President Donald Trump has demanded the imprisonment of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing them of neglecting to safeguard U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers amid escalating protests over intensified immigration enforcement. A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking the full deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois, while Operation Midway Blitz has resulted in over 1,000 arrests of undocumented migrants in the Chicago area, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The administration has federalized 300 Illinois and 400 Texas National Guard troops to secure federal sites in Chicago and beyond, a step decried by state and city leaders as an unconstitutional intrusion and discriminatory tactic, prompting lawsuits from Illinois and Chicago to halt the operations.
Trump said, “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Officers!” He added, “Governor Pritzker also!”
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Bovino said, “I doubt the governor could fill custard in a pie factory if it came down to it, but what he is adept at is placing his citizens, his law enforcement officers, and his state in jeopardy at the hands of criminals.” Bovino added, “It’s plain and simple: he doesn’t care.”
Trump Escalates Feud With Illinois Over Immigration
At least three people were taken into custody after a confrontation between residents and federal agents on Chicago’s Northwest Side Saturday morning.
Witnesses told WGN-TV they were shaken by what happened and are seeking answers about why federal agents approached a landscaper working in the neighborhood.
“I think I heard one of the whistles, that’s what caught my attention, and then they tackled him right in my front yard,” Kolp said.
The incident took place in the Old Irving Park neighborhood, near Kildare and Waveland. Video from the scene shows neighbors confronting the agents as tear gas fills the air and several people are pinned to the ground.
“They ended up taking at least two other people into custody, including my 70-year-old-ish neighbor who lives in that house there,” Kolp said. “He was just coming home from a run. They took him to the ground and ended up taking him away.”
Feds use tear gas in Chicago neighborhood during fracas
Chief Border Patrol Agent Greg Bovino has challenged Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) to witness firsthand the violence targeting federal immigration officers, following Goldman’s televised dismissal of a reported surge in such incidents. Tensions have intensified between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and activists, with ongoing protests in Portland and Chicago prompting heightened federal responses, including the deployment of 100 National Guard members to an ICE facility in suburban Chicago, as confirmed by Bovino.
Bovino referenced a $12,000 bounty on his life, emphasizing the dangers faced by ICE and Border Patrol personnel daily.
‘Come Out Here’: Border Patrol Chief Challenges Democrat
Cook County Courts Chief Judge Timothy Evans has barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making courthouse arrests, citing concerns that detention has discouraged court appearances. The order has prohibited civil detention of parties, witnesses, and visitors. Immigrant groups claimed prior arrests have undermined trust in the justice system.
Since July, ICE has arrested at least a dozen people outside Cook County courthouses. Advocacy groups said fear has kept residents from hearings, including one woman detained outside a domestic violence court.
Cook County Public Defender Cruz Rodriguez said, “I have had numerous conversations with clients who are presented with a difficult decision of either missing court and receiving an arrest warrant or coming to court and risk being arrested by ICE.”
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Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch (D) urged statewide limits on federal arrests near public institutions, while Gov. JB Pritzker suggested agents may have violated prior court restrictions. Welch stated, “We won’t sit back and let our democracy be taken from us.” He added, “If we can do something similar statewide, I’d love to get that done, because what’s happening with these ICE agents and courthouses and territories around courthouses is unacceptable.”
Federal immigration agents reportedly detained a 15-year-old U.S. citizen during a Chicago Border Patrol (CBP) operation, prompting criticism from civil rights advocates. Attorneys claimed the teenager was held without charges or legal counsel. The law firm representing him launched a civil investigation into the incident, calling it a troubling abuse of authority.
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The 15-year-old was arrested for assault and later released without charges. DHS said the teen was arrested for allegedly throwing an egg that hit a Border Patrol agent during a chase following a vehicle collision. Officials noted that the teen admitted to the act. Attorneys from Romanucci & Blandin said the teen was held for several hours without family contact before release.
Attorneys claimed the detention may have violated constitutional protections against unlawful seizure and due process. Attorney Antonio M. Romanucci stated, “This is how people disappear in autocracies—grabbed off streets, held in unmarked locations, no calls to family, no stated charges, no due process.”
Chicago Teen’s CBP Arrest Sparks Civil Rights Uproar
During an operation in a Chicago neighborhood on October 3, immigration agents deployed tear gas by an elementary school. Community members now live in fear of being targeted by immigration officials. [Video]
Weeks after immigration agents deployed tear gas near a Chicago elementary school, community fears persist
A Chicago woman has told Newsweek she was “forcibly removed” from her vehicle by immigration agents. Dayanne Figueroa, a U.S. citizen and paralegal, said her car was struck by an unmarked government vehicle at the 1600 block of West Hubbard Street in Chicago on the morning of Friday, October 10, while she was on her way to get coffee before work.
