CHICAGO — The surge in federal immigration raids has started in Chicago.
The surge, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, will target undocumented people in Chicago and throughout Illinois, according to a press release issued Monday by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The city received no notice of the operation, Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
“We are concerned about potential militarized immigration enforcement without due process because of ICE’s track record of detaining and deporting American citizens and violating the human rights of hundreds of detainees,” the mayor said in the statement. “Because of these incidents and more, we remain opposed to militarized immigration enforcement that runs afoul of the Constitution in our city.”
Illinois, Cook County and Chicago all have “sanctuary” laws that bar local law enforcement from assisting or coordinating with federal immigration enforcement operations. Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker have stressed that officers do turn over offenders to ICE if they have a criminal warrant.
A new round of targeted immigration enforcement operations has been expected for weeks, with federal agents — who are staying at the Great Lakes naval base north of the city — likely to focus on making immigration arrests and conducting raids in and around Chicago for more than a month.
Southwest Side officials and immigration advocates speak at a press conference denouncing immigration arrests, signaling the start of “Operation Midway Blitz,” as seen on Sept. 8, 2025. Credit: Francia Garcia Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
At Least 3 People Arrested On Southwest Side
Immigration agents detained three people on the Southwest Side over the weekend, according to local leaders.
Among those detained Sunday was a man selling flowers at South Archer Avenue and South Pulaski Road. Another person was detained near a bus stop by the gas station at West 47th Street and South Archer Avenue, said Karina Martinez, communications coordinator for the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.
A third person was detained while walking on the sidewalk by West 49th Street and South Archer Avenue, Ald. Jeylú Gutiérrez (14th) told Block Club. Gutiérrez wrote in a social media statement Sunday night that another two people might have been detained, but that was not confirmed.
The arrests, and reports of immigration agents on the Southwest Side, signaled the start of the operation to neighbors and immigrant activists, they said Monday.
“This has been happening, but what we’re seeing today is an escalation,” said Rey Wences, senior director of deportation defense for the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
ICE identified the man arrested at 47th and Archer as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who had previously been arrested for armed robbery and DUI and the man arrested at 49th and Archer as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico with arrests for domestic battery, assault and DUI.
As of Monday morning, organizers had reached a family member of one of the people detained and were working to provide support, Martinez said.
an ICE van sits outside the Cook County Courthouse, 2600 S. California Ave., on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush/Block Club Chicago
ICE Sightings In Neighborhoods
Agents seen on Sunday wore vests that read “police federal agent” and did not wear masks, according to a community alert posted on social media.
On Monday morning, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, which leads the Southwest Side rapid response network, posted an alert on social media informing neighbors federal agents were seen at West 61st Street and South Kildare Avenue.
ICE agents were also seen Monday in the Cook County Courthouse complex, 2600 S. California Ave. An ICE van was parked outside the courthouse to gather video for a Fox News ride-along, an ICE spokesperson confirmed to Block Club.
Neighbors can report ICE activity by calling the Illinois Family Support Network Hotline at 855-435-7693.
Neighbors can also share video of ICE agents and the National Guard in Chicago with a coalition of newsrooms, including Block Club Chicago, at tinyurl.com/chicagojournalists and chicagojournalists@protonmail.com. Video won’t be shared publicly without your permission.
National Guard Deployment Unclear
Trump has also said he is considering sending the National Guard to the city, though it remains unclear if and when that might happen.
Pritzker and other local leaders have blasted the proposed plan as unconstitutional and an abuse of federal power, vowing to fight it in court.
Ald. Nick Sposato (38th), a conservative who supports Trump and represents Chicago’s Northwest Side, told Fox News National on Tuesday he doesn’t want the National Guard to come to Chicago.
“Believe it or not, I do not want to see the National Guard,” Sposato said on the network. “I certainly want to see ICE here cleaning things up, but the National Guard on the streets of Chicago I just don’t think is a good idea. I wish the governor and the president would sit down and figure out what kind of help they can give our city.”
Sposato said the city needs money to hire more police officers instead.
Chicago “100 percent needs help, 100 percent wants help. I just don’t want to see 18-year-old, 19-year-old kids on the streets of Chicago with M-16s. I believe that’s a recipe for disaster,” Sposato said.
Marchers hold butterfly posters as they pass supporters waving Mexican flags during the Mexican Independence Day parade in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. Credit: Talia Sprague/Block Club Chicago
Festival Organizers Brace For ICE
El Grito Chicago, a popular Mexican Independence Day festival scheduled for this weekend in Grant Park, has been called off due to the threat of a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.
The fest was set to take place Saturday and Sunday in Grant Park, but organizers called it off last week after discussing the situation with city and state officials.
But organizers of El Grito Pilsen are expected to announce Tuesday that the neighborhood festival will be held Sept. 15 as planned.
Know Your Rights
Immigration advocates and organizers urged neighbors to record and report ICE arrests, so advocates can denounce if agents make unlawful arrests.
“Chicago will not be terrorized to fear. We stand united, especially here in the Southwest Side,” state Rep. Aaron Ortiz said at a Monday press conference.
The National Immigrant Justice Center has a list of “immediate steps” to take after someone is detained by ICE. The guides are offered in five languages here.
If someone is detained, their friends or family should collect any completed immigration applications, police reports, probable cause affidavits, charging documents and sentencing documents they may have.
A full resource guide with information for neighbors, protesters and undocumented Chicagoans is here.
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