‘I think people are just scared’
Days before and after for 40-year-old Cecilia Romero Halloween Not just any holiday. This is the time of year when she can take her kids trick-or-treating to the neighborhood she’s from and connect with her own past, which she went to celebrate as a little girl.
He remembers years filled with streets filled with families and children, street vendors selling food and cempasúchil, marigolds placed by loved ones on altars for the Day of the Dead — or Día de los Muertos — from November 1 to 2.
But this year things are very, very different; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids It’s been happening in and around Chicago since early September.
“It’s clear this is because of ICE,” Romero said. Referring to Illinois governor JB Pritzker’s failed request that the Trump administration halt enforcement operations against immigrants for Halloween weekend, which begins Friday, he added: “I think people are just scared. It’s really sad that kids aren’t allowed to have fun on a day when they’re supposed to have fun.” [kids].”
Relating to: Illinois advocates file lawsuit over ‘torturous’ conditions at Chicago-area ICE facility
In Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and Día de los Muertos collectively play an important role in bringing the community as a whole to celebrate, mourn, and pray. This year, the celebrations were much more muted due to ICE enforcement and raids. In years past, the corridors of 18th Street in Pilsen and 26th Street in Little Village would be filled with people. Those same hallways were much emptier for hours on Friday as Halloween weekend kicked off.
Before Pritzker’s request that families be allowed to celebrate Halloween, federal agents used pepper spray during an incident in Old Irving Park on Oct. 25. Incident that led to the cancellation of the Halloween parade. ICE operations in Evanston got out of control Friday, according to neighbors near Chute middle school. Federal agents arrested three US citizens using pepper spray. NBC 5 ChicagoA lawsuit was filed alleging “violence against law enforcement officers”.
Marco DeSantiago, 49, grew up on Chicago’s South Side, but has been taking his children to Pilsen for Halloween celebrations for the past 12 years. And he said the changing tone of entertainment this time around was striking.
“I think the biggest difference this year is that you can just feel it. [the] sadness,” DeSantiago said. “A gloom we felt personally, I could just see [it] on people’s faces. This is not a happy situation.
“You kind of do this to keep it going for the kids, but I think everyone is feeling pretty sad and upset.”
He said in recent years, more businesses and people have had their doors open to trick-or-treaters, more street vendors are on the street, and the atmosphere is happier and more celebratory.
Instead, he said it felt more like a serious incident, adding: “It’s definitely a different feeling.”
The football fields of the nearby Catholic church and St Procopius school featured elaborately decorated altars bearing photos of deceased loved ones during the annual Día de los Muertos celebration. Tributes had their favorite snacks and possessions: rosary beads or bags, even Pond’s face cream, and in some cases the iconic orange marigold substituted for a plastic alternative, votive candles, decorated skulls, and many depictions of the Virgin Mary.
However, it was obvious that the attendance of those who went was lower than normal.
“It would be packed from afternoon until the end, like people would be coming in and out, and so you could definitely see a shift or change – but I don’t think it has anything to do with the current situation [lack of] “The motivation or the love of the holiday. I think it’s more part of the fear of what’s going on in the city, in the country right now,” said Isabel Hernández, 27, sitting next to an intricate altar for her grandmother, Lorenza Hernández.
Hernández feels particularly sad for people who are grieving a recent loss but don’t feel comfortable or safe enough to celebrate with others or participate in traditions because of ICE raids.
“I don’t think grieving will ever go away, but I do think over time you have to heal… or be able to control it a little bit more,” she said. “I can’t imagine what people who have recently lost someone must be going through… seeing people celebrating and then not being able to celebrate with others. I think it’s really hard.”
Hernández’s mother, Cecilia, said it was important for her and her loved ones to continue their traditional celebrations despite the pervasive sadness.
“One of the questions was: ‘Should we hold this event?’” Cecilia, 52, said. “For me personally, I said, ‘Yeah, let’s take it,’ because we don’t want what’s going on there with ICE. [to] Take this away from us.”
Romero, on the other hand, wants to continue celebrating as before. “I hope ICE leaves,” he said. “We don’t want them here. We don’t need them here. You know, our city and I think our country are doing pretty well before they come.”
