Hands Off protest in downtown Chicago draws thousands criticizing Trump's policies
Alice Brandon has been crying a lot lately.
The Logan Square resident was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer at 39, and told she had a 20% chance of surviving. That was until a federally funded research program led to the creation of a drug that increased her chances by more than four times.
Now in her 50s, as she watches federal funding for medical research get axed by the Trump administration, Brandon can’t help but be distraught.
She was among the thousands who took to Daley Plaza Saturday at a “Hands Off” protest organized by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Indivisible Chicago, Equality Illinois, the Chicago Federation of Labor and others. Organizers said more than 30,000 people marched Saturday to rally against Trump and billionaire CEO Elon Musk.
It was one of more than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations planned by more than 150 groups in all 50 states, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. Several were also held in the suburbs, many in Democratic strongholds outside the city, including Joliet, Rockford, Highland Park, Lisle and others.
In downtown Arlington Heights, hundreds of protesters gathered as motorists on Northwest Highway honked in approval as they drove by.
The protesters carried signs with anti-Trump quips including, “Project 8647.”
A protest leader thanked two people who stood near the Arlington Heights Metra Station holding a trans flag, telling them he had a trans child.
The protest leader then walked along Northwest Highway yelling “Show me what democracy looks like!” Many in the crowd responded by shouting, “This is what democracy looks like!”
Kate Utica, 68, of north suburban Grayslake, said seeing the diverse, large crowd on Saturday gave her "hope and strength."
“This isn’t a women’s issue. This is a humanitarian issue for all colors and all people. I’m dismayed at how our democracy is crumbling,” Utica said.
The protests took aim at Trump's recent policy actions that have hit home in Illinois, including: the firing of thousands of federal workers, raids targeting legal citizens and immigrants, attempts to remove protections for transgender people and federal funding cuts to local health programs, medical research and city arts program. The administration has also slashed jobs overseeing the Head Start program, leaving about 28,000 children in Illinois alone — as well as their parents and caretakers — in limbo while making significant cuts to the Department of Education.
Trump’s recently announced tariffs against major U.S. trade partners roiled the stock market, which took its worst tumble this week since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sparked a global trade war.
The administration's raids targeting legal citizens and immigrants are concerning to Utica. Her husband is an immigrant from Nicaragua, so she's worried he could be profiled and arrested — and being of Mexican descent herself, the U.S. citizen is also worried about getting targeted. But more immediately, she's seen tens of thousands of dollars of her retirement fund disappear.
“Since Trump has come in, I’ve lost about $85,000 [from my 401k],” Utica said. “It’s terrifying to think they can take this and my Social Security. I’d have nothing.”
Being at Saturday's protest was personal for Brandon. “I wouldn’t be here without federal funding for cancer research,” Brandon said.
Brandon is facing the impact of Trump's policies on several fronts. Her husband, an EPA worker in Chicago, has been spared from recent cuts at the agency but fears for the future as they see their retirement investments dwindle. She works for the Cook County Forest Preserves, which also receives federal funding, particularly for youth job programs and cleanup projects.
“If that money dries up, it just hurts local people,” she said.
Katie Cheatham, 41, came to the rally because she feels that “it is time that we let our voices be heard, that we will not stand for the fascism and the oligarchy taking over our federal government and letting all of that trickle down into our local and state systems.”
Cheatham, who lives in Rogers Park, said she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and that she is fearful of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back protections for queer and transgender people.
“We need to make sure that our trans brothers and sisters and our trans children are safe,” she said, “and that our rights as gay and lesbian married folks in the state of Illinois and across this country are safe under the rule of law.”
Justin Montalvo, a 22-year-old student at Roosevelt University, said he is worried about the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Department of Education.
“I'm seeing a lot of people who were set to go to graduate school, or they were set to come to college, that are now second-guessing their decision, or are seeing that their aid offers are being rescinded.”
Addison Woodward, 85, came to the rally with a cardboard sign that read “Muck Fusk.”
The Streeterville resident said he was rattled by the news of the mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this week.
“My hope moving forward would be that House Republicans and Senate Republicans begin to stand up and make it very clear that Congress has authority over a whole lot of things that Trump is trying to do,” Woodward said.
For Jazmin Orozco, who was participating in her first protest, it was important to "show up."
“Just by showing the world that we don’t agree with the Trump administration, they’ll know we don’t agree with everything that’s going on,” said the 24-year-old northwest suburban resident.
Orozco’s parents became legal residents in 2017 after being here for about two decades, and childhood fears of her parents disappearing — she said she vividly remembers rumors of an ICE raid at a local grocery store when she was 8 — have resurfaced after seeing pro-Palestinian protesters and other legal residents getting arrested and deported by ICE this year.
“I remember crying to my teacher thinking my mom would go without looking,” Orozco said. “Now that she’s documented, there’s still a little bit of fear because they might target her for how she looks or because she speaks Spanish. I can’t even imagine how kids feel now.”
Contributing: Dan Mihalopoulos/WBEZ, AP