Illinois Public Radio

Statewide: Immigrant communities on edge

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Sean Crawford

Published January 30, 2025 at 2:39 PM CST

President Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan meets with federal agents in Chicago before immigration actions.

On this episode, we visit some immigrant communities where many are too scared to send their kids to school or go out to eat. They are worried about authorities apprehending them as part of the Trump Administration's mass deportation effort.

We also hear what some advocates are doing to help families.

This hour:

* Michael Puente takes us to a mostly Mexican area of Chicago to gauge the level of fear.

* Maria Gardner Lara explains how some residents are supporting affected families.

* Steve Gossard, a former Curator of Special Collections at Illinois State University's Milner Library, discusses Illinois' circus history.

A 1961 circus route book from the Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. Circus

* Peter Medlin stops at the Hinckley-Big Rock School District to find out how a new "phone free" policy is working out.

* Stephen Kallao bring us to the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music in Chicago.

* Harvest Public Media's Rachel Cramer reports on a lawsuit that could undo a decades-old law protecting wetlands on farm property.

* Mike Davis of WBEZ goes behind the scenes of a new play from the Mud Theater Project. It was created bv a group of formerly incarcerated men.

* Emily Hays has details on a legislative proposal that could impact the prison population in Illinois.