The Department of Homeland Security announced a new immigration enforcement effort Monday in Chicago, triggering confusion and heightened anxiety as city officials and immigrant advocates prepared for a possible federal surge President Donald Trump has promised.
The initiative, described by DHS as “Operation Midway Blitz,” was publicized with the mugshots of 11 foreign-born men the department said should be deported and was framed by DHS as a response to Illinois’ and Chicago’s sanctuary policies. "This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor (JB) Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets," the department said in a statement.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson sharply criticized the announcement, arguing that the administration was using intimidation rather than coordination to address crime. "Once again, this isn’t about fighting crime. That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks," Pritzker said. Johnson and other local leaders have defended state and city laws that limit cooperation between local police and federal immigration agents.
The announcement followed a weekend of immigration arrests that galvanized Chicago’s activist network and fueled concerns that the arrests were the beginning of a larger operation. Activists and City Council member Jeylú Gutiérrez said five people arrested over the weekend were "beloved community members," including a person who sells flowers and others who were headed to work when taken into custody. ICE confirmed four arrests but released few details, saying those detained had prior arrests and noting one conviction for driving under the influence.
"This is about terrorizing our communities," Gutiérrez said. "But we will not be intimidated."
ICE said in a statement that the agency has long operated in Chicago and that it would "continue our law enforcement and public safety mission, undeterred, as we surge ICE resources in the city in coordination with our federal partners." DHS said the operation would be conducted in honor of Katie Abraham, one of two Illinois women killed in a January hit-and-run; a grand jury later indicted a suspect who also faces federal false-identification charges.
Chicago has been on alert for roughly two weeks amid warnings from the White House about a federal intervention that could include increased ICE presence and possibly National Guard forces. Protesters have gathered downtown, outside a suburban military base that DHS has identified as a staging location, and at an immigration processing center expected to be a hub of federal activity.
The prospect of deploying the National Guard echoes earlier actions by the administration in Los Angeles and in Washington, D.C. A federal judge ruled the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles illegal, though the administration prevailed in part when the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a restraining order that had barred agents in that case from stopping people solely because of their race, language, job or location.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat and a longtime critic of hardline immigration tactics, called the announced operation counterproductive. "These actions don’t make us safer," he said. "They are a waste of money, stoke fear, and represent another failed attempt at a distraction."
Officials in Washington and Chicago provided differing accounts about the scope and timing of the announced program, and it remained unclear what role Monday’s publicized operation would play in any larger surge. DHS and ICE statements emphasized enforcement against noncitizens with criminal records; local leaders and advocacy groups said the messaging and the timing have sown fear among immigrant communities and complicate public safety work that depends on community cooperation.
This report was corrected to show that the person the operation will be in honor of is Katie Abraham, not Katie Abram.