On Christmas Eve, Antelmo Garcia walked out of West Chicago’s Carnitas La Central as the sun started to set, his hands clutching aluminum take-out containers full of beans, rice, chicken and barbacoa beef. Behind him, jingle bells clanged.
Santa Claus followed in tow, holding one more tray of fixings. They were bringing Christmas dinner to Garcia’s car.
For weeks, Kris Kringle had been making his rounds across the western suburbs — but the effort stemmed from much closer than the North Pole.
Moonlighting as Santa was Steven Gonzalez, a longtime DuPage County resident who says he took up the red suit to spread some cheer after what’s been a hard few months amid Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s mass deportation mission in Chicago this fall. A rapid responder through the immigration crackdown, Gonzalez found himself wanting to take his patrol work a step further as the holidays neared.
“I wanted to … help provide at least a little bit of a smile or a laugh or joy within the community,” the 49-year-old said.
As Santa, Gonzalez’s appearances have ranged from passing out coloring pages in grocery stores to delivering meals on Christmas Eve. Community members responded in kind, posing for pictures with Gonzalez in his long white beard and relishing in Santa “sightings” posted to social media.
But after a string of hard years himself, the endeavor, Gonzalez added, has helped him, too.
“It’s been a blessing,” he said.
Gonzalez’s family is from Reynosa, a city in Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the Texan border, but he has called the Chicago area home for 17 years. He landed in the area after growing up in Southern California.
Five years ago, a doctor’s visit changed Gonzalez’s life. In December 2020, Gonzalez was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic disease that causes the heart muscle to enlarge, making it harder for the heart to work properly, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By April 2021, Gonzalez had his first surgery. He had an internal defibrillator implanted, a device that continually monitors the heart rhythm and sends out electric shocks when it detects an irregularity to restore a normal heartbeat, per the American Heart Association.
After the surgery, Gonzalez went to work. He was in landscaping and at the time, had been trying to grow his own business. But then, two months after his implant, Gonzalez fell off of a large, fairway mower while working at a golf course. The accident tore his wrist and sent him back to hospital to have his heart procedure redone.
The complications made it difficult for Gonzalez to get back on his feet. Momentum he had going for his landscaping venture dissipated by the time he was able to work again. Finding a job in the meantime, especially with landscaping being so seasonal, was arduous, Gonzalez recalled. It wasn’t until early spring 2023 that he landed a gig as a production manager.
He worked a whole season. And then he got sick again just after Thanksgiving.
A bout of RSV-turned-pneumonia sent Gonzalez back to the hospital. He’s been on oxygen since. All the while, bills and debt mounted. Eventually, Gonzalez couldn’t keep up and was evicted from his home, leaving him to face homelessness.
“I was lost,” he said.
Gonzalez wasn’t a stranger to the feeling. Years ago, Gonzalez struggled with substance abuse — he even lost his former career in law enforcement because of addiction, he told the Tribune. Today, he’s going on nearly 15 years sober. But there are still hard days, exacerbated by recent setbacks.
Finding a passion in community work, though, has renewed his sense of purpose, Gonzalez said.
“It feels good being able to reach out to those who feel alone,” he said.
Gonzalez remembers when he saw President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown start to descend on the city and its suburbs. One afternoon in mid-September, he recalled sitting in his motel and checking Facebook, only to find reports that people had been detained in West Chicago.
“I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” he said.
He left his motel and drove around to see for himself. He didn’t stop. As the enforcement blitz persisted, Gonzalez made it a habit to go on night patrols, eventually linking up with other area rapid responders and expanding his focus to picking up groceries for those too afraid to go out, giving people rides and delivering medication. (Gonzalez primarily patrols after dark, he said, noting he’s had trouble sleeping since his health challenges set in.)
The suburbs, like Chicago, have built a resilient rapid response network as arrests, fear and outrage mounted throughout the fall’s crackdown, from a pair of young brothers in West Chicago fighting on the frontlines to watchdog work in Elgin.
Even as federal immigration agents have swept in and out of town, activists, Gonzalez included, have remained vigilant.
Santa emerged out of happenstance, Gonzalez said. Earlier this month, the rapid response group he’s part of, West Chicago United, had been gearing up for a Christmas event for local families in conjunction with an area immigrant rights organization. Gonzalez was slated to make a one and only appearance as Santa. But after a large fire swept through a Carpentersville apartment building, displacing 23 families and causing about $2 million in damages, Gonzalez realized Santa should have more than a limited run.
With the help of donations from community members, Gonzalez rented a Santa suit for December and dove headfirst into the merriment, delivering donated presents to those affected by the Carpentersville fire and visiting scores of local businesses.
And Gonzalez recently made appearances at Food Market La Chiquita locations in Aurora, West Chicago and Montgomery, where he took pictures and handed out candy canes to customers snagging some last-minute holiday groceries.
Casenia Ruiz’s 3-year-old grandson made a beeline for Santa when they walked into the Aurora market. He was happy to see him, Ruiz, 41, said. She was too. For her family members, who are Mexican, living through the blitz has been difficult, she said.
“But this is like something magical,” she said.
Gonzalez wants to keep the magic going long after the holidays pass. Not necessarily as Santa, though he does have plans to suit up next year, but by continuing to stay connected with the community.
“I don’t know what’s in store for us tomorrow or the next day,” Gonzalez said. “But we’re just going to keep doing what we can each day going forward and see what happens.”
Tyler Gonzalez is proud of his dad. It’s been heartening, the 16-year-old said, to see “what he’s been doing for the community and the way the community has been responding back.” Often accompanying Gonzalez on patrols and on Santa visits, Tyler said he’s also developed an itch to get involved and wants to keep going with his dad.
“I think it’d be really good for both of us to do,” he said. “I think it’d be good for the whole community.”
Standing in the Carnitas La Central parking lot, Antelmo Garcia told the Tribune in Spanish that he was grateful and happy, aluminum trays tucked safely inside his car. He and his wife were taking the donated meal — which West Chicago United had arranged in tandem with Carnitas La Central — home to their five kids.
Across the lot, 8-year-old Alina Alvarado and her mom put their donated meal into their back seat. Also getting a Santa send-off, Alina asked Mr. Claus if his elves were around. Santa, peering down through a pair of round glasses, told her his trusty helpers were on the roof.
Alina looked up. Gonzalez smiled.
