Resisting the deportation machine

Residents of Chicago neighborhood are blowing the whistle on ICE agents

- GUSTAVO ARELLANO

SCOTT OLSON Getty Images RESIDENTS watch federal agents driving in a caravan through the Chicago neighborhood of Brighton Park.

The moment I got out of my Uber ride in this West Side Chicago neighborhood, the noise was everywhere.

Honks. Cursing. Screeching tires. Revving engines. Whistles. So many whistles.

Immigration authorities were sweeping through — again. And people weren't having it.

Old, young, Latino, Black and white, folks shouted warnings from cars and from businesses like a game of Telephone across 26th Street, the heart of this historic Latino community. One of them was Eric Vandeford, who glanced in every direction for any sign of la migra.

"We all surrounded them earlier trying to get someone and they just left," the 32-year-old said. He looked down 26th. "I gotta go," he snapped and jogged off.

I arrived at 9:30 in the morning hoping to grab breakfast before interviewing Baltazar Enriquez.

He's president of the Little Village Community Council, a longstanding nonprofit that has shifted its mission from organizing food drives and fighting against environmental racism to face off against Trump's deportation machine.

Instead, I found myself in a chase to keep up with immigration agents.

Over the last two months, la migra has swept throughout Chicago but has swung its hammer with gusto on Little Village, known as La Villita by residents and considered the Mexican heart of the city. Imagine the density of Pico-Union with the small-town feel of Boyle Heights and the fierce pride of South L.A., then mix in murals and nationally known Mexican restaurants: Carnitas Uruapan, Taqueria El Milagro.

It's a charming barrio, and it's been under siege, like many other neighborhoods in the Windy City.