As the Trump administration’s mass deportation raids continue, their impact has stretched across the Chicago region and the nation. The Department of Homeland Security said it had arrested more than 4,300 during the two-month Operation Midway Blitz, which began the first weekend of September, but it has not offered more detailed figures on the backgrounds of detainees. More detailed data of many of the arrests, both obtained by the Tribune and as part of a federal lawsuit, indicate that most detainees do not have significant criminal records. Meanwhile, political tensions have deepened, hundreds of immigrants, protesters and bystanders have been detained or arrested during the most recent raids, and thousands have protested across Chicago and the suburbs, from Home Depot and Target parking lots to outside the two-story brick U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Broadview. Here’s what we know about federal immigration enforcement in and around the city, as well as other immigration-related stories and the National Guard deployment. Stay current with the latest news by subscribing to the Chicago Tribune — and sign up for our free Immigration Bulletin newsletter. How we got here Residents watch while Gregory Bovino, chief U.S. Border Patrol agent, second from left, and other federal officers finish their march along North Clark Street by the Newberry Library in Chicago’s Gold Coast on Sept. 28, 2025, as part of an immigration blitz show of force. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)1 of 23Residents watch while Gregory Bovino, chief U.S. Border Patrol agent, second from left, and other federal officers finish their march along North Clark Street by the Newberry Library in Chicago’s Gold Coast on Sept. 28, 2025, as part of an immigration blitz show of force. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)Expand President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced Sept. 8 that it had begun a surge of immigration law enforcement in Chicago, dubbing it “Operation Midway Blitz” and claiming it would target “criminal illegal aliens” who have benefited from the city and state’s sanctuary policies. “Let’s be clear, the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here,” Gov. JB Pritzker said Sept. 2. Trump set the stage for the operation with a social media post depicting military helicopters flying over the city’s lakefront skyline using the title “Chipocalypse Now.” “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. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, the top official on the ground leading the Trump administration’s efforts, departed Chicago in early November for another assignment, and most of the agents under this command were also redeployed elsewhere. But the winding down of Operation Midway Blitz, which began in early September, does not mean that enhanced immigration enforcement will end anytime soon. Sources said the feds planned to leave in place a still-to-be-determined force of some Border Patrol agents as well as extra Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Chicago activists share blueprint for resisting Border Patrol: ‘Chicago clearly is front and center’ Border Patrol’s strong-arm tactics are the new norm in Chicago as Trump moves to sideline ICE leadership ICE and Donald Trump target police in Chicago and other cities for recruitment in a TV ad Gov. JB Pritzker again makes Nazi comparisons after President Trump threatens DC-like takeover in Chicago 64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz Federal agents detain a person while members of the community and activists protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) President Donald Trump’s federal immigration enforcement operation led to the most surreal autumn in Chicago history. What happened during those 64 days will be remembered for a long time. Cost of Operation Midway Blitz: $59M and counting Donald Trump says he’s dropping push for National Guard in Chicago — for now How a garden store worker became part of the ‘Broadview Six’ Chicago remains alert, even as Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and agents sweep in and out of town U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino is confronted by residents and protesters during an immigration operation in Little Village on Dec. 16, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) When Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and a throng of masked federal agents returned to Chicago in a flash on Dec. 16, residents across the city — armed with whistles, smartphone cameras and chat networks on encrypted texting channels — were just as quick to greet them. “For our team, we never stopped preparing, being ready,” said Torrence Gardner, a cofounder of the community group Protect Rogers Park. Sources told the Tribune that Bovino had once again left the city on Dec. 18. It’s unclear whether his agents would remain behind or how many. Indeed, his apparent departure was followed by a noticeable decrease in immigration enforcement activity. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino praises police assistance in immigration enforcement as CPD denies support Immigration agents’ poor tactics in Chicago made for needless safety risks, experts say Gov. JB Pritzker signs Illinois immigration law that curbs courthouse arrests and expands right to sue agents Nearly 1,900 immigrants were detained during 1st half of ‘Midway Blitz.’ Most had no criminal record. U.S. Border Patrol agents exchange handcuffs for plastic zip-ties while transferring detainees in Niles on Oct. 31, 2025. The detainees were picked up while they were landscaping on Chicago’s Northwest Side. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Newly released federal data shows that immigration agents booked in roughly 1,900 immigrants in the first half of Operation Midway Blitz — two-thirds of whom had no known criminal convictions or pending charges. The latest data offers the first comprehensive look at the effects of the operation, and a Tribune analysis underscores the divide between the stated goal of the administration of President Donald Trump — to target “the worst of the worst” — with the reality of controversial roundups that typically snagged immigrants living in the the U.S. without permanent legal status even though they had no known rap sheets. Of the 1,895 people detained by ICE, 1,271 lacked any criminal record. Another 343 people arrested had a pending criminal charge, while 281 had a criminal conviction. Of those with a criminal conviction, the vast majority of offenses were misdemeanors, traffic citations or nonviolent felonies. Only 28 arrestees —1.5% — had been convicted of a violent felony or sex crime. Rioters? Agitators? Immigration agents’ claims against US citizens mostly fall apart in court. Chicago appeals court blocks release of hundreds of Operation Midway Blitz detainees pending individual review ‘Shocked’: Chicago appeals judge rips lower court’s ruling to release immigration arrestees Bodycam footage from Operation Midway Blitz released: ‘It’s all about arresting people’ Chicago immigrants left with hope, trauma and resolve after Operation Midway Blitz Injunction ruling provides new look at Operation Midway Blitz, from tear gas to agent using ChatGPT to help write report Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’ ‘The story of one more Venezuelan, one more Latino’ Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez wraps himself in a blanket while barricading himself on a second-floor balcony of an apartment on Maple Lane on Dec. 6, 2025, in Elgin. The blanket was tossed up to him by a bystander when federal agents weren’t watching. