who is fleeing their home country—whether because of violence, war, persecution, a natural disaster, or another cause that has forced them to leave. In practice, the distinction between a migrant and a refugee is not always easy to observe: many people will explain that they left their home country seeking a better life, which sounds like they are an economic migrant who made the choice to leave, but as you talk to them more, you learn that there were also factors compelling them to leave, such as violence in their community, direct threats to their family, drought, etc. Additionally, U.S. law makes the distinction more complicated. For the U.S., refugee status is something that is applied for and granted from within one’s home country or a country of residence that is not the U.S. There’s an annual cap of 125,000 refugees, and only people in specific countries facing certain human rights crises are eligible—in recent years many people who have received refugee status
in the U.S. have come from Syria, Sudan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—and you have to get referred by the United Nations. In contrast, asylum is something that you only seek at a U.S. border or from within the U.S. So what’s confusing is that people who are seeking asylum would be rightly referred to as refugees but legally they are not refugees, they are asylum-seekers. What is happening in Venezuela and other Latin American countries that is driving migration to the U.S.? Tracey: There are a variety of factors that are pushing people to the U.S. Venezuela is experiencing the worst economic crisis of its history, and at least 4.6 million people have fled the country since 2015, according to data gathered in 2021. They are facing hyperinflation (meaning that their currency is worth very little), starvation due to poverty and food shortages, and inadequate medical care leading to preventable disease and
decreased life expectancy. (Editor’s note: The U.S. and allied countries have also been placing sanctions on Venezuela since 2005, which are widely considered to have contributed to the economic collapse.) In other Latin American countries, many people are fleeing gang violence—often, people leave after threats to them or after murders of family members—and more recently, fleeing repressive governments in Nicaragua, Ecuador, Guatemala. There has also been an increase in migration due to climatic factors, such as droughts and hurricanes. People are coming not just from Latin America but from all over the world—a representative from the Border Patrol’s El Paso sector recently told me that their apprehensions last year included people from nearly 100 countries, including countries in Africa and South Asia. In Chicago, there are also numerous Russians, Ukranians, Chechnyans and Central Asians. Many of those people travel all the way across Central America and Mexico to get to the U.S.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 25
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Miller: There is a great book, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by veteran journalist, Juan Gonzalez. The book places Latin America and the Caribbean in the long view of U.S. policy and dominance in the region, including countless military and economic interventions over the last centuries and decades. In this there have been coups, attempted coups, occupations, and much extraction of wealth (precious resources), and Gonzalez shows convincingly that people will gravitate to the places where the wealth has been transferred. Now you can apply this differently in different countries, all of which have different situations, and different states of domestic politics, which often include grave incidents of oppression and corruption. What happens to migrants once they arrive at the border? Tracey: This is complicated and frequently changes. It varies by nationality and other factors like family status. Some people, especially single men, are detained and deported. Others are eventually temporarily released into the U.S. to await an asylum hearing. Generally, Customs and Border Protection partners with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help people get to the location where their relatives or contacts in the U.S. live. A complex set of rules and bureaucracy oversees work authorization during the wait, and so many people aren’t authorized to work while they wait. This is meant to be a deterrence measure, but in practice, it causes significant hardship to people that are in a very vulnerable situation. An article in The New York Times, titled, ‘Who Gets In? A Guide to America’s Chaotic Border Rules’ explains this further. Miller: The U.S. border begins long before people reach the actual international boundary. For example, the U.S. has assisted Mexico, as well as other countries throughout the Western Hemisphere, in its own border fortification via training programs, resources, and money. This is a key enforcement strategy. According to officials, they are “pushing out” the border to stop people long before they get to the U.S. And then once people reach
the U.S. frontier, they will encounter the most fortified border in U.S. history in terms of armed border agents, walls and barriers, surveillance technology, and a vast detention and expulsion system. This whole enforcement system is deployed in the logic of a deterrence strategy that has existed for more than thirty years— designed to force border crossers to cross in hostile territories, but also works on multiple levels including forcing people to navigate difficult bureaucracies, particularly asylum seekers for the last several years. How will migration play into the presidential election? Tracey: Both parties are very much in favor of border security which means there are a lot of options that are off the table. We saw this very clearly when
Miller: As it has been for the last several election cycles, it should be a super important issue for candidates. I expect, if history is any indication, that fantastical narratives will propel the national discourse into the stratosphere. By this I mean narratives like the claim that there is an “open borders policy” with Biden, narratives that have no basis in reality. One quick Google search shows that budgets for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Biden in 2023 were at $29.8 billion, the highest ever enacted. This budget funds the Border Patrol, surveillance technology, walls and barriers and their maintenance, the detention and deportation regime, among other things. Voters should be able to differentiate the nuts and bolts of a large border and immigration enforcement apparatus, with hot air. And
