Chicago's 'Abolish ICE' snowplow unveiled by Mayor Johnson as winner of annual contest

Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune on Mar 25, 2026

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CHICAGO — When a Chicago salt truck with a baby blue cab pulled up slowly behind Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday, the mayor pointed to the newly christened vehicle’s name as evidence that the city stood together.

Emblazoned on its side: “ABOLISH ICE.”

The eye-catching name — a play on words jabbing at President Donald Trump’s use of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents in Chicago and other cities to enforce the administration’s aggressive deportations — was submitted over 9,000 times. The total accounted for 70% of all submissions in a citywide contest to name six new salt trucks, Johnson said.

“We don’t want ICE in Chicago,” Johnson said as he unveiled the top winner. “Chicago has spoken overwhelmingly. We do not want ICE or our cities occupied by rogue federal agents who are operating outside of the bounds of the Constitution. It’s an affront to who we are as a nation.”

The support for the name, which Johnson said was “resounding,” followed this past fall’s Operation Midway Blitz, a 64-day incursion in which more than 100 ICE and other federal agents arrested 4,500 people. The effort also involved tear-gassing citizens and the attempted deployment of National Guard members onto city streets. Local Democratic officials, including Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker, vehemently opposed the operation, as did tens of thousands of protesters.

Johnson reiterated that opposition on Wednesday, as he has also opposed moves this week by Trump to deploy scores of ICE officers to airports around the nation, including O’Hare International Airport, to assist Transportation Security Administration agents amid an ongoing partial government shutdown that is leaving TSA agents unpaid.

“We continue to respond to threats from the federal government and bring our city together to safeguard the rights and dignity of all of our residents,” he said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect our city. I am proud of the Chicagoans who express and continue to live out our values every day.”

Johnson read off other winning names as he stood in front of a towering white salt dome operated by the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation: Stephen Coldbert, Pope Leo XIV, The Blizzard of Oz, Svencoolie and Caleb Chilliams.

But as Johnson celebrated the tongue-in-cheek jab at ICE, a heckler shouted behind a row of television cameras. The man, who departed after being asked to leave, called the truck naming a “joke” in light of the murder of Loyola University Chicago freshman Sheridan Gorman, who prosecutors allege was murdered by a Venezuelan national, Jose Medina, 25. Republicans and others have laid blame on Johnson and Pritzker for supporting city and state sanctuary policies, they argue, that are partly responsible for the killing.

“ICE would have saved Sheridan Gorman. She would still be alive,” the heckler said.

Asked by reporters if he considered rescheduling the naming event in light of the murder, Johnson called it “heartbreaking” and a “terrible tragedy” and promised it would make him double down on efforts to combat violence.

“What the Trump administration is doing and has done has nothing to do with immigration enforcement or safety. It doesn’t,” Johnson said. “95% of the individuals that were detained by ICE were not the ‘worst of the worst’ that he said that he was going to go after, had no criminal record.”

Johnson later described the presence of dozens of ICE agents at O’Hare as an effort to spark fear.

“It’s about intimidation. It’s about raising the anxiety of people across this country. It’s about him going after our elections and our democracy,” Johnson said.

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