'Abolish ICE' Wins Chicago Snowplow Naming Contest

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 President Trump after he sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into the city and its suburbs last fall in a major immigration crackdown, the AP reports. According to Block Club Chicago, the slogan and other anti-ICE names accounted for around 80% of the almost 40,000 votes case. There were more than 13,000 names submitted.

• With a surge of ICE agents beginning in September, the operation 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.

• In a statement, Mayor Brandon Johnson thanked Chicago voters "for their unmatched creativity, sense of humor, 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."
• Johnson endorsed the name in December, the Chicago Tribune reports. "As a city we have stood firm on our values, and it just happened to coincide with the time in which we name all of our fleet utilities," he said. "We have to take a stronger look at how this administration has used ICE and how it has caused tremendous harm. That's why that particular name of this truck being 'Abolish ICE' has my full and complete endorsement."

• 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 honored 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.