By the velocity editorial board

ICE spotted in Bridgeview.

ICE spotted in Blue Island. 

ICE spotted in Oak Lawn. 

Burbank. Harlem. Cicero. Tinley Park. Cermak Road. 95th. The Walmart. Another Chicago public school. The Dollar Store down the street. 

This isn’t protection. This is a full-scale invasion. 

They blend in with unmarked cars, camouflage masks, tactical vests, quiet radios… and then someone disappears. Life goes on for most, though, as if nothing happened.  We are living in a time when ICE sightings have become as casual as the weather.

Raids are routine. 

We scroll past kidnappings like they’re just another reel.

Civil rights are being thrown out the window. 

The Constitution completely tossed aside. 

Due process is no more. 

ICE agents are no longer just enforcing immigration policies. They are kidnapping and disappearing American citizens, despite promises from the administration that they are only going after “the worst of the worst.” 

ICE just flashed a gun at a pregnant woman in her car. 

ICE has tackled a 79-year-old car wash owner, pressing their knees to his back. 

ICE arrested the father of a dependent teenage daughter fighting cancer.

ICE pushed a WGN producer to the ground and detained her.

ICE dragged out naked children and loaded them into U-Haul vans. 

And now, they are in your backyard. 

They are apprehending children, neighbors, co-workers, teachers. Did they seem like the “worst of the worst”? This is OUR home we are talking about.  It’s not just enforcement. It’s intimidation, and it’s working. Fear is the new policy. 

If they are not there, then they are watching. Scaring students, keeping minorities at home. 

Professors are anxious for their students. Students are forced to carry papers and scared to go to class. Journalists are being physically attacked. Fear is sweeping through our homes and places of learning and shaping this dystopian fascist landscape right before our eyes. 

They are the true aliens here—invading privacy through our homes, schools, neighborhoods. 

People dismissed the idea that the rhetoric Trump spewed during last year’s election cycle was comparable to that of fascistic regimes of the past. Voters downplayed the words that came right from his mouth. 

Now, he is threatening to arrest Gov. JB Pritzker along with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Operation Midway Blitz” is not just a headline for ICE in Illinois. That is the actual title the U.S. Department of Homeland Security gave to the ICE operation, with no communication to Pritzker about running it. It’s the kind of title given to a battle in World War II. And this battle is happening at full force. 

Every day, another headline reeks of dangerous, highly fascist actions as authoritarianism blankets this country hour by hour.

And the people seem desensitized. We’re watching democracy erode in real time and treating it like background noise. The news media isn’t covering it–-at least not to the full extent that everyday people with a cell phone can. We live in a time where information can be sent faster than ever… And we aren’t talking about it. 

Portland and Chicago might be the latest of ICE’s targets, but they won’t be the last. Not unless we take a stand. Not unless we meaningfully organize against Trump’s rising autocratic government.

“No Kings” has gotten people out and impassioned, but something more is needed to create real change. We don’t have to remain powerless. Change can start with small, everyday actions. Saying hi to your neighbors, going out and talking to people. These things are as important as any other political act.

Start with your classmates. 

Talk to your co-workers. 

Spread your words.

Create community.

Because silence, isolation, division and fear are their favorite weapons. 

Studies reveal that the lack of public “third places”–cafes, libraries, parks–is accelerating the destruction of democracy. And it’s true. People are not talking enough. When people stop gathering, power stops being challenged. Government overreach and surveillance is at an all-time high, and as communities separate, fascism accelerates. 

Knowing your rights is not enough.

Reciting Constitutional amendments is not enough.

Being an American citizen is not enough.

If you fit ICE’s vague profile of targets and they apprehend you, they have full authority to ignore the basic rights outlined in various articles of the Constitution. They don’t need a reason. They just need an opportunity. 

With the power-hungry regime that’s in charge, long-standing laws and articles can be ignored. But the people cannot.

The truth is, fascism fears a united front. 

We, the people, already have the power, but we need to remember it. More than 7 million people came out for the “No Kings” rallies across the country on Oct. 18. But that has only shown a fraction of what can be done when people get together and start talking, start organizing. 

Organizing isn’t abstract–not here, not in Chicago, not at Moraine Valley. It’s local and tangible. Thankfully, we live in a city that breathes community. It’s in our block parties, our corner stores, our protests that fill the Loop. Connection is our rebellion. 

So what’s stopping you from caring? 

From doing something about it? 

How many more kids have to be stripped away from their family for you to repost a resource on your story? 

How many more elderly tackled for you to go against your algorithm and share a post to the groupchat saying, “This isn’t normal”?

Stop waiting for someone else to care first.  

Forget that two-party noise, because justice doesn’t play sides.

Participate in protests around the area.

Go to the rallies.

Join activism clubs.

Use immigration safety resources. 

Show up for your community before the vans do.

The cold is spreading, but we must not freeze—we need to fight back. 

If democracy is on thin ice, then let us, EVERY single one of us, be the warmth that breaks through.

Know your rights: The Moraine Valley library has put together this guide with resources from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

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The editorial board of Velocity consists of student editors Emily Stephens, Sean Fei, Manny Orozco and Marel Doon. The board comes to a consensus on the publication’s position on important issues, and a writer is assigned to capture that position in an editorial.

Velocity is written and edited by students of Moraine Valley Community College, and they are solely responsible for its editorial policy and content. Velocity does not represent the views of Moraine Valley Community College or its faculty, staff or administration.