The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched its latest immigration crackdown on Monday, targeting Chicago.
“DHS is launching Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by criminal illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois,” DHS wrote on the social platform X.
“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS added, referring to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D).
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents already have been deployed to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and also rolled out operations in Boston over the weekend as part of President Trump’s sweeping anti-illegal immigration agenda, prompting protests across the country this summer.
The latest effort marks an anticipated ramp-up of the initiatives.
Pritzker over the weekend shared a “Know Your Rights” pamphlet in multiple languages, including that ICE officers can be asked to present a warrant. He also encouraged those witnessing arrests to film them and share them with media organizations.
“Authoritarians thrive on your silence — be loud — for America,” he said in a video shared Saturday on X.
Accompanying its announcement, DHS shared a list of 11 men it said were released into the city after it failed to coordinate with ICE officers.
Trump also previewed the move, sharing an AI photo of himself saying he loves “the smell of deportations in the morning” and saying Chicago was “about to find out why its called the Department of WAR.” He made those comments on social media shortly after ordering the Defense Department to return to its Department of War name.
The move was announced just hours after the Supreme Court allowed ICE agents in Los Angeles to make immigration stops based on someone speaking Spanish or on their profession.
Critics said the practice amounted to racial profiling.
A CATO Institute review of ICE data after they were blocked from using such measures found arrests plummeted 66 percent when agents were unable to use ethnicity, language or profession as the basis for an arrest.
This story was updated at 1:44 p.m.
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