Shouldering Sanctuary: Chicago’s 2025 Battle with ICE

For decades, Chicago has been a sanctuary city, limiting cooperation between local cops and federal immigration enforcement. In 2025, this policy was tested like never before. Watch local officials navigating federal pressure, activists mobilizing communities, judges defending principles, artists channeling resistance into creativity, and residents grappling with a hostile climate. A bricolage of intimate interviews, protests, meetings and bodycam and social media footage, Shouldering Sanctuary presents the complex reality of Chicago as a sanctuary city, more determined than ever despite being under siege.

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Produced by Fatima Omar | Co-Produced by Kyra Mitchell, Ian Resnick

Directed by Ben Kolak | Cinematography by Ian Resnick, Ben Kolak

Edited by Ysa Quiballo, Ian Resnick | Additional Editing by Agustín Donoso

Original Score by Carlos Zárate | Visual Identity by Zhenqi Ong | Courtroom illustrations by Cliff Questel

Interns & Volunteers: Kyra Swims, Satarie Bennett, Madeline Voelkel, Kieran Stover, Brooke Scott, Zelda Milfred

Special Thanks to Fred Tsao, Susan Gzesh, Dayle Kolak, Joe Winston