Trump Announces Chicago ICE Operation

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, which will “target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois,” according to their Sept. 8 announcement.

The specifics of the operation are vague, and the extent to which ICE will be active in Chicago is still unknown. ICE has already begun operations. So far, there have been arrests by agents in Cicero, Archer Heights and The Little Village, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. 

Ethan Beltran, a fourth-year journalism major, said he saw ICE officers arrest a flower vendor in his neighborhood of Archer Heights. Beltran was exiting the Pulaski Orange line station when masked agents pulled the man from the street, leaving his flowers behind on the pavement.

“They’re just trying to take anybody,” Beltran said. “They’re just looking for anyone with a certain color skin. They’re picking them up in raids, It’s like an invasion”

Archer Height’s population is 81.4% Hispanic, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.  Alderwoman Jeylu Gutierrez (14th) confirmed at least five arrests had been made by ICE in the neighborhood Sunday. 

“They just took him,” Beltran said.

In a video posted to Reddit by a bystander, the ICE officer appeared to be wearing a gold pin emblazoned with the silhouette of Donald Trump. 

ICE Officer Shoots Man in Franklin Park

An ICE officer shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez in the Chicago Suburb of Franklin Park Sept. 12. Villegas-Gonzalez hit and dragged an ICE officer with his car before the ICE officer shot and killed him, according to The Department of Homeland Security.

The operation announcement claims Governor JB Pritzker is responsible for crime in Illinois and says sanctuary policies are allowing gang members, rapistist, kidnappers and drug traffickers to roam Chicago’s streets. 

Chicago has experienced a 21.6% drop in violent crime in the past year, which Mayor Brandon Johnson attributes to expanded youth summer employment, adding detectives to the Chicago Police Department, violence prevention programs and increasing the numbers of mental health professionals.

Chicago has experienced its lowest numbers for summer murders since 1965, according to the CPD and City of Chicago.

“There is research that suggests that immigrants are actually not increasing crime rates, they are lowering crime rates,” said Associate Professor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Race and Ethnicity Program Cristian Paredes. “The presence of immigrants has been more connected to the revitalization perspective, which actually suggests that the presence of immigrants has a correspondence with lower crime rates, especially for violent crimes.” 

Organizers of the Mexican Independence Day celebration — originally planned for Sept. 13-14 in Grant Park — decided to postpone the event, fearing they would be a target of ICE, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. 

“I don’t think it should be allowed because at the end of the day, everybody has lives,” first-year business major Andre Armendariz-Vaals said.

Armendariz-Vaals said he thought it was wrong for ICE agents to target people based on generalizations about accents and race. 

The Republican’s Big Bill signed into law by Trump July 4th nearly doubled The Department of Homeland Security’s annual budget with $170 billion of funding. The bill allocated $30 billion for ICE officers, $45 billion for detention facilities and $10 billion for the office of Homeland Security Secretary, The Associated Press reported. 

“ICE has become an instrument that has a lot of economic power, especially considering this new deal,” Paredes said. “ICE gets more funding compared to other enforcement offices.” 

The Supreme Court lifted a restraining order from a judge which barred ICE patrols in LA from stopping people indiscriminately in the Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem case. The overturned ruling had previously restricted ICE from stopping people based on their race, language, job or location. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision erodes constitutional freedoms in her dissent, the AP reported. 

“With this type of policy they are targeting a specific population which is the undocumented Latino population, ” Paredes said.

Chicago has some protections in place for undocumented people in the city. 

Chicago is a sanctuary city, which means the city won’t disclose an individual’s immigration status, won’t cooperate with immigration enforcement and will only detain an undocumented person if they are wanted on a criminal warrant by local or federal authorities, have been convicted of a serious crime or are otherwise a clear threat to public safety or national security, according to the City of Chicago.

Johnson also signed an executive order Aug. 30 to establish the “Protecting Chicago Initiative.” This initiative is an effort by the City of Chicago to protect the constitutional rights of Chicagoans, according to the Office of The Mayor.

The order also prevents Chicago police officers from wearing face coverings and ensures they wear an identifiable badge, as opposed to ICE agents, which can cover their faces and dress in plain clothes. Methods to educate Chicagoans on their rights are included in the order as well. 

“Many families who have lived in Illinois for years are afraid to pick up their kids from school, go to work, and live their lives freely,” Governor JB Pritzker said in a press release Sept. 9. “At such an uncertain moment for our immigrant communities, it is more important than ever that people know their rights and have someone looking out for them.

Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) told The Phoenix her office is continuing to canvas in the ward to remind residents of their civil rights. 

“We in Illinois, Chicago, and the 48th Ward reject Trump’s orders for mass detainments and deportations of people who have a legal right to be here,” Manaa-Hoppenworth wrote in an email to The Phoenix. “Our community stands united to protect our immigrant families.” 

She said she doesn’t expect mass detainment or deportation in the 48th Ward, but said incidents related to ICE in Chicago can be traumatic for families and communities.  

“Once again he is using our very vulnerable such as immigrants and refugees to sow discord, distrust and chaos,” Manaa-Hoppenworth wrote in an email to the Phoenix. “But I stand united with Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson, and we stand firmly united to remind the federal government that we are a sanctuary state and city. We will protect our neighbors with information, education, rule of law and love.”