(Editor's note: The reporter has been participating in Latin social dancing in Chicago and other cities around the country since 2017.)
Latin social dance is a place where people leave their worries at the door, but in Chicago, fear over immigration crackdowns knocks anyway.
Chicago is a focal point of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Department of Homeland Security touts more than 1,500 people arrested in Operation Midway Blitz in less than two months. Their efforts have included agents rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters to raid an apartment building in the middle of the night and masked agents chasing people in the heart of Chicago's Mexican community.
But DHS has not responded to many questions about its operations. It's left people afraid to leave for basic reasons like going to get groceries.
"A lot of people who are either undocumented or have a green card are just afraid to go out and social dance," said Nestor Gomez, a Chicago resident, formerly undocumented immigrant and salsero (salsa dancer).
