Manny Ramos

Protesters Keep Getting Arrested At Broadview By State Police Despite Promise To Protect Free Speech About 80 protesters have been arrested at the ICE facility since barricades went up. Protesters and legal observers say the arrests run counter to the state’s stated goals of ensuring public safety an...

Officials have revealed little about what led to the arrests. State Police haven’t fulfilled records requests for incident reports. Court records don’t include many details & few of the protesters arrested have appeared in court.

@blockclubchi.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/12/p...

“This is my ward! This is my ward!” Rodriguez (22nd) chirps back as Sigcho-Lopez (25th) grills Gov., saying, “the State Police are arresting protesters.”

“They’re protecting our protesters,” Gov. JB Pritzker responds.

Two Illinois moms among millions facing SNAP cutoff as pantries say: ‘We cannot meet this need’ Nearly 2 million people in Illinois may lose food assistance starting Saturday because of the government shutdown. The state and food pantries say they can’t match the $350 million that SNAP provides ...

Two Illinois moms among millions facing SNAP cutoff as pantries say: ‘We cannot meet this need.' From @elviamalagon.bsky.social and Casey He.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

Broadview ICE Protesters, Including Congressional Candidate, Facing Federal Conspiracy Charges Kat Abughazaleh, the Democratic congressional candidate, called the charges "yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up.”

Broadview ICE Protesters, Including Congressional Candidate, Facing Federal Conspiracy Charges blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/29/b...

Judge Blasts Border Patrol Boss Greg Bovino For Violating Excessive Force Order “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis told Bovino during a court hearing T...

Judge Blasts Border Patrol Boss Greg Bovino For Violating Excessive Force Order by @minabloom.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/28/j...

Congressional Democrats Come To Chicago To Hear About Immigration Enforcement Blitz Some local elected officials abruptly left the proceedings because masked federal immigration agents were again detaining people across the city.

The Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement surge brought Congressional Democrats to Chicago on Friday, then forced an abrupt exit by some local officials from a public hearing on the topic. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/24/c... via @blockclubchi.bsky.social

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

The Chicago area companies making money directly off the federal immigration "blitz" in many city neighborhoods and suburbs blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Thank you, Lynda!

Big props to Block Club and the reporter @mannyramos.bsky.social. This was such an important contribution for us to understand what is happening in our city rn.

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

Great reporting from @mannyramos.bsky.social: "One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powered guns."

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Great reporting here by Manny on the many companies that benefitted from the ICE surge in Chicago.

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified

Among the awards: A suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5M in 2 weeks for pepper balls + air-powered guns

@blockclubchi.bsky.social @mannyramos.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

Federal agencies paid $1.5 million to a local nonlethal weapons manufacturer in Chicago for air-powered guns and pepper balls. It also paid $7.3 million to a downtown real estate company to relocate ICE agents leading up to Operation Midway Blitz. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Emergency alert: Belmont Cragin stay home October 3, 2025 Icirr eyes on ice update: since approximately 11am today the rapid response network verified the presence of federal agents in Belmont Cragin, zip code 60639 at Walmart on diversey and kilPatrick, Cicero and north, Home Depot at Cicero and armitage We recommend community members to stay home, multiple arrests have been made. Ice is still in the area. To report any possible ice activity, or if you know someone who has been detained please call the family support hotline at 1-855-435-7693

ICE all across the northwest side of Chicago with hotspots in Hermosa and Belmont Cragin. There is a recent development in Logan square as well around Central Park and armitage where videos and eyewitnesses are sharing tear gas thrown at protesters trying to intervene.

Illinois health officials recommend COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, contradicting feds The new guidance follows an executive order signed by Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this month aimed at expanding access for COVID-19 shots and other vaccines across the state.

Illinois takes a jab at CDC chicago.suntimes.com/health/2025/...

Sorry, Trump: Chicago Is Not The 'Murder Capital Of The World' — Not Even Close, Data Shows Chicago has been a political punching bag for decades, and while there is crime here, statements about it being a "hellhole" are just plain false. “There are just a lot of cities that have higher homi...

Chicago isn’t a “hellhole.” And funds Trump might use to deploy National Guard troops here would be better spent investing in long-term social-safety-net programs already helping reduce the city’s violent crime, experts say. blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/05/s... via @blockclubchi.bsky.social

A DOJ lawyer accused Harvard of ‘indifference to antisemitism.’ As a Harvard undergrad he wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective. - The Boston Globe Michael Velchik once also told a peer that "Mein Kampf" was among his favorite recent reads.

New story w/ @hilaryburns.bsky.social:
A DOJ lawyer accused Harvard of ‘indifference to antisemitism.’ As a Harvard undergrad he wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

Some Call It The ‘Death Hospital’: Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems. Outstanding work from @mannyramos.bsky.social and @blockclubchi.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

This investigation required digging through thousands of pages of public records and interviewing dozens of people. It examined our health care system through this one hospital but it isn't the only one operating like this. I hope you give it a read.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Staff and patient's greatest fear happened in 2022. When a 27-year-old woman who fainted came to the hospital by an ambulance struggling to breathe. She was never medically assessed and died while in the ER's waiting area.

Then there was the patient experience. One patient said her mother's tracheostomy was clogged and struggling to breathe. She sat waiting for hours before her daughter demanded immediate help. Then, nurses tried plugging the suction machine in the wall but there was no power.

Nurse said they sometimes have to feed patients themselves since the cafeteria sometimes runs out of food. Another ER Tech said one day they only had eggs to feed patients. He quit shortly after that.

Staff shared stories that they believe are placing patient in danger. This includes an ER tech who was asked to do medication pushes and on one occasion doing a jugular IV on a patient. These things go beyond what they were license to do.

We examined years of Medicare Cost reports to try and understand the health of the hospital. And what experts told us is the hospital appears to be in a "financial death spiral"

These records painted a picture of declining patient volumes and decreasing revenue.

Yet, in at least one grant, the hospital said it was using the money to help renovate a behavioral/mental health unit at the facility. But as reported this WGNTV, the hospital seemingly stiffed the contractors hired to do it. wgntv.com/video/northw...

This comes as the hospital has received at least $75 million in state and fed taxpayer grants since 2020. Most government agencies won't say if an audit was conducted of where the money went while one agency said the hospital has not complied with requests to review documents.

Doctors and nurses have tried to perform miracles when medical gloves, thermometers, saline flushes, and other essential supplies and equipment were scarce. The hospital has 17 x-ray machines down — one of the most in the state.

Beds have been broken. Air conditioners have stopped working. Elevators were deemed unsafe and shut down. A parking garage was condemned. Water pipes burst. Biohazard waste and normal garbage cross contaminate.

Community First Medical Center is a for-profit safety-net hospital in Portage Park that provides care to a large population of low-income patients. The hospital has developed a reputation among the neighborhood that have residents scared to go there for care.