A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday leaves open the possibility that ICE agents can use ethnicity among other factors when making immigration sweeps. The ruling coincides with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s announcement of “Operation Midway Blitz,” which is expected to ramp up ICE’s presence in Chicago.
Homeland Security officials on Monday said they intend to target “criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois” in a new immigration operation after an Illinois woman was killed in a drunk driving crash allegedly involving an undocumented immigrant early this year.
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The conservative majority lifted a restraining order from a judge who found that “roving patrols” were conducting indiscriminate stops in and around LA. The order had barred immigration agents from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location.
For the Chicago Police Department, the challenge is acute. The force must preserve public safety in a city already under strain while avoiding the appearance of working hand-in-hand with federal immigration authorities, a stance that could erode community trust and ignite new protests.
This year the typically joyful period coincides with Trump’s threats to add Chicago to the list of other Democratic-led cities he has targeted for expanded federal enforcement. His administration has said it will step up immigration enforcement in Chicago
Immigration and Customs Enforcement strike teams are likely to begin operations around Chicago in the coming days, and local officials expect agents to target large gatherings like Sunday’s parade in Little Village and Saturday’s 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade in Pilsen.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement strike teams are likely to hit Chicago’s streets late Friday or Saturday morning after gathering at Naval Station Great Lakes, which is about 35 miles outside of the city, Gov. JB Pritzker said.
While Trump’s aggressive deportation plans accelerate, Gregory Bovino carefully hones his image, both his own and the one projected to the country that shows well-armed officers moving swiftly into place to make arrests.
“I’m deeply concerned, uncertain, about what the future looks like at the moment, but as you can see, fighting like hell to make sure we don’t fall into the abyss as a result of unconstitutional actions by the president,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.
“We do not want to see tanks in our streets,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We do not want to see families ripped apart. We do not want grandmothers thrown into the back of unmarked vans. We don’t want to see homeless Chicagoans harassed or disappeared by federal agents.”
The operation in the country’s third-largest city is expected to last about 30 days and could start as early as Sept. 5, a Department of Homeland Security official told The Associated Press on Friday.
President Donald Trump and his aides have repeatedly slammed Chicago over policies that limit cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued an injunction late Friday to that will prevent the Trump administration from blocking funding for some of the nation’s largest cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and Baltimore.
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With lots of money approved by Congress this summer starting to flow into ICE, the agency is in midst of a huge hiring effort as it aims to get thousands of new deportation officers into the field in the coming months.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office in western Illinois has transferred at least two men into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, in apparent violation of the state’s TRUST and Way Forward Act, according to a lawyer who helped provide technical support for the legislation.
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The Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana, is allowing the federal government to detain immigrants. It’s located about 130 miles southeast of Chicago’s border with Indiana and 70 miles north of Indianapolis.
 

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