By Naveen Athrappully
More than 1,500 illegal immigrants have been arrested in Illinois by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel during Operation Midway Blitz, including criminals, the agency said in an Oct. 14 post on X.
“Operation Midway Blitz is making Illinois SAFE again. DHS law enforcement has made over 1,500 arrests across Illinois, including of pedophiles, vicious gang members, and armed robbers,” DHS said.
“@POTUS Trump and @Sec Noem WILL NOT allow criminal illegal aliens to terrorize our cities.”
Launched on Sept. 8, Operation Midway Blitz targets criminal illegal immigrants who came to Illinois, and specifically Chicago, “seeking protection under the sanctuary policies of Governor Pritzker,” DHS said in an Oct. 1 statement.
Jurisdictions following sanctuary policies prohibit local officials from enforcing immigration laws and complying with federal authorities. Both Chicago, and Illinois broadly, are included in a list of such sanctuary jurisdictions maintained by the Department of Justice.
In an Oct. 3 statement, DHS said that some of the criminal illegal immigrants arrested under Operation Midway Blitz include a Mexican national convicted of aggravated domestic battery of a three-year-old child, a Mauritanian national who was previously arrested for battery against a public official, and another Mexican national arrested for criminal sexual assault and domestic battery.
“Our patriotic law enforcement officers are making these arrests despite working without pay because of the Democrats’ shutdown,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
According to McLaughlin, President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “will not allow continued violence or repeat offenders to terrorize our neighborhoods and victimize our children.”
On Oct. 11, DHS announced the arrest of a Chicago rioter suspected of having ties to Antifa. The individual was arrested with a loaded firearm and magazines outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) Broadview facility near Chicago.
The rioter, Elias Cepeda, works as a journalist and also teaches at the University of Illinois. According to the agency, Cepeda has promoted social media posts glorifying violence against federal law enforcement officers.
In a Sept. 26 statement, DHS said that since Operation Midway Blitz began, rioters have assaulted law enforcement officers and vandalized vehicles. ICE officers have seen a 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them.
National Guard Deployment
Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago is facing legal challenges.
On Oct. 10, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois blocked the National Guard deployment after issuing a temporary restraining order in a case filed by the state of Illinois and the City of Chicago. The Trump administration then filed an appeal with the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Oct. 11, the appeals court ruled that the administration can federalize National Guard troops in Illinois, but cannot deploy them in Chicago while the appeals process continues.
Around 500 National Guard troops from Illinois and Texas were called up by the Trump administration for deployment in the city.
Leaders from Chicago and Illinois have criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
Last week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed the “ICE Free Zone” executive order prohibiting federal immigration agents from using any property owned by Chicago in their ongoing operations in the city, according to an Oct. 6 statement from the mayor’s office.
“We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights, nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority. ICE agents are detaining elected officials, tear-gassing protestors, children, and Chicago police officers, and abusing Chicago residents. We will not stand for that in our city,” Johnson said.
During a recent press conference, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused Trump of using the country’s service personnel as “political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities.”
He accused the president of attempting an “unconstitutional invasion” of the state, blaming Trump and other administration officials for bringing “militarized ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents to Chicago, causing chaos and violence in the city.”
In an Oct. 6 statement, the DHS dismissed Pritzker’s criticisms, arguing that Trump’s plan to deploy troops to Illinois was “neither unconstitutional nor an invasion.”
“President Trump has the authority under the Constitution to deploy troops, wherever they’re stationed, to defend federal facilities from attacks. Whether it’s the ICE facility in Broadview or the courthouse in Portland, we will defend federal property wherever they are under siege,” the statement said.
DHS also refuted allegations that its officers were engaged in racial profiling of targets during operations.
Such claims are “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” the agency said.