There are more people on the move globally than ever before, and yet there’s also a simultaneous focus on obstructing movement in the name of “security.”–Caroline Tracey Biden promised to build “not one more foot” of wall, and yet has now re-started border wall construction in South Texas. For a long time, Congress has had a hard time passing immigration reform. For instance, the DREAM Act, which would have given a pathway to citizenship to individuals who came to the U.S. as undocumented minors, failed to pass Congress numerous times. Instead, Obama created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which only provides those undocumented individuals who came as minors with temporary work authorization—and has now been struck down, so people who have not previously held DACA cannot apply. As in the case with DACA, because the legislature fails to respond to immigration, the courts end up making a lot of key decisions. So, even more than the presidential debates, the Supreme Court and the federal circuit courts are the places to keep an eye when it comes to immigration decisions.
26 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023
there will be clearly a lot of hot air. What do people need to know about migration that is not often, or at all, shown in the media? Tracey: One important piece of context for the asylum situation right now is that in the past, it was possible to seek asylum at a port of entry: you walked up to the international border and stated that you were looking for asylum. Around 2016, Border Patrol representatives started preventing people from doing this, which pushed people to cross the border between ports of entry, which is illegal. This created the perception that many more people are crossing the border illegally than before, and most single adults are detained and deported rather than given a chance to seek asylum. Another important thing to know is that many people who seek asylum have to spend time in detention—detention isn’t
just for people who have been accused of a crime or who are awaiting deportation. It’s “civil” detention, but the conditions are not good. This wasn’t always the case—it was the result of federal legal changes in the 1990s that aimed to deter asylum-seekers from coming to the U.S. It’s very expensive to U.S. taxpayers. There isn’t a good reason to keep so many people in detention for so long, and there are financially efficient and more humane alternatives that are shown to work just as well. Finally, I think that one thing that many of us may not think about is just how hard it is to get one’s life established in the U.S. For instance, it’s very hard to find an apartment building that will rent to you if you don't have a credit score, which people who are new to the U.S. don’t have. I’ve visited a building in a Chicago suburb where nearly all the residents were immigrants, because of the simple fact that a credit score was not required and word got around through group chats on apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. Miller: Few people know, for example, that the U.S.-Mexico border is the world’s deadliest land border as the International Organization for Migration wrote in September, or that the Biden administration gave out a record number of contracts to private industry—for border and immigration enforcement in 2023. That the border brutalizes people while simultaneously being profitable for companies who also influence policy with campaign contributions and lobbying. What does the situation mean for immigration policy going forward? Tracey: There are more people on the move globally than ever before, and yet there’s also a simultaneous focus on obstructing movement in the name of “security.” In the U.S., this has been the case especially since 9/11. I'm not particularly optimistic that lawmakers will displace “security” as their focus, but I think that as individuals we can do it. What would it mean to imagine policies around promoting safe passage instead of barricades? Why is it so important
to “protect” the United States—if what we’re protecting is liberty and prosperity, why can’t those things be shared? Miller: Since deterrence has been central to U.S. immigration and border policy for thirty years, I can only imagine that it will continue going forward. This not only means the fortification of urban areas of the U.S. border, that forces crossers into desolate places where death or suffering is a threat, but also what Border Patrol calls its Consequence Delivery System, which means enacting punishment on people who cross without authorization such as imprisonment. There is a trend for increasing barriers for asylum seekers whether it be Title 42 (pandemic era rapid expulsion policy phased out in May), Remain in Mexico (people have to stay in Mexico awaiting asylum hearings), or the seemingly innocuous yet glitchy and impossible CBP One app. The other trend that goes hand in hand with this is the externalization of
BULLETIN Hyde Park Art Center Gala Afterparty
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Friday, November 17, 8:30pm– 11:30pm. Tickets are $75. bit.ly/47bgNqm
Join the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) for a post-gala afterparty featuring open studios night, artist interventions and performances by Jonathan Castillo, Young Kim, Jordan Knecht, Mariana Noreña, Chris Tasior and teen artists on HPAC’s Youth Board of Artists. Music will be provided by Lumpen Radio DJs, and there will be an open bar, snacks and complimentary valet parking. (Zoe Pharo)
MSI Tree Lighting Festival
The Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 DuSable Lake Shore Dr. Saturday, November 18, 10am–3pm. Included with museum admission. bit.ly/3swj4NA
To kick off its holiday exhibit, Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light, the Museum of Science and Industry will hold a
the border, what officials call pushing the border out as far as it can go into Mexico, Central America, Panama, Colombia, and throughout the Caribbean, to name some places. The sort of border narratives that are in the mainstream media, and hence; the national discourse keep a status quo in line, but the narratives really need to shift in order for us to have a much improved and authentic conversation about it. This would be a good year to do just that. ¬ Alma Campos is a senior editor with the Weekly and Wendy Wei is the Weekly’s immigration editor covering solidarity between communities of color.
