As President Donald Trump makes good on his promise to use force in Chicago by federal immigration agents through “Operation Midway Blitz,” some tenant advocates are calling on the city to pause evictions.
Numerous reports of tear gas and pepper spray use, car crashes and arrests have emerged in Chicago and its suburbs since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.
ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol’s tactics have resulted in “many tenants who are so afraid to leave their apartments that they skip work,” All-Chicago Tenant Alliance said in an October social media post warning of an increase in eviction activity. “This will only decrease tenants’ wages, making it even harder to pay rent.”
The organization supports an eviction moratorium as a public safety measure, which it said is not without precedent. Illinois enacted an eviction moratorium from 2020 to the fall of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said at a news conference last month that he is willing to look into the proposal, Block Club Chicago reported.
The Los Angeles Tenants Union has also pushed for a local moratorium, linking ICE activity to evictions. Los Angeles County has taken steps toward an eviction pause.
In October, the county passed an emergency proclamation concerning immigration raids, which was tied to a 62% plunge in average weekly earnings for immigrants, CBS News reported. That emergency declaration allows county supervisors to enact an eviction moratorium.
The LA County Board of Supervisors in September approved nearly $30 million in rent assistance to immigrant families “destabilized by federal immigration enforcement” along with victims of the January wildfires.
LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who has advocated for a potential eviction pause, said ICE’s tactics are “forcing people to choose between staying safe and staying housed.”
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has praised increased Border Patrol and ICE activities in Los Angeles, stating in August that they are delivering on Trump’s promise to “remove the worst of the worst.”
