Activists monitor an ICE vehicle parked near the Cook County jail and courthouse complex on September 8, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. SCOTT OLSON / AFP
The Trump administration on Monday, September 8, launched a new immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, saying the latest federal crackdown in a US city would target the "worst of the worst criminals." The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement of "Operation Midway Blitz" comes after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to send National Guard troops into Illinois, sparring with the state's governor JB Pritzker in social media posts in recent days.
"For years, Governor Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago's streets – putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Pritzker, a Democrat, slapped back at the accusations, posting on X that the operation "isn't about fighting crime" because Washington had done no coordination with Chicago authorities and "the Trump Administration's focused on scaring Illinoisians."
The DHS statement included a list of names, images and rap sheets for 11 "criminal illegal aliens" it said had been released back onto Illinois streets and are now sought for arrest. Having declared victory with his unpopular troop deployments and deportation raids in Washington and Los Angeles, Republican Trump has turned to Democratic-run Chicago as a fresh talking point in his militarized rollout of anti-immigrant policy. He calls the city a "hell-hole" ravaged by gun crime.
