The ground shifted under Chicago last fall. What’s normal in the city’s majority-Latino communities today isn’t what it was before Operation Midway Blitz.The Southeast Side, long defined by steel mills and working-class communities, was one of the first places Mexicans came to Chicago more than a century ago. On the Lower West Side, Pilsen stands out for its colorful murals, rich arts and culinary scene and lively Mexican American culture. Farther southwest, Little Village, also known as La Villita, has a vibrant commercial corridor and community celebrations like the Mexican Independence Day parade that are among the oldest and largest in the Midwest.These neighborhoods carved separate paths to becoming majority-Latino and cultural centers for Mexican communities in Chicago. But they shared a common experience last fall: the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz.The immigration enforcement campaign began Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day.Federal officials said the operation targeted violent criminals without legal status, though this proved largely untrue. As enforcement increased, fear spread across Chicago and its suburbs. Latino and immigrant-majority neighborhoods, including Pilsen, Little Village and the Southeast Side, went on high alert.These communities developed their Latino identities over generations, shaped by migration, labor and displacement. Trump’s targeted immigration operations created a shared moment in their histories — a moment filled with fear, uncertainty and community pride. Protesters march westbound on 26th Street in Little Village over recent federal law enforcement raids in the Chicago area, as part of Operation Midway Blitz, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times Protesters march down West 26th Street in Little Village on the Southwest Side to condemn the ICE-involved killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis today, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. | Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times Federal immigration enforcement agents detain an individual near West 27th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue in Little Village, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Federal immigration enforcement agents detain anindividual near West 27th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue in Little Village, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Federal immigration enforcement agents ask to clear the area after detaining an individual at West 27th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue in Little Village, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Rapid responders patrol and look out for federal law enforcement on 26th Street as families trick or treat in Little Village on Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times Construction workers pause their work to watch and show support to protesters as they march by on 26th Street in Little Village over recent federal law enforcement raids in the Chicago area, as part of Operation Midway Blitz, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times Protesters face off with Chicago Police Department officers after federal immigration enforcement agents were spotted near West 23rd Street and South Sawyer Avenue in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times U.S. Border Patrol Commander-At-Large Gregory Bovino holds a canister as he stands with federal immigration enforcement agents during a skirmish with protesters near West 27th Street and South Sacramento Avenue in Little Village, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Residents yell at federal immigration enforcement agents during a skirmish with protesters near West 27th Street and South Sacramento Avenue in Little Village, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a protester near West 27th Street and South Sacramento Avenue in Little Village, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Little Village Community Council President Baltazar Enriquez speaks with a federal immigration enforcement agent during a skirmish with protesters near West 27th Street and South Sacramento Avenue in Little Village, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Residents yell at federal immigration enforcement agents during a skirmish with protesters near West 27th Street and South Sacramento Avenue in Little Village, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Residents yell at federal immigration enforcement agents during a skirmish with protesters near West 27th Street and South Sacramento Avenue in Little Village, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times An federal immigration enforcement agent throws a CS canister at protesters at the intersection of East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Protesters gathered as federal immigration enforcement awaited the removal of its vehicle after it crashed during a pursuit. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Protesters chant and yell at federal immigration enforcement agents at the intersection of East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Protesters gathered as federal immigration enforcement awaited the removal of its vehicle after it crashed during a pursuit. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Protesters yell at federal immigration enforcement Agents at the intersection of East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Protesters gathered as federal immigration enforcement awaited the removal of its vehicle after it crashed during a pursuit. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times federal immigration enforcement agents detain a protester as other protesters try to stop them at the intersection of East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Protesters gathered as federal immigration enforcement awaited the removal of its vehicle after it crashed during a pursuit. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times federal immigration enforcement agents watch protesters at the intersection of East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Protesters gathered as federal immigration enforcement awaited the removal of its vehicle after it crashed during a pursuit. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino leads a caravan of federal immigration enforcement agents, making several stops to question residents on their immigration status, on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times People watch and take photos as U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and a caravan of federal immigration enforcement agents stop at a Shell gas station near West 53rd Street and South Kedzie Avenue on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times A resident waves the Mexican flag as U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and a caravan of federal immigration enforcement agents stop at a Shell gas station near West 53rd Street and South Kedzie Avenue on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times A rapid responder blows a whistle as federal immigration enforcement agents stop a group of people to question their citizenship as U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino leads a caravan on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times People watch and take photos from a doorway as U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and a caravan of federal immigration enforcement agents stop at a Shell gas station near West 