Chicagoans name snowplow ‘Abolish ICE’ in annual contest

A man crosses Wacker Drive in front of a waiting city snowplow in Chicago, Jan. 28, 2019. (Rich Hein/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

When it comes to putting a name to Chicago’s annual battle against its infamously inclement weather, it turns out that the practical is also the political.

“Abolish ICE” was the top vote-getter in the city’s “You Name a Snowplow” contest. Choosing the protest slogan with a double meaning proved a potent way for voters to jab at U.S. President Donald Trump after he sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into the city and its suburbs last fall in a major immigration crackdown.

With a surge of ICE agents beginning in September, “Operation Midway Blitz” resulted in more than 4,000 arrests, a fatal shooting and a sour taste among Chicago’s Democratic leaders and many of its residents, particularly in large immigrant populations. Despite mid-winter frigid cold, “ICE Out” protests in recent weeks have continued downtown, near ICE facilities and throughout the suburbs.

The snowplow contest, in its fourth year, also produced names ranging from those paying tribute to the new pope, who hails from Chicago, to a homegrown horror purveyor and the popular quarterback of the city’s NFL franchise.

In a statement, Mayor Brandon Johnson thanked Chicago voters “for their unmatched creativity, sense of humour, and civic pride.”

When asked whether he was reticent about the potentially prickly response to the name, a spokesperson said that “Abolish ICE” was the runaway winner, adding, “The people of Chicago clearly have no issue with the name of this snowplow.”

Requests for comment were also emailed to ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

Contests in many cities produce names of snowplows, but they rarely carry the edge of Chicago’s top pick. In Nashville, “Dolly Plowton” pays homage to Tennessee native and country music legend Dolly Parton, while in Minnesota, pop superstar Taylor Swift is honoured on a plow dubbed “Taylor Drift.”

Chicagoans are capable of more anodyne names, too. Other winning contest names include “Stephen Coldbert,” for late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert. There’s “Pope Frio XIV,” with the Spanish word for “cold” rhyming with the Chicago-born pontiff’s name, Leo.

Then there’s the “Blizzard of Oz” and “Svencoolie,” a play on the Chicago TV horror host, Svengoolie; and finally, Caleb Chilliams for the quarterback whose last name is Williams, and who led the Bears to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Johnson said he and his Department of Streets and Sanitation, which maintains 300 trucks to clear 9,400 miles (15,000 kilometres) of streets, are “grateful and inspired by the record-breaking participation in the contest this year.” There were 13,300 plow names submitted and 39,000 final votes were cast.

The contest was conducted the same way as it was in the past three years, said Ryan Gage, spokesperson for the Streets and Sanitation department. Submissions are made to the Chicago Shovels website. A survey app is used for both initial and final phases of the contest.

A group of Streets and Sanitation staff members then reviews all the submissions and chooses the finalists, which are then forwarded to the mayor’s office for final approval, Gage said.

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O’Connor reported from Springfield, Ill.

John O’connor, The Associated Press