Crime & Law
15 Illinois Residents File Claims Against DHS Alleging They Were Victimized by Federal Agents During ‘Midway Blitz’
Attorney Antonio Romanucci stands with Illinois residents who say they were victimized by federal agents during "Operation Midway Blitz" at a Sept. 17, 2026 press conference. (WTTW News)
More than a dozen Illinoisans are taking legal action against the Trump administration, claiming they were victimized by the violence and abuse federal agents allegedly carried out across Chicago and beyond during the expanded immigration enforcement operation known as “Midway Blitz.”
Fifteen Illinois residents have filed claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act with the Department of Homeland Security, which allows those who have been injured by the “negligent or wrongful acts” of federal agents to seek monetary damages in what can be the first step toward a lawsuit.
Among those who filed claims Thursday are Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Muñoz, independent journalist Leigh Kunkel and local attorney Jennifer Moriarty.
They’ve accused federal agents of excessive force, wrongful detention and other misconduct carried out during the infamous enforcement operation that began across northern Illinois last fall.
“The insurmountable shame that this government has caused its people to carry,” Moriarty said, “is a burden that none of us should have to face.”
DHS spokespersons did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Moriarty has previously testified about her experience, when an agent in Evanston grabbed her by the neck and tossed her to the ground, before handcuffing and detaining her after she began filming the aftermath of a car crash involving the agent’s vehicle.
On Thursday, Moriarty recounted the “cruelty and giddiness” of the agents she saw, whom she said acted with “complete sense of impunity.”
Kunkel has said she was documenting protests when she was hit in the head with a pepper ball fired by a federal agent, and her partner, Kyle Frankovich, was handcuffed and detained without cause for eight hours.
Frankovich said several agents threw him to the ground as he had his hands zip tied behind his back, actions he said resulted in chipped teeth and lasting nerve damage to his left arm.
Muñoz was arrested during a protest at the suburban Broadview immigration processing facility in early October after he was allegedly brought to the ground by then-Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino.
He was detained in the Broadview facility for hours before being released without charge, and said the “fear and uncertainty created that day” still affects him.
“What we experienced and witnessed was deeply troubling,” he said Thursday. “Peaceful demonstrators, people of faith, local residents were met with (an) unprovoked show of force.”
Other alleged Midway Blitz victims have already taken similar legal action by filing tort claims, including Marimar Martinez — who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent during an incident in Brighton Park last October — and Chicago Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) who was briefly detained by agents in the emergency room of the Humboldt Park Health Hospital.
Once those claims are filed, the claimants must wait six months for a possible DHS response before they’re able to file a lawsuit.
Gov. JB Pritzker has long called for all federal agents who committed any criminal misconduct during the campaign to be held accountable. Pritzker last October formed the Illinois Accountability Commission, which sought to investigate federal agents’ misconduct and create a public record of the harm inflicted upon Illinoisans.
In its final report, the commission found that federal immigration agents engaged in unconstitutional uses of force including “extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts” while White House officials routinely lied to conceal the motivations behind “Midway Blitz.”
But that report wasn’t enough to launch any criminal investigation, as Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke repeatedly stressed that her office could not prosecute federal agents unless first presented with evidence by law enforcement.
Since then, several local residents who alleged they were victimized during Midway Blitz have filed reports with the Chicago Police Department.
No criminal charges have yet emerged from any of those cases.
“The time has come,” attorney Antonio Romanucci, whose law firm Romanucci & Blandin, is representing those who filed the claims, said Thursday. “It is time, we will begin to hold ICE and this administration accountable for their wrongdoing in Operation Midway Blitz.”
