Oct. 22, 2025, 8:48 p.m. CTCHICAGO – Federal immigration enforcement agents raided the city’s longtime historic Mexican neighborhood on Oct. 22, removing several people, causing car accidents and brandishing weapons, according to residents, local leaders and advocates.The raids come as Chicago awaits the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether Trump can deploy the National Guard to the city or not. White House lawyers have argued immigration agents cannot enforce federal law without the help of the military. Also on Oct. 22, administration lawyers agreed to leave in place a lower court judge’s decision barring troop deployments until the higher court rules.Agents in the morning descended on the commercial corridor of Little Village, a South Side neighborhood and heart of Chicago’s Mexican community. Photos and video from the scene show masked U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents sprinting after people and local business owners locking their doors ahead of agents."A reign of terror was brought upon our neighborhood," local Ald. Mike Rodriguez told USA TODAY. "They took at least eight people, of those eight, four were U.S. citizens, and two were members of my staff."The raids on the city’s most prominent Mexican neighborhood come as part of President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz, his Chicago-area immigration enforcement crackdown. Trump launched the blitz on Sept. 8, saying it was needed to catch "the worst of the worst" criminal immigrants. Many local critics say instead innocent people are being left terrorized.Federal judges in the Northern District of Illinois handling cases related to the blitz have begun issuing rulings against the president over Homeland Security’s aggressive tactics and barring the White House from deploying the National Guard.But the rulings out of the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago have not slowed the pace of immigration enforcement raids throughout the region. On Oct. 22, agents raided the historic South Side Mexican community and a neighboring suburb; on Oct. 21, an Illinois state house representative says federal agents stopped him at gunpoint for documenting raids on the North Side; and a Chicago alderwoman says she was also stopped by agents for documenting their activities.Homeland Security officials did not respond to requests for comments on the raids. Agency spokespeople last answered questions about the blitz on Oct. 8, saying "ICE and U.S. Border Patrol officers have arrested more than 1,500 illegal aliens — including criminal pedophiles, murderers, child abusers, kidnappers, gang members, and armed robbers."Here’s the latest on the blitz in Chicago.Is the National Guard coming?Trump moved to deploy hundreds of Illinois and Texas National Guard troops to the Chicago region as part of his blitz campaign. But a federal judge in downtown Chicago temporarily barred him from doing so.White House lawyers had argued that a potential "rebellion" was underway in Chicago. Trump administration lawyers cited protests outside a local immigration enforcement facility and in response to federal agents making arrests in city neighborhoods. U.S. District Judge April M. Perry questioned whether the Homeland Security allegations White House lawyers cited in their arguments were "tethered to reality."The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld Perry's decision. But Trump’s lawyers appealed again and the case is now before the Supreme Court. It’s unclear when they could rule. Trump administration lawyers have agreed to let Perry’s order barring the National Guard deployments remain in place until the Supreme Court rules. Legal experts say the White House’s offer indicates they believe the high court will rule in their favor, according to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times.Federal judge questions ICE over aggressive tacticsA group of journalists, clergy and protesters also filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security agents over their use of chemical weapons on people in the Chicago area. In an Oct. 9 court hearing, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton said federal agents had deployed $100,000 of non-lethal weapons to stop "rioters" from hindering immigration enforcement.U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis issued an order limiting agents’ use of chemical weapons in the Chicago area and compelling them to wear identification. Ellis amended her order a week later on Oct. 16 to ensure agents wear body-worn cameras after she was concerned that immigration agents were not following her orders. She also ordered top Homeland Security officials into court to testify.Customs and Border Patrol Deputy Incident Cmdr. Kyle Harvick and Deputy Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office Director Shawn Byers both told the judge on Oct. 20 that agents were following her orders to issue warnings before using chemical weapons. Locals being teargassed say they have not heard any warnings being used. Harvick and Byers’ testimony comes after Perry found in a separate case that Homeland Security’s account of events in the city was not reliable.Harvick also justified federal agents shooting a local pastor with a pepper ball. A clip of the incident shows Rev. David Black standing among a group of protesters before he’s shot directly in the head by an agent posted on a rooftop building. "What’s not being shown is he was given multiple commands to move," Harvick said. Byers said 75 people have been arrested in the Chicago area in connection with attempting to block immigration enforcement.Up next in the case, Ellis is allowing Customs and Border Patrol Commander at-Large Chief Gregory Bovino to be deposed in connection with how he has directed his agents. Bovino is the face of the blitz. Among actions he’s participated in are the raids on Little Village and a Sept. 30 raid on a South Side apartment building that saw agents rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters.