# Summary of News: President Donald Trump’s Administration Announces Immigration ‘Blitz’ Beginning in Chicago **News Title:** President Donald Trump’s administration announces immigration ‘blitz’ beginning in Chicago **Report Provider:** Chicago Tribune **Authors:** Rick Pearson, Olivia Olander, Cam'ron Hardy **Publication Date:** September 8, 2025, 4:25 PM CDT (Published at 23:53:54 UTC on September 8, 2025) **News Identifier:** URPsLu7Mc_TA74txfZAB --- ## Main Findings and Conclusions The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under President Donald Trump's administration, has announced the commencement of a surge in immigration law enforcement in Chicago, dubbed **"Operation Midway Blitz."** This operation aims to target "criminal illegal aliens" who, according to the administration, have exploited the city and state's sanctuary policies. The announcement follows weeks of President Trump's public statements about targeting Chicago for crime and potential immigration sweeps. **Key Conclusions:** * **Targeted Enforcement:** The operation is explicitly stated to target "criminal illegal aliens." * **Sanctuary Policies as a Factor:** The DHS claims that sanctuary policies in Chicago and Illinois have made the city a "magnet for criminals." * **Federal vs. Local Authority:** The operation highlights a tension between federal immigration enforcement and local/state sanctuary policies. * **Political Motivation Alleged:** Critics, including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, allege that the operation is not about fighting crime but about "scaring Illinoisans" and provoking a political response. --- ## Key Statistics and Metrics While the announcement details the *intent* of the operation, concrete statistics on the scale of enforcement are limited in the provided text. * **Initial Arrests:** Local officials and immigrant activists reported only a **handful of arrests** in the early stages of the operation. * **Confirmed Detentions:** Advocates confirmed ICE presence on the Southwest Side and at least **three detentions** of "community members" along Archer Avenue. * **Weekend Shootings Cited:** President Trump cited **six shooting deaths** recorded in Chicago over the weekend, along with other murders in recent weeks, as justification for federal intervention. * **Past ICE Arrests (General Context):** Studies are mentioned that show ICE has arrested thousands of Latinos with no criminal history in random locations across the nation, suggesting a potential for broader impact beyond targeted criminals. --- ## Important Recommendations and Calls to Action * **President Trump's Call for Action:** Trump urged Governor Pritzker to request federal help, including National Guard assistance, to combat city crime. He also implored Chicago residents to "DEMAND PROTECTION" and "ACT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!" * **Advocates' Calls for Due Process:** Immigrant advocates and Mayor Johnson expressed concern about "potential militarized immigration enforcement without due process" and ICE's alleged track record of detaining citizens and violating detainees' rights. * **Alternative Solutions Proposed:** Faith leaders and immigrant activists suggested alternative methods for improving Chicago, such as federal spending on healthcare and education, rather than federal agent deployment. --- ## Significant Trends or Changes * **Escalation of Federal Immigration Enforcement:** This operation marks an official escalation of federal immigration enforcement actions in Chicago by the Trump administration. * **Shift in Rhetoric:** President Trump's rhetoric has shifted from general crime intervention to a specific focus on immigration enforcement, using strong language and imagery (e.g., "Operation Midway Blitz," "Chipocalypse Now"). * **Normalization of Raids:** Advocates note that while this operation is framed as a "blitz," similar raids and detentions have been "happening" and "starting to get normalized" in the state and city. --- ## Notable Risks or Concerns * **Due Process and Human Rights:** Mayor Johnson and immigrant advocates raised significant concerns about the potential for violations of due process and human rights, citing ICE's past actions. * **Detention of U.S. Citizens:** There is a stated concern about ICE's track record of detaining and deporting American citizens. * **Provocation and Political Exploitation:** U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth warned that Trump might be seeking to "provoke a response" to validate his narrative of Chicago being an "apocalyptic city" and to justify military intervention. * **"Seemingly Random" Arrests:** Advocates described detentions as "abductions," "seemingly random," and involving profiling, citing the example of a street vendor. * **Authoritarian Rule Concerns:** Governor Pritzker views Trump's actions as an attempt to "normalize the sight of military on city streets" as part of a move towards "authoritarian rule." --- ## Material Financial Data No specific financial data or budget allocations for "Operation Midway Blitz" were provided in the news report. --- ## Contextual Interpretation of Numerical Data and Tables * **"Operation Midway Blitz":** This is a descriptive name for the immigration enforcement surge, not a quantifiable metric. * **"Criminal illegal aliens":** This is a classification used by the DHS to define the targets of the operation. The definition and application of this term are central to the controversy. * **"Sanctuary policies":** These are state or local laws that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Illinois' policy, enacted by Governor Bruce Rauner's predecessor, prevents law enforcement from cooperating with federal agents unless they have a judicial detainment warrant. ICE often uses administrative warrants, which are issued by ICE itself. * **"Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers":** These are specific types of alleged criminals mentioned by Tricia McLaughlin (DHS assistant secretary) as being released due to sanctuary policies. This is a qualitative claim rather than a statistical one. * **"50 murders and hundreds of people shot":** This is a statistic cited by President Trump to highlight crime in Chicago. The timeframe for this statistic is described as "over just a short period of time" and "recent weeks," but a precise period is not given. * **"6 shooting deaths recorded in the city over the weekend":** This is a specific, time-bound statistic used by Trump to