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Operation Midway Blitz
2025 American immigration enforcement operation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Operation Midway Blitz is an operation by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted in Chicago, Illinois, starting on September 9, 2025.[1] The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the operation will arrest illegal immigrants with criminal records.[1] DHS stated the operation is to crack down on sanctuary policies.[2] Hundreds of DHS agents used a nearby naval base as a staging area.[1] Governor JB Pritzker's office has stated that the Trump administration did not communicate with his office about the operation.[1] The legality of the operation was questioned by some legal experts,[1] and Pritzker is planning legal action.[3] The operation caused anxiety among certain Chicago residents such as Latinos.[1] Religious organizations in Chicago have coordinated to schedule gatherings and make resources available for immigrants.[1][4] A hotline set up to report ICE sightings was very busy on the first day of the operation, confirming that enforcement actions increased.[3]
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Background
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During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump stated he would use the military to end protests without consent from state governors, actions which his aides had previously talked him out of during his first term.[5] Also during Trump's second campaign and current tenure his administration has pursued a deportation policy characterized as maximalist",[6] and a mass deportation campaign, affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants through detentions, confinements, and expulsions. The Trump administration has also launched successive purges of top military and intelligence leadership whose views were seen as being at odds with Trump.[7] During a September 30 meeting with over 800 generals and admirals, Trump stated that the deployments should be used as "training grounds for our military" and described America as waging "a war from within"; saying that "America is under invasion from within" and that it was "No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms".[8]
In 2025, the Trump administration had deployed forces of the federal government such as the National Guard to select US cities. Deployments began in Los Angeles in June 2025, followed with deployment to Washington D.C in August 2025. and planned deployments to Memphis, Chicago and Portland amongst others.[9][10][11][12] On September 8, 2025, DHS announced that ICE would lead Operation Midway Blitz, a multi-agency surge aimed at “criminal illegal aliens” in Illinois. According to U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, the operation began on September 6, 2025.[13] According to DHS, the mission honors Katie Abraham, a Chicago woman killed earlier in the year by an undocumented driver in Urbana.[14]
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Launch and scope
While announced as a Chicago crackdown, the operation's jurisdiction covers the entire state of Illinois and neighboring Lake County, Indiana.[15] In addition to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were included.[16] The ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview was the site of clashes between protestors and federal agents.[17] ABC 7 Chicago reported that more than 250 people had been taken into custody during the first nine days, with detainees transferred to immigration detention centers in Indiana and Wisconsin.[18] Thirteen days after the operation began, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin stated that officials had arrested almost 550 people.[19]
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Events
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September 12
On September 12, ICE agents in Franklin Park, Illinois shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez. Villegas-Gonzalez was dropping his child off at school when approached by the agents, and attempted to flee in his vehicle.[20] DHS officials said he had struck an officer who feared for his life when firing the shots that killed him.[21] Villegas-Gonzalez's lawyer rejected DHS's characterization of his conduct, saying that he was not a violent man and was probably scared when approached by the agents. Delia Ramirez called for an investigation into the killing.[20]
September 28
In downtown Chicago, protesters heckled armed U.S. Border Patrol agents as they marched through the downtown and Gold Coast neighborhoods, chanting "Shame", "Pigs", and "Get out of Chicago". Agents arrested a Latino family in Millennium Park, including an 8-year old and 3-year old child, during the patrolling.[22]
September 30
ICE conducted a raid on a South Shore neighborhood, using a Black Hawk helicopter to rappel onto residential buildings.[23][24] The FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, and ATF assisted in the operation. DHS stated it arrested 37 people in the raid.[25] Eyewitness reports stated that several U.S. citizens were removed from their homes, zip-tied and detained by federal agents for around three hours before being released. Reports on the raid stated that some children were taken from the building while naked.[26][27][28]
October 1
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a first-of-its-kind restriction on drones over Chicago.[29] According to Newsweek, the restriction was at the request of DHS.[30] Centered on Chicago, the restriction zone measured 35 miles (56 km) wide, larger than those imposed over Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon during similar law-enforcement operations.[30]