tree lighting ceremony featuring fifty different Christmas trees, each decorated to represent a different country. The festivities will include live performances, a cameo from Santa Claus and a meet-and-great with a Chicago Cubs player. (Zoe Pharo)
Chicago Beer and Wine Fest
The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Saturday, November 18, 3:30pm–7:30pm. Tickets range from $50 to $75. bit.ly/3QWSN4w The Promontory is hosting the inaugural Chicago Beer and Wine Fest, with selections from across Chicago and internationally. The event will feature more than fifteen different beers and wines, food, and live R&B and soul music. Professional wine and beer makers will be present to answer questions about their brews. (Zoe Pharo)
Himnoteca: Chicago's Largest Latino Karaoke Party
Distro Music Hall, 6815 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn. Saturday, November 18, 9pm– 3am. $10-20 admission. Request free tickets
at events by The People's Stage Karaoke.
The People's Stage Karaoke and Kombi Chicago are excited to present the first annual Himnoteca, part 3. The party is a celebration of karaoke culture and the diversity of Latinx music across genres and generations. While it is being held in a Berwyn hall with a capacity for 400 people, the event draws Latino Chicagoans from all over the city. This iteration will include midnight tributes to current legends Peso Pluma, Karol G, Grupo Frontera, and Bad Bunny. ( Jackie Serrato)
Lakefront Carvings Walking Tour at Pebble Beach
Wear good shoes and meet the group on the bike path at the foot of the 51st Street pedestrian bridge. Sunday, November 19, 1pm. Free.
Join advocates for Morgan Shoal to learn about the historic art carved into the limestone blocks at one of the two remaining limestone revetments in the area. Bill Swislow is Chicago’s expert on the permanent art left by Chicagoans along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, much of which is documented in his book, “Lakefront Anonymous: Chicago’s Unknown Art Gallery.”
The tour will span the rocks from 51st Street to 49th Street at Pebble Beach. (Zoe Pharo)
Thanksgiving Food Giveaway
Iglesia Nueva Vida, 2701 S. Lawndale. Tuesday, November 21, 7am. Free.
New Life Centers are having their annual Thanksgiving food distribution on the Southwest Side. This event in the Little Village neighborhood will give away food that include frozen turkeys, canned goods, vegetables, and "all the fixings." Only the 60623, 60624, 60632, 60612, and 60609 zip codes are eligible. ( Jackie Serrato)
Fight or Flight: Responding to this Racial Equity Moment
Metropolitan Planning Council, 140 S, Dearborn St. #1400. Tuesday, November 28, 3pm–5pm. Free. Join the Metropolitan Planning Council and the City of Chicago’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice for a discussion on the state of the racial equity movement. (Zoe Pharo)
NOVEMBER 16, 2023 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 27
Explore more than 50 holiday displays and more! NOV. 18, 2023 THROUGH JAN. 7, 2024 SCAN HERE
FOR TICKETS
msichicago.org 28 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY ¬ NOVEMBER 16, 2023