justify federal intervention. * **"Three detentions of 'community members'":** This is a low number of confirmed detentions reported by advocates in the initial phase of the operation. * **"Thousands of Latinos with no criminal history":** This refers to findings from broader studies on ICE arrests, used to contrast with the administration's claims of targeting only criminals. --- ## Key Statements Verbatim * **Tricia McLaughlin (DHS assistant secretary):** "For years, Governor (JB) Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago’s streets — putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals." * **Tricia McLaughlin (DHS assistant secretary):** "President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem have a clear message: No city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return." * **Governor JB Pritzker:** "The ICE surge “isn’t about fighting crime.” That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks.” “Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisans.” * **Mayor Brandon Johnson:** "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." * **Rey Wences (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights):** "We believe this operation signaled the beginning of ICE(‘s) full escalation in Chicago and Illinois.” “This has been happening, and it has been starting to get normalized in many of the places in the state and across the city, but this is not normal.” * **President Donald Trump (Truth Social post):** "Chipocalypse Now" * **President Donald Trump (Truth Social post):** "I love the smell of deportations in the morning…" * **President Donald Trump (Truth Social post):** “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” * **President Donald Trump (speaking at Museum of the Bible):** “We’re waiting for a call from Chicago. We’ll fix Chicago.” * **President Donald Trump (speaking at Museum of the Bible):** “It’s really crazy,” the Republican president said of Democrats, “but we’re bringing back law and order to our country.” * **Gissele Garcia (resident):** “It seemed — I don’t know how to put this — like he had given up.” (Referring to a detained street vendor). * **Donald Nye (rally attendee):** “This is not America.” “This is not what my grandson is gonna grow up in. I got a 4-year-old grandson and I’m not gonna allow him to grow up with this. I mean, this is not the way I grew (up).”
President Donald Trump’s administration announces immigration ‘blitz’ beginning in Chicago
Read original at Chicago Tribune →President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced Monday it is beginning a surge of immigration law enforcement in Chicago, dubbing it “Operation Midway Blitz” and claiming it will target “criminal illegal aliens” who have taken advantage of the city and state’s sanctuary policies. The announcement comes more than two weeks after the Republican president began to say he was planning to target Chicago over crime, causing Democratic Gov.
JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson to caution residents to prepare for potential immigration sweeps. “For years, Governor (JB) Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago’s streets — putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary.
“President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem have a clear message: No city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.” President Donald Trump speaks to the White House Religious Liberty Commission during an event at the Museum of the Bible, Sept.
8, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP) Pritzker, the state’s two-term Democratic governor and vociferous critic of the Republican president, took to the social platform X to contend the ICE surge “isn’t about fighting crime.” “That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks,” he wrote.
“Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisans.” Johnson also said the city had “no notice of any enhanced immigration action.” The Homeland Security statement marks the first official word from the Trump administration about increased immigration enforcement after weeks of Trump vacillating between vows of “going in” to Chicago with the potential deployment of National Guard troops to fight overall crime, to a stepped-up immigration enforcement role by U.
S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. ICE has secured an office at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago to serve as an operations hub for its activities. There was no word on how long the ICE operation would last, and there was also no mention of whether Trump would deploy the National Guard to play a supporting role.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Gov. JB Pritzker, address reporters on the planned deployment of federal military and Department of Homeland Security personnel to Chicago at a news conference on Sept. 2, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) “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,” Johnson said in a statement.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said the ramped-up ICE activity was a waste of federal law enforcement resources, and she warned Trump was looking to “provoke a response to his un-American actions, hoping for images of chaos and violence to validate his lie that Chicago is an apocalyptic city in crisis and justify sending in the military to intimidate Americans.
” Despite the “blitz” announcement, it remained unclear Monday how extensive the actions were in the early going. Local officials and immigrant activists cited only a handful of arrests. Advocates said they had confirmed ICE presence on the Southwest Side and at least three detentions of “community members in a stretch along Archer Avenue,” said Rey Wences, senior director of deportation defense at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
“We believe this operation signaled the beginning of ICE(‘s) full escalation in Chicago and Illinois,” Wences said, noting it came after “many other raids.” “This has been happening, and it has been starting to get normalized in many of the places in the state and across the city, but this is not normal,” Wences said.
Although the Trump administration portrayed its actions as targeted toward arresting only immigrants who are criminals, studies have also shown that ICE has arrested thousands of Latinos with no criminal history in random locations across the nation. Under Illinois’ sanctuary state policies, enacted by Pritzker’s Republican predecessor, one-term Gov.
