The Trump administration has vowed for more than a month to bring a show of federal force to Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, to crack down on illegal immigration.
This week, the administration has visibly followed through. On Sunday, federal officers in camouflage patrolled tourist-heavy areas of downtown Chicago in a conspicuous pack, attracting stares and taunts, including from a bicyclist the agents tried to chase. On Monday, U.S. military officials said that 100 National Guard troops would be deployed to Illinois to protect federal facilities, a mobilization that is expected in the coming days.
And early Tuesday, federal agents, using drones, helicopters, trucks and dozens of vehicles, conducted a middle-of-the-night raid on a rundown apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, leaving the building mostly empty of residents by morning and neighbors stunned.
“It felt like we were under siege,” said one bystander, Darrell Ballard, 63, showing videos on his cellphone of officers entering the apartment building in the dark.
A U.S. Border Patrol official involved with the operation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said that the effort involved nearly 300 federal agents from various agencies. The agents came from various directions around the building.
The operation that night targeted an apartment complex that federal officials said was frequented by members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The Border Patrol official said that snipers rappelled down from helicopters on top of the apartment complex, as a precaution from potential violence. Federal authorities said that at least 37 people without legal immigration status were arrested.
Since early September, when the Trump administration announced the immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, calling it Operation Midway Blitz, agents have arrested more than 800 people, the Department of Homeland Security said.
“The Trump administration will not allow violent criminals or repeat offenders to terrorize our neighborhoods or victimize our children and innocent Americans,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs for the department.
But activists and lawyers for some of those arrested in recent weeks said that the administration has rounded up people, including some U.S. citizens, with no history of violence in its sweeps. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago have condemned the push from President Donald Trump, saying that the Trump administration was militarizing the city without making residents safer.
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