Chicago's immigration crackdown is hitting the gig economy hard. E-bike rental startup Whizz has lost 8% of its Chicago business since National Guard troops arrived, as delivery workers abandon the streets out of fear. Co-founder Mike Peregudov says the viral footage of federal agents chasing a delivery worker across a bridge captures what his company's been seeing in its metrics for weeks.
The viral footage stopped people in their tracks: a food delivery worker scrambling across a Chicago bridge with his e-bike, pursued by armed federal agents shouting "Get him!" For Whizz co-founder Mike Peregudov, that clip wasn't just social media drama - it was his business reality playing out in real time.
The e-bike subscription startup has watched Chicago demand crater by 8% since National Guard troops arrived in the city as part of President Trump's expanded immigration enforcement. What started as Whizz's fastest-growing market has become a cautionary tale about how policy decisions ripple through the gig economy.
"They're afraid," Peregudov told TechCrunch of workers returning bikes to the company's Chicago office. The fear isn't limited to undocumented workers either - legal immigrants and even citizens worry about getting swept up in raids that can mean weeks of detention while paperwork gets sorted.
The numbers tell a stark story of how quickly street-level enforcement can reshape urban economics. Whizz had exploded from zero bikes in Chicago in March to around 300 by July's end, riding the wave of demand from delivery workers seeking reliable alternatives to the sketchy e-bikes that have gotten banned in multiple cities. That growth trajectory flatlined in August when federal troops deployed.
"When a raid happens, these people can detain the guy for, whatever, two weeks," Peregudov explained in a LinkedIn post sharing the viral chase footage. "When they understand he is legally here, they will let him go away, but he will lose those two weeks." For gig workers living paycheck to paycheck, that's devastating.
The immigrant entrepreneur, who came to the U.S. on a talent visa, has watched his business become an unexpected barometer of immigration policy. While raids are happening across Whizz's other markets - New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia - those cities haven't seen the militaristic deployments that amp up tension in Chicago.
Interestingly, Washington D.C. presents the opposite dynamic despite also having National Guard presence. Business is actually up in the capital because federal agents appear to be targeting unlicensed gas moped riders, pushing delivery workers toward Whizz's legal e-bikes.
