This story is supported by funding from the Chicago Region Food Systems Fund.
Each day before sunrise, David Huerta checks his rearview mirror for immigration enforcement agents as he drives through the dark to a warehouse in a southwest Chicago suburb. Once he’s clocked in, he peers periodically through the windows on the truck dock, making sure ICE isn’t there. For hours this will go on, as he unloads pallets heavy with sacks of flour and salt, bound for grocery stores nationwide.
When trucks pull into the dock, Huerta readies his forklift to begin unloading the pallets, but first, he must interact with the drivers…