Nell Salzman

As ICE activity and immigrant arrests in Elgin have surged since Operation Midway Blitz, an activist fights back.

Ismael Cordová-Clough slipped out before dawn most mornings, while the rest of the block slept. By 4 a.m., he was circling the same streets he grew up on, scanning corners,

Ismael Cordová-Clough slipped out before dawn most mornings, while the rest of the block slept. By 4 a.m., he was circling the same streets he grew up on, scanning corners, alleyways and factory lots for unmarked cars.

Ismael Cordová-Clough slipped out before dawn most mornings, while the rest of the block slept.

Ismael Cordová-Clough sits in his car at Clock Tower Plaza at 4:55 a.m. and sifts through messages from residents about potential U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Elgin on Sept. 19, 2025. Cordová-Clough is part of a volunteer patrol group that documents federal agents in the area and livestreams their activities in order to alert the community. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

The research found that the TIF tax program intended to revive blighted neighborhoods has helped downtown but done much less for poor neighborhoods on the South Side and West Side and estimated that a homeowner with a $300,000 home paid $878 in 2023 to make up for the amount of property tax revenue diverted to TIF.

Researchers with the Great Cities Institute did not recommend eliminating the city's TIF program, but suggested reforms — and the phase out of Downtown TIF districts that have accomplished their goals.