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 “Operation Midway Blitz,” an Illinois panel has found. The Illinois Accountability Commission on Thursday published its final report after months investigating and gathering evidence including witness testimony, video footage and first-hand accounts of the alleged abuse carried out by federal agents during the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement in and around Chicago last fall. “The record is substantial, corroborated across multiple sources, and developed through independent investigation,” commission chair and former judge Ruben Castillo said in a statement. “It demonstrates patterns of illegal and violent conduct by federal immigration enforcement agents during Operation Midway Blitz and the resulting serious and lasting consequences for individuals, families, and communities across Illinois.” The commission report also outlined a series of policy recommendations in its report, including prohibiting “roving” patrols; ending warrantless arrests; halting the use of paramilitary tactics; and requiring federal agents to wear body-worn cameras.
The report also recommends discipline for ICE and Border Patrol agents who committed misconduct. Throughout a series of public hearings, witnesses detailed the terror and fear they experienced as federal agents sought to “spread fear” in residential neighborhoods, the report found. “Agents on these roving patrols donned face masks, military fatigues, body armor, and military-style weapons,” the report states. “They drove unmarked cars and refused to identify themselves. They recorded protesters and legal observers to intimidate them from documenting their activities. They used physical force and tear gas indiscriminately.”
Some backstory: The report comes as a Cook County judge is set to rule next month on a request by local officials and community organizations to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate abuse allegations carried out during Midway Blitz. Thus far, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has resisted those efforts, saying her office has not been referred any cases by local law enforcement and that she lacks the legal authority to initiate criminal investigations into alleged misconduct by federal immigration agents. Castillo, who is among the coalition seeking a special prosecutor, said Thursday that if O’Neill Burke doesn’t want to investigate these allegations, she should “step aside” and let someone else do it.
“(O’Neill Burke) has said she hasn’t been referred anything,” he said. “Well today, she’s going to be referred something, and it should be investigated.”
