Here & Now 's host Lisa Mullins speaks with Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat, about why he wants to work with President Trump's administration on immigration. Chicago is a sanctuary city and currently bans local police from working with federal immigration officials.

Fears over possible ICE raids have heightened across the U.S., causing one of Chicago’s largest Mexican-American communities to turn into a ghost town. (Fox 32 Chicago)

The second busiest retail corridor in Chicago is typically a bustling area dotted with taquerias and Mexican grocery stores in the southwestern part of the city. By Monday afternoon it had turned into a ghost town.

A bustling shopping district in Chicago known as the “Mexico of the Midwest” has seen foot traffic plummet by 50% — as residents say they fear the immigration raids promised by President Trump. The sidewalks were empty and some businesses were closed along a two-mile stretch of shops and restaurants on 26th Street in Chicago’s Little Village — the Windy City’s second busiest retail corridor — as Trump was sworn into office Monday.

Activists monitoring for immigration arrests said they had seen no activity, but the threat of deportations continues and the local community should remain alert.