Case Studies—Chicago Landscaping Firms Affected by ICE Raids—Sun-Times

Ahead of snow and freezing temperatures blasting the U.S. this weekend, here's my article last month for Chicago Sun-Times. I spotlight the strain of ICE raids on landscapers -- who also shovel snow and salt icy streets. If you know of any organizations/companies whose workers have been affected by ICE raids, please reach out. Full story here: https://lnkd.in/eEwvQ987 "The aggressive federal deportation campaign in Chicago could lead to challenges and delays with snow removal, due to the negative impact on landscaping companies and their immigrant workers. “The people who do summer landscaping do snow removal in winter,” said Alexandra Sossa, CEO of the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project in Chicago. “They can’t work; they are being deported or afraid.” ... In Chicago, a Patch Landscapingworker was tending a yard in Rogers Park in October when he was detained and whisked away by masked agents in a Jeep. At Asimow Landscaping in Chicago, nearly one-third of its 25 laborers stopped coming to work this fall due to fear of ICE raids. “We have had to combine routes and have crews doing 1 1/2 to two times their ordinary work,” said ownerLarry Asimow(pictured, second from left). “Snow work is very stressful. It needs to happen as quickly as possible, and being short staffed just compounds the ordinary stress.” ... Threats of ICE raids resulted in Asimow Landscaping doing less work than normal and earning less revenue. This is “without a doubt” the toughest period, Asimow said, since starting landscaping work in 1994. “Even more than the impact to our bottom line and our customers’ satisfaction has been the psychological and emotional strain on everyone. We, like many small businesses, are in a way a family. Many of our workers have been with us for 20-plus years. Some of their children are now working for us,” Asimow said. “The stress of having to make the call every day whether or not to put people in danger by having them come to work and then monitoring the actions, locations and sightings of ICE … is incredibly draining,” he said. “These things were inconceivable, up until a couple months ago. Frankly, we are all exhausted and living under this type of stress is taking its toll in many ways.” Asimow had considered retiring because of the recent challenges with ICE. But his financial adviser said he needs to keep working. Asimow also feels a responsibility to the employees who have supported him for decades. “I would never want to abandon them and leave them to find other work,” he said. https://lnkd.in/eEwvQ987 Photo: Anthony Vasquez/Sun-Times