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) Roughly 2,400 miles from where her nephew faced an hourslong standoff with ICE agents in Elgin in December, Genesis Adriana Gutierrez Morales’ voice shook in Maracaibo, Venezuela, with sadness and rage at the words from authorities she said tarnished her nephew’s name. “I don’t have the words to describe the frustration that you feel as family, of not being able to do anything, to be far away from him and not be able to help him,” Morales, 35, said in Spanish in a phone interview with the Tribune. “And I’m angered by all the things they’re saying about him that are false, angered that they are smearing his name when I know that does not represent him.” DHS claims man detained in prolonged immigration arrest in Elgin on Saturday is member of Tren de Aragua Federal immigration agents use tear gas on Elgin crowd on day of Kristi Noem’s visit to Chicago Kristi Noem appearance at annual Christmas tree offload sparks protests at Navy Pier First, ICE raided their apartment building. Now, they’re being forced to vacate it. The building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive has lost many of its former tenants following a recent large scale raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Chicago, Oct. 8, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Nearly 1,900 immigrants were detained during the first half of Operation Midway Blitz. Most had no criminal record. On a freezing Tuesday morning after Chicago’s snowiest November day on record, residents of a building that made international headlines after a federal immigration raid earlier this year decried a recent court-ordered mandate to vacate their homes at 7500 South Shore Drive. The five-story apartment building with its decrepit infrastructure and scarce electricity was the site of a late-night raid in September that was among the most infamous moments in President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz. Now its residents, who last month formed the South Shore Tenants Union, face the possibility of being thrown out of their homes within days. The Circuit Court of Cook County granted an order on Nov. 24 from Wells Fargo Bank to have residents at 7500 S. Shore Drive to vacate by Dec. 5 for those with valid leases and all other occupants were instructed to leave by Dec. 12 of this year. Raided South Shore building’s tenants move out after judge denies pleas for more time They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid. Six Venezuelan migrants arrested in South Shore immigration raid among hundreds who could be released Activity in and around Chicago “Operation Midway Blitz” has been noticeable around Chicago and its suburbs, from tear gas incidents in Logan Square and detaining a mother and child at Millennium Park to a wild manhunt in suburban Mount Prospect and multiple rideshare arrests at O’Hare. A federal judge ruled all immigration enforcement agents must have body cameras and said she was particularly worried about alleged violations in recent clashes, including one in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood where agents used a controversial and potentially dangerous maneuver to disable a fleeing vehicle, then tear-gassed people during a tense gathering at the scene. Tear gas incidents from federal agents during immigration raids have escalated recently, from Little Village to Lakeview to Irving Park. On Sept. 12, Trump’s immigration-enforcement push took a violent turn when agents fatally shot a man in Franklin Park after he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop and struck the officer with his vehicle. The man who was killed was identified by federal officials as Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old single father with two young children. DHS said in a written statement that Villegas-Gonzalez is a citizen of Mexico and was in the U.S. illegally, though further details were not provided. On Oct. 4, federal immigration authorities shot a Chicago woman who, according to federal authorities, had tried to impede them in Brighton Park. In the shooting’s wake, protesters quickly took to the intersection to confront the federal forces. Some threw water bottles as the agents tossed tear gas and flash-bang grenades at them on the residential street. Her dad was taken by immigration agents. Now a 12-year-old girl fears she’s lost her only living parent. Federal immigration agents deploy tear gas on Northwest Side streets as Chicagoans bellow, ‘Get out of our city!’ Federal immigration agents tear-gas Lakeview, raid Lincoln Park as feds focus on city’s affluent North Side Chicago woman dragged out of her car after colliding with ICE demands accountability As his two sons watch and cry, ‘Pa, te amo,’ federal agents arrest man outside of Naperville apartments Oak Park attorney arrested near school says federal agents pointed gun at him, had ‘Chiraq Team 2’ group chat Federal immigration agents raid Swap-O-Rama, patrol Southwest Side: ‘It’s us against y’all’ WGN-TV producer detained during ICE enforcement action in Lincoln Square Chase of cyclist by ICE agents in downtown Chicago described as surreal by witness Upset neighbors interrupt federal immigration manhunt in Mount Prospect Flower vendor arrested at launch of Trump’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ deported to Mexico Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino in court A federal judge in Chicago on Nov. 6 issued a sweeping injunction that puts more permanent restrictions on the use of force by immigration agents, saying top government officials lied in their testimony about threats that protesters posed and that their unlawful behavior on the streets “shows no signs of stopping.” “I find the government’s evidence to be simply not credible,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said in an oral ruling from the bench, describing a litany of incidents where citizens were tear-gassed “indiscriminately,” beaten and tackled by agents and struck in the face with pepper spray balls. “The use of force shocks the conscience,” Ellis said. The judge noted in particular that Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino lied repeatedly in his deposition testimony about force that his agents and he personally inflicted in incidents across the Chicago area. Bovino said federal agents’ operations had been “going very violent” after the same day that his agents fired pepper balls at a moving vehicle in Gage Park and pointed rifles in Little Village as residents blew whistles, screamed at passing federal cars and followed their large convoy around the city’s Southwest Side. “We can operate with great skill, legally, ethically and morally,” he said during a brief stop in Gage Park. Deposition of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino went off the rails at hello, transcript shows Federal judge to hold permanent injunction hearing on use of force by immigration agents before next spring Judge orders release of US Border Patrol head Gregory Bovino deposition videos: Watch them here Deposition of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino nearly ground to halt last week, records show Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino accused of violating judge’s order by throwing tear gas at crowd in Little V