AILSA CHANG, HOST:
No Kings protests are demonstrations against the policies of the Trump administration, and they are scheduled across the country tomorrow. In Chicago, they will be happening as ICE steps up immigration enforcement in the city. Jessica Pupovac reports.
JESSICA PUPOVAC, BYLINE: The first No Kings march drew a massive crowd to Chicago's downtown as people raised their voices against Trump's efforts to deport people in the country without legal status.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here.
PUPOVAC: This time around, organizer Denise Poloyac hopes even more people will join the protest.
DENISE POLOYAC: Some of them are going to be angry, and some of them are going to be joyous because we also know that we need to have joy in this moment of protest.
PUPOVAC: Poloyac is with Indivisible Chicago, one of the groups organizing the protest. She says the organization will have about 150 volunteer marshals at the demonstration.
POLOYAC: We have this saying within our marshal teams and our safety teams that - who keeps us safe? We keep us safe. And in Chicago, we will keep us safe. We just want them gone.
PUPOVAC: Lately, clashes between Chicago residents and ICE agents have become more frequent as the agents ramp up arrests, mostly in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations but even downtown. Videos show ICE agents using tear gas on residential streets and outside of schools and people, including citizens and at least one journalist, being slammed to the ground.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: You're a fascist. I hope you're proud of yourself. I hope your mom's proud of you (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Sir. What's your name? What's your name?
DEBBIE BROCKMAN: Debbie Brockman...
PUPOVAC: The Trump administration has denounced activists in Chicago and other cities, accusing them of interfering with ICE's work and endangering the lives of immigration officers. Protesters say the arrests ICE make are unnecessarily aggressive and agents indiscriminately target anyone that looks Latino. The confrontations between ICE and residents happen throughout the city, in nearby suburban neighborhoods and outside the ICE processing center. It's located about 12 miles from Chicago's downtown, where the No Kings march will be taking place.
The last rally in June was peaceful. Organizers say this one will be, too, and they've been preparing. Just over the past week, the American Civil Liberties Union held a virtual training on deescalation and protest safety. Another group of about 50 people gathered outside the ICE facility to discuss Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. And The People's Lobby nonprofit held a workshop on nonviolent civil disobedience. Board member Cate Readling led that training.
CATE READLING: If I could do it every single night of the week, I would right now. Like, this is a moment that we all need to be in formation. This is a moment that we need to reach out and lock arms, all of us together.
PUPOVAC: LaTanya Lane is a trainer with People's Action, and she says it's important to remember her group's mission - to inspire people to join, quote, "a joyous rebellion."
LATANYA LANE: I'm not a person who comes off as rageful, but I am furious about what is happening in our city right now.
PUPOVAC: And she thinks the way ICE is operating right now is by design.
LANE: The state, again, is dangling really tasty bait in front of a community who is scared and angry and rightfully so. And if they can provoke violence from crowds, they get to control the narrative about what the problem is. They get to control the narrative about what the proper response is.
PUPOVAC: She says the people won't back down, though, and will offer their own narrative about the Trump administration's actions at tomorrow's No Kings rally. For NPR News, I'm Jessica Pupovac in Chicago. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.