53rd Street and South Kedzie Avenue on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times A Latino identity developed over more than centurySoutheast Side Chicago’s Mexican American population first took root in the early 1900s. Many arrived in 1919, when they were recruited during a national steel mill strike. These communities became part of the backbone of heavily industrial South Chicago and the East Side, creating an identity that endures today.In 1923, the community established Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, the first Mexican American parish in the city.As of 2023, Latinos on the East Side and South Chicago made up half of the neighborhoods’ 52,000 residents, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The East Side alone is nearly 90% Latino.Stories from South Chicago and the Southeast Side: Cecy’s Molino de Masa | Maria | Illinois National Guard member | Corina Pedraza | Olga Bautista Maria Ruiz and Rita sit atop a car in the Mexican Independence Day Parade as it travels down East 91st Street on the Southeast Side on Sept. 15, 1957.Southeast Chicago Historical Society PilsenBefore Pilsen became known for its Mexican and Mexican American identity — its streets lined with colorful murals, Mexican stores and restaurants — the neighborhood was home to waves of European immigrants. Named after Plzeň in what is now the Czech Republic, Pilsen began to change in the mid-20th century as Mexican and Puerto Rican families moved in, many displaced from the Near West Side by expressway construction and the expansion of the University of Illinois Chicago campus.By the 1960s, Pilsen had become predominantly Latino, shaped by social activism, civic engagement and artistic expression. Today, Pilsen is 68% Latino and Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data. In recent years, rising housing costs and new development have raised concerns about gentrification and the displacement of longtime residents.Stories from Pilsen and the Southwest Side: Alejandra | Latinos Progresando Mexican students protest at the Froebel Branch of Harrison High School at 2021 W. 21st St. in Chicago, May 5, 1973. Students and families in Pilsen called for a new high school to be built that would better cater to the area’s Spanish-speaking students. This plan was met with resistance from the Chicago Board of Education.Sun-Times file Little VillageLocated in South Lawndale, Little Village was once known as “Czech California,” reflecting its strong Czech, Slovak and other Eastern European communities and their businesses along 26th Street.In the mid-1960s, as Black people moved to neighboring North Lawndale, the white business owners and leaders of South Lawndale began calling that area “Little Village” to highlight the European ethnic community and differentiate it from North Lawndale, according to a city report on the neighborhood’s history. But Little Village’s white residents still moved to the suburbs, leaving room for Mexican families, many of whom were pushed west from Pilsen.By 1980, Latinos made up nearly half of Little Village’s population, with Mexicans as the dominant group. In 1990, the Mexican government donated the Little Village arch, cementing the neighborhood’s identity. It reads “Bienvenidos a Little Village.”The neighborhood was proud of its roots. Many began to call Little Village the “Mexico of the Midwest.” The latest U.S. Census data shows South Lawndale, still the area’s official name, is 81% Latino and Hispanic.The Pilsen and Little Village corridor now has the largest concentration of Latinos in the Midwest. Little Village’s 26th Street commercial corridor generates millions in annual revenue and is the city’s second highest tax-generating district, after the Magnificent Mile.Stories from Little Village/La Villita: Viento, the running club | Moreno’s Liquors In 1983, Rudy Lozano, a Mexican-American community activist who was instrumental in campaigning for the election of Harold Washington as mayor, was murdered in his home following Washington’s victory. The funeral service was at St. Pius Catholic Church, 1919 S. Ashland Ave., and the procession went down 26th Street in Pilsen. Washington attended the funeral.Sun-Times file Operation Midway Blitz’s disruption of communitiesThe feds’ targeting of Latino and immigrant-majority neighborhoods wasn’t surprising, but the agents’ aggression, detention of nonviolent immigrants and blatant contempt for people of color became flash points.Early during Operation Midway Blitz, in September, Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino told a WBEZ reporter that some people are arrested based partly on “how they look.”Toward the end of the operation, on Nov. 10, dozens of Border Patrol agents posed Downtown in front of The Bean. As they prepared to take the picture, an agent reportedly said, “Everyone say ‘Little Village!” According to media reports, the agents shouted back “Little Village!”In between, federal agents disrupted daily life, particularly in places like Little Village, Pilsen and the Southeast Side. Immigrants and other Chicagoans feared detention while walking outside, waiting for the bus or taking children to school.In some neighborhoods, the streets were empty. Business owners saw drastic declines in sales. Some feared having to close. Community events and parades were canceled.Neighborhoods known for their vibrancy and close-knit community life were quiet.Families feared separation, and parents worried about the long-term impact on their children.Critics of the immigration operations pointed to violent tactics, performative operations and unconstitutional detentions. Supporters said the federal government was targeting violent and dangerous immigrants.According to U.S. Department of Justice documents, 97% of those detained during Operation Midway Blitz had no criminal records.The Trump administration continued to push the narrative that it was taking murders and rapists off the streets.After the agents posed at The Bean, they began leaving Chicago. The federal influx of some 300 agents for Operation Midway Blitz ended. But ICE enforcement — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — continues. And while that enforcement has remained at pre-Blitz levels, the communities the feds swarmed are changed. Here’s what’s different, according to people who live there.The aftereffectsLittle Village: Viento, the running club Tony Gomez, a member of the Little Village Run Club “Viento” participates in a group run around his neighborhood on Dec. 9, 2025. During the increased immigration operations in Chicago they had to adjust and create work arounds to keep their runners safe. | Manuel Martinez/WBEZ Members of the Little Village Run Club “Viento” stretch before participating in a group run around his neighborhood on Dec. 9, 2025. During the increased immigration operations in Chicago the group checked if there were are any verified sightings of federal officers before running. | Manuel Martinez/WBEZ Manny Trejo, a member of the Little Village Run Club “Viento” participates in a group run around his neighborhood on Dec. 9, 2025. During the increased immigration operations in Chicago they identified safe havens in case agents targeted them. | Manuel Martinez/WBEZ Tony Gomez, a member of the Little Village Run Club “Viento” participates in a group run around his neighborhood on Dec. 9, 2025. He runs past Little Village’s iconic arch. Last fall, Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood became a target of the Trump Administration’s