On a freezing Tuesday morning after Chicago’s snowiest November day on record, residents of a building that made international headlines after a federal immigration raid earlier this year decried a recent court-ordered mandate to vacate their homes at 7500 South Shore Drive.
The five-story apartment building with its decrepit infrastructure and scarce electricity was the site of a late-night raid in September that was among the most infamous moments in President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz. Now its residents, who last month formed the South Shore Tenants Union, face the possibility of being thrown out of their homes within days.
The Circuit Court of Cook County granted an order on Nov. 24 from Wells Fargo Bank to have residents at 7500 S. Shore Drive to vacate by Dec. 5 for those with valid leases and all other occupants were instructed to leave by Dec. 12 of this year.
The South Shore Tenants Union, supported by the Metropolitan Tenants Organization and Southside Together, said they were blindsided by the court order, which was granted without tenant input and leaves members “scrambling to find housing in bitterly cold weather.”
“This is my community and I should not be forced out especially at a time like this when it’s literally freezing outside,” said Travaris Ivy.
The two-year resident said he saw the note ordering residents to vacate posted on the wall the day before Thanksgiving.
Ivy’s apartment had no electricity since around mid-November and the food in his fridge was rotting, he told the Tribune.
“We still don’t got no heat, no electricity, my light is out, I have to stay with relatives just because it’s too cold for me to stay here,” Ivy said at the news conference.
Ivy said he had not been offered any relocation assistance to date.
The union is asking for $7,500 in relocation assistance provided 30 days before the scheduled moveout and paid by the building’s management firm Friedman Communities, the city of Chicago, Cook County or the state of Illinois.
The union also asked Friedman Communities to take immediate steps to repair the building’s heat, electricity, elevator and sewage, among other maintenance, as well as hire 24-hour security.
According to the union, the building has 37 known occupants and several wheelchair users are unable to move since the elevators don’t work.
“Whether the judge thinks the building is safe or not, it’s less safe for people to be homeless in the snow on the holidays,” said Jonah Karsh, a housing organizer.
Friedman Communities was recently appointed manager of the apartment building, after a legal dispute between lender Wells Fargo and Trinity Flood, the owner of the building property, and the city had proposed a moveout by Dec. 12, according to earlier Tribune reporting.
A note posted on the building wall stated that representatives from Friedman Real Estate Management would be at the property answering questions and providing additional moveout and relocation support between Dec. 1 and Dec. 5.
Asked about the tenants’ demands Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson said his administration “has been working with these tenants for some time.” He added that the city would find “dignified housing” for residents using Chicago Housing Authority vouchers and keep residents safe before the moveout.
“My administration is working overtime with the organizers of these tenants to ensure that they have a place of comfort and a place that they can afford and feel good about,” he said.
Johnson did not take a clear stance on the Dec. 12 deadline. Instead, he promised to “work with expediency” to relocate residents.
“If there’s an opportunity to work with the court to provide maximum time for comfort and placement, of course, we’ll explore that,” he said.
Inside the 130-unit apartment building a dog and a cat roamed the complex moving through half open doors and pools of water on the hallway floors. These same floors were trampled by immigration agents on Sept. 30 when the South Shore apartment building became the center of a militarized raid that left many residents traumatized.
That day, agents smashed windows, broke down doors and zip-tied the hands of residents in a controversial middle-of-the night operation. The federal government said it was searching for Tren de Aragua gang members.
A federal judge has ordered the release of at least six Venezuelans arrested that night amid allegations that their detainment violated a consent degree limiting warrantless detainments. Those six individuals have little to no criminal history and no apparent ties to any gang. They remain in custody pending the federal government’s appeal.
The Tribune reported exclusively in October that no public criminal charges have been filed against anyone in connection with the raid.
Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday called the building’s raid “abominable” but said supporting the tenants was a city issue, as opposed to a state one.
“This is a local endeavor that has obviously state importance and national importance in some ways, and so we’ll continue to monitor that and be responsive to the city as it needs assistance in helping those tenants,” Pritzker said. “The tenants of that building are deserving of attention for the concerns that they have.”
Amid the snow on Tuesday, shivering unionizers and residents, some wrapped in blankets, interrupted each other and chanted “That ain’t right!” in show of support. Meanwhile, a truck with the logo Dawgs Vacant Property Security, a firm that provides door and window guards for vacant property, unloaded what appeared to be a white board and took it into the building.
Resident Samantha Stamps wept.
“I have never been through nothing like this in my life,” Stamps said between tears.
“This is bad,” she said. “I can’t even have my grandkids over and they was here with me every weekend.”
Chicago Tribune’s Olivia Olander and Jake Sheridan contributed.