A nationwide outpouring: LA and Chicago unite in anti-ICE protests

Angelenos have recently taken to the streets of Los Angeles in response to a federal immigration raid, and Chicagoans stand in solidarity with that protest. Though thousands marched in both cities, each carried its own tone and context.

The origins of the Los Angeles demonstrations lie in a massive, coordinated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweep earlier this month. Federal agents, described by activists as “paramilitary,” targeted dozens of undocumented workers at workplaces and public sites, such as Home Depot, a doughnut shop, and a fashion district wholesaler, reportedly making up to 330 arrests statewide, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The aggressive tactics—agents wearing masks, allegedly lacking warrants, and deploying stun grenades and tear gas—created shock within immigrant communities, the LA Times reported. Civil liberties groups condemned the methods as “oppressive and vile,” while Mayor Karen Bass accused officials of scaring residents and “disrupting basic principles of safety,” according to statements provided to the LA Times. Clashes between police and protesters escalated, including attempts to block the 101 Freeway and confrontations near the Metropolitan Detention Center, the newspaper noted.

As unrest persisted into its fifth day, Mayor Bass declared a local emergency and imposed an overnight curfew, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., covering about one square mile of downtown, citing spikes in vandalism, looting, and violence, as reported by the LA Times. Nearly 197 arrests were reported amid mounting alarm, the Times confirmed. In a dramatic show of force, the federal government deployed over 4,000 National Guard troops and some 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles—yet California officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom, contested the move and even filed suit, the LA Times added.

Chicago rises in solidarity

Simultaneously on Tuesday, June 10, Chicago’s Loop echoed the fervor of Los Angeles as more than 1,000 demonstrators, estimated to run into the thousands, gathered at Federal Plaza and Chicago Immigration Court to protest those same federal raids, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Organized by social justice groups, two simultaneous demonstrations converged downtown: one at 3 p.m. near Immigration Court (55 E. Monroe) and another at 5:30 p.m. at Federal Plaza (230 S. Dearborn), the Sun-Times detailed.

The tone was overwhelmingly peaceful, though one red vehicle briefly plowed into the crowd on Monroe Street, injuring several, including a 66-year-old woman whose arm was broken, according to witnesses cited by the Sun-Times. Though Chicago police arrested roughly 17 participants later that evening, some facing felony charges for aggravated battery on officers or property damage, the majority of attendees stayed orderly, the newspaper confirmed. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the crowd’s discipline and encouraged further civic engagement, urging Chicagoans to “rise up” in defense of immigrant communities as part of a broader “No Kings Day of Defiance” expected over the weekend, as reported by the Sun-Times.

While the LA protests erupted amid direct raids and law enforcement escalation, Chicago’s were deliberate expressions of solidarity, explicitly aimed at opposing the federal response in California. As organizers noted and Mayor Johnson affirmed, Chicago protesters oppose what they see as cruel, indiscriminate enforcement and the militarization of domestic immigration policy, according to statements published in the Sun-Times.