Bruce Rauner, Illinois law enforcement cannot cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agents unless they have a detainment warrant issued by a judge. ICE routinely uses an administrative detainment warrant that it issues on its own. A vendor advertises his “Don’t Annoy Illinois” hats for sale after an interfaith LIVE FREE Illinois rally in Daley Plaza on Sept.
8, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) The Trump administration has been previously rebuffed in challenges to the state’s sanctuary policy, with the courts noting that immigration enforcement is the purview of the federal government. Trump set the stage for the operation with a social media post Saturday morning depicting military helicopters flying over the city’s lakefront skyline using the title “Chipocalypse Now.
” “I love the smell of deportations in the morning…” Trump posted on his Truth Social account, altering the famous phrase from the 1979 movie “Apocalypse Now,” about the smell of “Napalm.” In the post, Trump was depicted in U.S. Army fatigues and sunglasses and wearing a Stetson U.S. Cavalry hat like the lieutenant colonel portrayed in the movie by actor Robert Duvall.
“Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” Trump wrote, a day after signing an executive order to rename the Department of Defense to its pre-1949 title. Hours before the DHS announcement, Trump on Monday morning once again urged Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential aspirant, to call the White House for federal help to request National Guard assistance with city crime.
The governor has repeatedly vowed he will not make such a request because it is not necessary, adding that Trump is trying to normalize the sight of military on city streets as part of the president’s moves toward authoritarian rule from the White House. On his Truth Social platform, Trump cited six shooting deaths recorded in the city over the weekend, as well as other murders in recent weeks, as he criticized Pritzker and Johnson for inaction.
Just days after his “Chipocalypse Now” post, which he backed off a day later by saying it wasn’t directed at the city but at criminals, Trump sought to cajole Chicago residents into supporting a federal intervention. “Governor Pritzker just stated that he doesn’t want Federal Government HELP! WHY???
What is wrong with this guy, and the 5% in Polls Mayor. I want to help the people of Chicago, not hurt them. Only the Criminals will be hurt!” Trump wrote on Monday morning. “We can move fast and stop this madness. The City and State have not been able to do the job. People of Illinois should band together and DEMAND PROTECTION.
IT IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE!!! ACT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!” he wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT.” Later, speaking at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., he told the audience, “We’re waiting for a call from Chicago. We’ll fix Chicago,” as he cited reduced crime in the District of Columbia after he federalized law enforcement there, something he cannot do in the individual states.
“We could do the same thing in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles,” Trump said. “I don’t know why Chicago isn’t calling us, saying, please give us help when you have, over just a short period of time, 50 murders and hundreds of people shot, and then you have a governor that stands up and says how crime is just fine,” Trump said, before explaining one major political reason for continuing the rhetoric.
“It’s really crazy,” the Republican president said of Democrats, “but we’re bringing back law and order to our country.” But faith leaders and immigration advocates in Chicago continued to push back against Trump’s narrative that Chicago is crime-ridden and rallied in support of a handful of individuals believed to have been detained by federal agents on Sunday.
Rami Nashashibi, center, founding executive director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network, holds a bullhorn for the Rev. Michael Pfleger as he speaks during an interfaith LIVE FREE Illinois rally in Daley Plaza on Sept. 8, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) Wences described the detentions as “abductions,” and said they were “seemingly random, with agents profiling and approaching them on the street.
” Among those was a street vendor selling flowers on a busy intersection in the Archer Heights neighborhood. He was arrested by three men wearing vests that read “Police Federal Agent.” They were in two vehicles, including a dark Subaru with a Missouri license plate. ICE had not confirmed the arrest as of Monday evening.
Gissele Garcia, 26, pulled over her car as she was driving home from the grocery store when she saw the commotion in the parking lot of a Honda City car dealership on South Archer Avenue and South Pulaski Road. The West Lawn resident approached with her phone up, filming the encounter. She tried getting the street vendor’s name and asked him if he had any family she could call.
Speaking in Spanish, the man said he didn’t know his relatives’ phone numbers. “It seemed — I don’t know how to put this — like he had given up,” she told the Tribune Sunday. The Rev. Ebony Only, left, and Pastor Leslie Glover cheer during an interfaith LIVE FREE Illinois rally in Daley Plaza on Sept.
8, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) By Monday morning, around 50 people shouted “faith over fear,” in Daley Plaza in response to the escalating threat. The event was led by leaders of the Inner City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), LIVE FREE Illinois and New Life Centers. Speakers said there were other ways to improve Chicago than sending in federal agents, including federal spending on health care and education.
“This is not America,” said rally attendee Donald Nye, 68 of Downers Grove. “This is not what my grandson is gonna grow up in. I got a 4-year-old grandson and I’m not gonna allow him to grow up with this. I mean, this is not the way I grew (up).” Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella, Alice Yin and Adriana Perez contributed.
Originally Published: September 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM CDT
