For Cecilia Romero, 40, the days before and after Halloween are not just any holiday. It’s the time of year when you can take your kids trick-or-treating in the neighborhood you’re from, and a connection to your own past when you went out to celebrate as a child.
Remember years of streets filled with families and children, with street vendors selling food and cempasúchil, the marigolds that loved ones place on altars for the Day of the Dead, November 1-2.
But this year, things are very, very different, due to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that have been happening in and around Chicago since early September.
“It’s clearly ICE’s fault,” Romero said. Referring to how JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, had unsuccessfully requested that the Trump administration pause immigration enforcement operations for the Halloween weekend that began Friday, he added: “I think people are just scared. It’s kind of sad that kids aren’t allowed to have fun on a day when they (kids) should be.”
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In the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods of Chicago, Halloween, All Saints’ Day on November 1, and All Souls’ Day collectively play an important role in bringing the community together to celebrate, mourn, and pray as a whole. This year, amid ICE raids and checkpoints, the celebrations were much quieter. At any time in the past few years, the hallways on 18th Street in Pilsen and 26th Street in Little Village would be packed with people. Those same hallways were much emptier for hours at a time when Halloween weekend began on Friday this time around.
Prior to Pritzker’s call to allow families to celebrate Halloween, federal agents deployed pepper spray Oct. 25 in Old Irving Park in an incident that led to the cancellation of a Halloween parade. On Friday, ICE operations in Evanston got out of control, according to neighbors, near Chute High School. Federal agents used pepper spray and arrested three American citizens, according to NBC 5 Chicago, on charges of “violence against law enforcement.”
Marco DeSantiago, 49, grew up on Chicago’s South Side, but has taken his children to Pilsen for Halloween festivities for the past 12 years. And he said the change in tone of the revelry this time was surprising.
“I think the big difference this year is that you could feel the sadness,” DeSantiago said. “It’s sad, we feel it personally, I could see it in people’s faces. It’s not a joyful occasion.
“You’re doing it to keep the kids functioning, but I think everyone’s feeling pretty sad and upset.”
He said that in years past, more businesses and people had their doors open for trick-or-treating: there were more street vendors on the streets and the atmosphere was happier and more festive.
Instead, it felt more like a solemn occasion, he said, adding, “It’s definitely a different feeling.”
On the nearby soccer fields owned by St. Procopius Catholic Church and School, an annual Day of the Dead celebration featured the usual altars elaborately decorated with photographs of deceased loved ones. Tributes had their favorite snacks and items they owned: rosaries or bags, or even Pond’s face cream and the iconic orange marigolds, in some cases replaced with a plastic alternative, along with votive candles, decorated skulls and many representations of the Virgin Mary.
However, for those who attended, lower attendance than usual was evident.
“It would be packed from the afternoon until the end, like there were people coming and going, so you can definitely see a change, but I don’t think that has to do with the (lack of) motivation or love for the holiday,” said Isabel Hernández, 27, who was sitting next to an intricate altar for her grandmother, Lorenza Hernández. “I think it’s more part of the fear at this moment of… what’s happening in the city, in the countryside.”
Hernandez feels particularly sad for people who may be grieving a recent loss but, due to ICE raids, may not feel comfortable or safe enough to celebrate with others or participate in traditions.
“I don’t think grief is ever going to go away, but I think you have to heal over time… or be able to control it a little more,” he said. “I can’t even imagine, for those who recently lost someone… what they’re experiencing watching people celebrate and then not being able to celebrate with others. I think that’s really hard.”
Hernández’s mother, Cecilia, said it was important for her and her loved ones to continue their traditional celebrations despite the sadness that overwhelmed her.
“One of the questions was, ‘Should we hold this event?’” Cecilia, 52, said. “For me personally, I thought, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ because we don’t want what’s happening with ICE to take that away from us.”
For Romero, he just wants to continue celebrating as before. “Hopefully, ICE will go away,” he said. “We don’t want them here. We don’t need them here. You know, our city – and I think our country – has done pretty well without them coming in.”