A Chicago woman has told Newsweek she was “forcibly removed” from her vehicle by federal immigration agents.
Dayanne Figueroa, a U.S. citizen and paralegal, said an unmarked government vehicle struck her car at the 1600 block of West Hubbard Street in Chicago on the morning of October 10, while she was on her way to get coffee before going to work.
“I was in shock and terrified,” Figueroa told Newsweek. “Instead of handling the situation as a routine traffic incident, the masked agents, armed in hands, forcibly removed me from my car without questions and without informing me that I was under arrest.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Newsweek that Border Patrol was making a targeted arrest when Figueroa’s vehicle blocked agents and struck an unmarked government vehicle.
Footage obtained by Newsweek appears to show armed federal agents detaining Figueroa, dragging her by the legs to remove her from her vehicle. Some agents brandish guns, and bystanders can be heard shouting, “You hit her,” as the situation unfolds.
Additional video obtained by Figueroa’s family from another witness provides a different angle of the encounter. The bystander who is filming tells federal agents: “You hit her. We all saw it.”
“You guys are f*****g scumbags, f*****g Nazis. They hit her car. You guys hit her, and you f*****g know it,” the bystander is heard saying.
“As agents were departing, the driver, a U.S. citizen, struck an unmarked government vehicle,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek.
“In fear of public safety and of law enforcement, officers attempted to remove her from the vehicle. She violently resisted, kicking two agents and causing injuries. This agitator was arrested for assault on a federal agent,” McLaughlin added.
Figueroa disputes DHS’s account, denying that she crashed into agents and accusing the immigration enforcers of using excessive force.
“The video evidence is clear: Agents crashed into me. I was not involved in any protest or related activity, and I intend to seek justice for how I was treated. I am confident the facts will speak for themselves,” she said.
Chicago has emerged as a focal point in the national conversation over immigration enforcement as federal authorities step up operations under the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz. The initiative has included increased ICE activity across the city, with arrests and targeted actions in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. Critics say the operations have heightened fear among residents and strained community relations, while federal officials maintain that the measures are necessary to enforce immigration laws and detain individuals with criminal records.
Amid the Trump administration’s hard-line mass deportation push, there have been dozens of reports of U.S. citizens being questioned or detained by immigration authorities, raising concerns over racial profiling, the agencies’ practices and enforcement criteria. Multiple federal agencies—including Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—are being mobilized to carry out coordinated immigration operations as the administration pursues its goal of removing millions of migrants without legal status.
Figueroa described the experience as physically and emotionally distressing, saying the manner in which she was removed from her vehicle left her traumatized and injured. She said she was treated “like cattle.”
The paralegal said she was transported to multiple undisclosed locations and was not allowed to contact her family or legal counsel. She said she was never charged with a crime or informed of a legal reason for her detention.
“These actions constitute serious violations of federal civil rights law and multiple provisions of the United States Constitution,” Figueroa said.
She said she had recently undergone kidney surgery. “I am presently receiving ongoing medical treatment and attending numerous appointments to rehabilitate from recent kidney surgeries and from multiple new injuries directly caused by this assault,” Figueroa said.
Her family is now raising money on GoFundMe for legal and medical fees following the incident.
US Citizen dragged from car by Border Patrol in Chicago
“I was in shock and terrified,” Dayanne Figueroa told Newsweek.
A shakeup is looming at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because Donald Trump’s White House has become increasingly frustrated with the pace of arrests of undocumented immigrants — and now jobs are on the line.
According to a report from the New York Times, regional ICE officials are being asked to explain why arrest numbers are down which led former senior ICE official Claire Trickler-McNulty to explain, “They are under constant threat; people are ground down; it’s a culture of fear.”
Noting that the agency has been in constant turmoil, Trickler-McNulty added, “There has been so much shuffling of deck chairs — I can’t imagine anyone even having the ability to take on real challenges.”
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With the administration setting a goal of 600,000 deportations by the end of Trump’s first year of his second term, the report states the numbers are falling from the proposed 3,000 immigrants per day, ordered by Trump advisor Stephen Miller, down to slightly more than 1,000 a day.
ICE officials living in a ‘culture of fear’ as arrests lag and jobs threatened: report
Attorneys with Romanucci & Blandin said a U.S. citizen minor was detained, restrained, and held without family contact for hours during the incident. Romanucci said, “This is how people disappear in autocracies—grabbed off streets, held in unmarked locations, no calls to family, no stated charges, no due process.”
Border Patrol SUV Rammed in Chicago Immigration Arrest
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux revealed last week that he has declined a $25 million offer from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a move that has sparked sharp criticism from Mayor Eric Johnson (KDFW).
Dallas police chief turns down $25M offer to partner with ICE
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux revealed last week that he has declined a $25 million offer from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a move that has sparked sharp criticism from Mayor Eric Johnson (KDFW).
