Chicago sat frozen in more ways than one on Tuesday, as its migrant community huddled in fear waiting for immigration raids that had yet to materialize by lunchtime, when temperatures in the Windy City dipped below zero.

Groups working with Illinois’ approximately two million immigrants, both legal and illegal, told Newsweek that despite warnings of imminent, large-scale ICE enforcements, the cold weather and the reporting of the raids in the media had, so far at least, resulted in no action.

Newsweek reached out to ICE and Chicago City Hall for comment via email Tuesday morning.

Why It Matters

Before President Donald Trump returned to the White House, reports circulated Friday night that the city would be one of the first targets for his promised mass deportations. As a self-proclaimed sanctuary city and famously liberal metropolis, Chicago welcomed thousands of immigrants who had crossed the southwest border from spring 2022 through early 2024.

What To Know

On Tuesday morning, with Lake Michigan’s shoreline covered in ice and the normally bustling streets of The Loop eerily quiet as residents and commuters stayed indoors, groups representing immigrants were meeting and working together, anticipating any ICE action. Some said they were suspicious that the apparent “leak” of the raids may have been little more than a scare tactic.

Newsweek understands that multiple restaurants and other businesses in the city, including along the famous Magnificent Mile, were struggling to open as migrants, fearful of federal agents, chose to stay at home.

“There’s over 586,000 people that work in the food service/restaurant industry here in the state of Illinois. We estimate half of them are immigrants,” Sam Toia, CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, told Newsweek Tuesday. “The hospitality industry would not exist without immigrants.”

Toia said that his organization tells its members to make sure employees have documentation when they hire them, but that he also insists that workers know their rights if ICE comes knocking, as he has for decades during past enforcement actions.

Chicago was one of a host of Democrat-run cities, including New York, that border czar Tom Homan had previously said he wanted to target once Trump was back in the White House, making a promise to do so back in December.

Republicans from Trump on down — as well as a majority of Democrats, according to some recent polls — have taken issue with the large numbers of migrants being welcomed and supported in sanctuary cities, as many had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. GOP governors, namely Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, bussed many of them to those cities to make a political point that, arguably, worked better than they could have hoped.

Chicago’s mayor told NPR that city officials and agencies would not help the Trump administration with its mass deportation plan, saying that it was their duty to protect immigrants’ rights regardless of their legal status.

What People Are Saying

Sam Sanchez, owner of Chicago-Based Third Coast Hospitality and National Restaurant Association board member, told Newsweek: “The number of voters who came out to vote from the Hispanic community were overwhelmingly for President Trump, and we just want elected officials to serve their constituents.”

Rebecca Shi, Executive Director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, told Newsweek: “Over the last 40 years, in some ways it’s been much easier to come here illegally than legally, and for people that have been here fore decades, working, paying taxes, there is no legal way for them to become legal. So we do believe this is a huge opportunity for President Trump to land a deal that secures our order but also fixes our broken immigration system.”

Toia, the restaurant industry leader, speaking to Newsweek: “Trump ran on bringing down inflation. If you do mass deportation, you’re going to have double-digit inflation. This country will see inflation like it hasn’t seen since the late 70s, early 80s.”

What’s Next

With ICE keeping its plans quiet Tuesday, migrants uncertain about their future in the U.S. continue to watch and wait for any news of workplace raids or targeted actions. Groups including the ACLU and World Relief told Newsweek that they were also watching and waiting, ready to call out any overstepping by agents and support migrants where they can.