October 3
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Alderwoman Jessie Fuentes of Chicago, a Puerto Rican US citizen, was handcuffed by federal agents inside of an ER. They threatened her with arrest before releasing her outside of the hospital.[31] In Logan Square, an ICE agent threw smoke grenades onto a crowded street, affecting several bystanders.[32]
October 4
U.S. Border Patrol agents shot a woman after, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security, their patrol vehicle was boxed in and then rammed by 10 other vehicles.[33] Local community groups disputed federal claims that the agents had been boxed in, claiming that federal agents crashed into a civilian car and caused a multi-car crash.[34][35] The victim was taken to a local hospital and discharged later that day. Protests broke out in the area of the shooting, and federal agents shot pepper balls and tear gas at the protesters.[36]
Over 500 national guard troops were deployed to the Chicago area from Illinois and Texas by the White House.[37]
October 6
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order prohibiting federal agencies from using city property for civil immigration enforcement.[38] Dariana Fajardo, a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE agents in Waukegan, Illinois. They claimed she was trying to box in ICE vehicles, a claim she and community leaders denied.[39]
October 7
Trump sent the National Guard to Chicago against the wishes of Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, and a lawsuit filed by the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago to declare the deployment illegal was pending until a court hearing on October 9.[40]
Two workers at a cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois were detained by ICE agents after attempting to help a man who was struggling in the Des Plaines River near the cemetery's perimiter. ICE agents pepper sprayed them before tackling, zip-tying and shackling them.[41]
October 8
A federal grand jury refused to indict a couple arrested while legally carrying firearms in Broadview, Illinois in September. Prosecutors also abandoned charges against a third protester arrested on Sept. 27 after reviewing new body camera footage of their arrest.[42]
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Legal
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Chicago journalists and unions filed a lawsuit against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the federal government used "extreme force" against reporters and television crews during protests in Broadview, Illinois. The village of Broadview also filed a lawsuit over fencing surrounding the facility, and three criminal investigations into ICE activity.[43][44]
A federal judge ruled that ICE agents illegally arrested 22 people in Chicago without warrants, in violation of the Castañon Nava consent decree. Such arrests violated a three-year consent decree banning warrantless arrests unless agents have probable cause to believe someone is in the United States unlawfully and is a flight risk. The judge ordered ICE to reimburse all bond payments and lift any imposed conditions of release, in addition to making monthly disclosures of how many warrantless arrests agents make each month until the agreement’s new expiration date.[45]
Local and state leaders filed a lawsuit objecting and challenging the deployment of the national guard to Chicago in early October 2025. US District Judge April Perry, stated at an emergency hearing that the deployment could continue forward but any troop action before the October 9 hearing could be used as evidence against the Trump administration.[46][47]
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Reaction
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Mayor Brandon Johnson said Chicago received “no notice of any enhanced immigration action,” calling the operation “militarized immigration enforcement.”[48][49] Governor JB Pritzker accused federal officials of undermining the authority of local officials and suggested the possibility of taking legal action to challenge the surge.[50][51] Representative Lauren Underwood said she learned about the arrest counts at a meeting with ICE leadership.[52][53]
Local advocacy organizations organized protests outside the suburban ICE facilities while distributing "Know Your Rights" flyers in English and Spanish.[54] Community hotlines reported a surge in calls from community members looking for advice and reporting sightings of federal agents.[55]
In a post on Truth Social President Trump called for the arrests of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and raised claims that the two were failing to protect ICE agents in Chicago. Pritzker responded on Twitter, calling Trumps demand part of the path to "full-blown authoritarianism" and that he and Johnson were elected officials checking Trump on his actions.[47]
On October 5, while speaking with Fox News Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem alleged that Chicago was a
"war zone" and spoke out against comments made by Johnson against Trumps policies. Noem argued that the administrations actions have resulted in a safer Chicago, while Pritzker argued on CNNs State of the Union the Noem and Trumps actions were causing Chicago to become a warzone.[56]
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See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Operation Midway Blitz.
References
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