Crime & Law
Chicago Coalition Pushing for Special Prosecutor to Investigate ICE Crimes, Drawing Pushback From State’s Attorney
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent takes part in an early morning operation in Park Ridge, Ill., Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo / Erin Hooley)
Hundreds of Chicago officials, attorneys and leaders are set this week to call for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of abuse by federal immigration officers during “Operation Midway Blitz” — a plan Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke claims will make it harder for her office to secure convictions in those cases.
Attorneys with the law firm of Loevy and Loevy say a “broad coalition” is set to make a public call for a special prosecutor after Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “terrorized” Cook County communities last fall during the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement operation.
That group has expressed frustrations with O’Neill Burke, whose office had not yet charged any federal agents in connection with “Midway Blitz.”
“They committed assault and battery against peaceful civilians, members of the clergy, and reporters without provocation; illegally kidnapped and detained an elected official and others; tear-gassed entire neighborhoods; and shot multiple people, killing at least one,” Loevy and Loevy said in a statement. “Federal agents conspired to commit these crimes, and they obstructed justice and perjured themselves under oath to protect themselves from accountability.”
That coalition — which the law firm says includes more than 200 elected officials, community organizations, journalists, attorneys, academics, religious leaders, and other stakeholders — is set to hold a press conference Thursday in Federal Plaza.
But already O’Neill Burke is pushing back. She called the plan “frivolous, contrary to centuries of legal precedent and court rulings, (and) riddled with factual errors,” saying that a petition for a special prosecutor would only make it “more difficult” for her office to prosecute ICE agents who break the law.
“The stakes are too high for us to get this wrong, and I will strenuously oppose this petition,” she said in a statement. “We have all been horrified by the thuggish and inappropriate conduct of ICE agents in Chicago, Minnesota and across the country, causing each of us to ask each other: what can be done?”
Numerous calls for criminal charges have been made after federal agents killed Silverio Villegas González during a traffic stop in suburban Franklin Park and critically wounded Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park in separate incidents during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge last fall.
No agents have yet been charged with a crime in either case.
O’Neill Burke in her statement pointed to a new protocol change she implemented last month that calls for the use of all available prosecutorial tools to support law enforcement investigations into the use of force by federal immigration officers.
She said that protocol includes a plan to preserve relevant evidence in case a future federal administration decides to pursue criminal charges.
“My office’s goal is not to merely charge, but to successfully prosecute and convict criminal ICE agents,” she said. “The issues at hand are difficult due to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and challenges in acquiring evidence from federal law enforcement under this current administration.”
That announcement came days after Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle called on O’Neill Burke to pursue criminal charges against federal immigration agents for excessive force, and weeks after Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order directing the Chicago Police Department to document actions by agents and attempt to identify those responsible for suspected misconduct or criminal violations.
The coalition pushing for a special prosecutor said many of the crimes they want to see prosecuted were witnessed by others and captured on camera, while dozens of sworn declarations and hundreds of hours of video evidence, were submitted in federal lawsuits detailing the broad allegations.
“An independent, special prosecutor is essential to ensure that there is accountability in Cook County,” Loevy and Loevy said.
Note: Loevy and Loevy has done legal work for WTTW News.
