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This Thursday, WTTW News has the latest on federal activity on Chicago’s West Side, Planned Parenthood’s uncertain future in the face of Medicaid cuts and old railcar tracks uncovered by construction crews. |
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The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in Humboldt Park is pictured on July 9, 2025. (Felix Mendez / WTTW) |
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Community leaders and officials said federal agents descended Tuesday on Humboldt Park’s National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in a show of “bullying and intimidation” of Chicago immigrants.
Chicago and Illinois officials gathered at the West Side museum Wednesday morning to decry the “government overreach” they said took place a day earlier.
Officials said more than a dozen Homeland Security vehicles arrived at the museum at around 3 p.m. Tuesday and spent approximately two hours on site without any prior notice or a valid warrant.
When museum employees asked them to leave, the agents allegedly refused, saying they were allowed to be “wherever” and “whenever” they wanted, according to Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th ward).
“We will not tolerate this type of behavior in Humboldt Park,” Fuentes said, adding that the museum’s lease makes the building and grounds private property. “ICE is not welcome.”
What happened:
Surveillance footage recorded at the museum and played for reporters Wednesday showed several vehicles entering the museum’s parking lot Tuesday afternoon as agents gathered outside.
Museum officials said their employees overheard agents speaking about plans for the upcoming Barrio Arts Festival, which will be held at the site this weekend. U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago) believes the agents’ presence Tuesday was an attempt to survey the area before potential enforcement actions.
Veronica Ocasio, the museum’s director of education and programming, said she was “upset, frustrated and literally in disbelief” after Tuesday’s incident.
“It was horrible what happened here yesterday,” she said. “This community was built on resilience, everything we have is because we fought for it. And we will continue to fight for human rights, for dignity, for transparency, for understanding.”
DHS Pushes Back:
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied that the department in any way targeted the museum, stating instead that its Chicago’s Financial Crimes Task Force “staged and held a quick briefing in the Museum’s parking lot in advance of an enforcement action related to a narcotics investigation.”
“Once again, the media and Sanctuary City politicians are shamefully peddling a false narrative in an attempt to demonize our ICE enforcement agents, who are already facing a 700% surge in assaults again (sic) them,” McLaughlin said in an emailed statement. |
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Planned Parenthood sign. (WTTW News) |
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Trump’s tax and budget bill, which was recently signed into law, aims to significantly cut Medicaid and federal Medicaid payments to reproductive health care providers. According to Planned Parenthood of Illinois Vice President of Patient Services Emily Glover, It is “devastating” and “attacks the most vulnerable patients.”
“People who live in rural areas, people who are living in poverty, people of color, immigrants, people in LGBTQ+ communities, young people,” Glover said, listing those who would be most impacted by cuts. “People who already have a lot of barriers to accessing health care, in general, let alone sexual and reproductive health care.”
Nearly 30,000, or more than 40%, Planned Parenthood of Illinois patients use Medicaid to access health care services at its health centers, according to the organization. Without Medicaid, leaders at the organization said it would need $16 million annually to continue providing services at its current level.
“Losing significant funding, always, is a concern,” Glover said. “Anytime that level of funding is in jeopardy, additional health center closures are not off the table. It is always a possibility. It is a last resort option; it’s something we don’t wanna have to do.”
Planned Parenthood has warned nearly 200 clinics nationwide could close as a result of the bill’s one-year ban on federal Medicaid payments. 90% of those clinics are in states where abortion is legal. Illinois, a haven for reproductive health, continues to serve more out-of-state abortion patients than any other state since the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson ruling in 2022. |
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Exposed streetcar rails are a blast from Chicago's transit past. Seen in the 4600 block of North Lincoln Avenue in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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A major construction project in Lincoln Square might be causing headaches for the quaint North Side neighborhood's residents and business owners, but it's been a boon to Chicago history buffs. That's because when crews tore up a stretch of Lincoln Avenue, they unearthed a remnant of an old streetcar line, which had been buried under asphalt for decades.
These newly exposed tracks and rail ties were part of what was once one of the world’s largest streetcar systems. For reference, picture San Francisco’s cable cars or the trams that run in many European cities. A group of private companies operated the streetcar routes, which covered hundreds of miles as they criss-crossed the city (and even into the suburbs), carrying riders to work, school, shops and everywhere in between.
So what happened to the streetcars? Well, because this is Chicago, politics and corruption definitely played a role in the system’s demise. But so did financial woes. Things got so bad, the state of Illinois stepped in and created the Chicago Transit Authority in 1947 to take over management of the troubled streetcar system, along with the city’s “L” lines. CTA leadership gradually replaced streetcars with motorized buses, and by 1958, the city’s last streetcar made its final run. |
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Back in the Day: July 10, 1840 - Chicago’s First Public Execution |
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Here’s a morbid dose of local history. Up until 1928, Illinois used death by hanging as a form of capital punishment. While Chicago was established in 1837, the city’s first public execution took place three years later. In May of 1840, John Stone was convicted of the murder of Lucretia Thompson. On this day, 185 years ago, Stone was hanged near the lakeshore close to what is now the intersection of Cermak and Prairie. He maintained his innocence to a crowd of 2,500 gawking spectators. The last execution in Illinois happened in 1999. |
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This Week’s Arts and Culture Events |
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Every Thursday, WTTW News arts correspondent Marc Vitali highlights the city’s must-see cultural events.
A circus hits town this week, leading the way for a wide spectrum of spectacle. Throw in the odd cultural curveball, and — unless you’re watching WTTW — you have no reason to stay at home this weekend.
“Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams” – Chicago Shakespeare Theater
A globe-trotting circus troupe brings daredevil acrobatics to Navy Pier, and it’s all set to Ethiopian music and rhythms. Through sheer human spectacle (no animal acts), two brothers show-n-tell how they enlisted other performing artists from their homeland to form Circus Abyssinia, named for the historical title of the Ethiopian Empire in the Horn of Africa. Through Aug. 3.
“The Act of Recording is an Act of Love”– Logan Center for the Arts
Explore archival films and stories of Chicago preserved by the South Side Home Movie Project – which was started 20 years ago by Professor Jacqueline Stewart, former president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This exhibit on the University of Chicago campus showcases compelling home movies shot by South Siders from the 1930s to the ‘80s. The sweet title of the show comes from a quote by musician and poet Jamila Woods. Through Aug. 24.
“25th Anniversary Barrio Arts Fest” – Humboldt Park
A wealth of talent from Puerto Rico and Chicago hits the stage outside the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. Music includes Latin soul from Calma Carmona, traditional Puerto Rican plena, a steel drum band, and songs of resilience and celebration. Plus dominoes, vendors, salsa lessons... and it’s free. Don’t miss the museum inside the historic Humboldt Park building. Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13.
Mela – Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens
“Mela” means festival, and this lovely park in the Prairie District will come alive with music from Bollywood, Sufi songs, and a local Indian pop band with the intriguing name Do the Needful – plus dance and popular headliners Funkadesi. The fest comes from the Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts, where arts traditions embrace ahimsa, the Hindu belief in love and compassion toward all living things – what a concept! Saturday, July 12, Noon to 8 p.m. |
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Your friend wants to take a short, weekend road trip outside of Chicago. Where are you telling them to visit? |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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