Chicagoans have trolled the Trump administration’s aggressive anti–immigration crackdown by voting to name one of the city’s snowplows “Abolish ICE.”
The dig at the Immigration and Customs and Enforcement agency, overseen by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, came about in the city’s annual “You Name a Snowplow” contest, now in its fourth year.
In September, Chicago was hit by “Operation Midway Blitz” in the fall as ICE agents carried out more than 4,000 arrests, which led to mass protests and clashes between the Trump administration and Chicago’s Democratic leaders.
“Abolish ICE” made up about 70 percent of the entries in the contest among over 13,300 submissions, according to the outlet Block Club Chicago.
Chicagoans submitted other anti-ICE sentiments that didn’t make it into the final top six, including “ICE Breaker,” “ICE Be Gone” and “No More Mr. ICE Guy,” according to the outlet, which obtained the submissions through a public records request.
The five other winners included “Stephen Coldbert” and “Pope Frío XIV,” a nod to the Chicago-born pontiff, Pope Leo.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson thanked Chicagoans for their “unmatched creativity, sense of humor and civic pride” in a statement.
Johnson backed the name in December 2025, when this year’s contest was first publicized.
“We have to take a stronger look at how this administration has used ICE and how it has caused tremendous harm,” Johnson said. “That’s why that particular name of this truck being named “Abolish ICE” has my full and complete endorsement.”
The comment was seized upon at the time by Border Patrol “commander at large” Gregory Bovino, who oversaw the anti-immigration operation in Chicago last year.
“Oh oh, i’ve got a nomination for the mayor,” Bovino hit back in a swipe on X. “Name the plow ‘Reality Check’ and paint it green while your [sic] at it. Johnson obsesses over Border Patrol it seems!!”
Bovino was removed from his “commander at large” role in January and sent back to California following outrage over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in confrontations with ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
Residents continue to protest over ICE in downtown Chicago near detention facilities and throughout the city’s suburbs.
