US Homeland Security Department to launch immigration enforcement operation in Chicago

WASHINGTON -- The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is launching an operation that "will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois."

The so-called "Operation Midway Blitz" is in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by "criminal illegal alien" Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois, the department said in a statement.

Democrats have expressed opposition to this latest action. "Once again, this isn't about fighting crime. That requires support and coordination -- yet we've experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks," Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said on X.

"Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration's focused on scaring Illinoisians," the governor said.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, meanwhile, said that the City of Chicago received no notice of any enhanced immigration action by the Trump administration.

"We remain opposed to any potential militarized immigration enforcement without due process because of ICE's track record of detaining and deporting American citizens and violating the human rights of hundreds of detainees," said Johnson.

Recently, Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy the National Guard to Chicago to combat crime, following weeks of similar efforts in Washington, D.C. Johnson previously said that deploying the National Guard in Chicago could "inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement."