Chicago federal intervention: Tracking surge in immigration enforcement operations | Updates

DHS announces "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago; Trump federalizing Illinois National Guard

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Last updated: Friday, October 24, 2025 4:15PM GMT
ABC7 Chicago 24/7 Stream

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago area is seeing an increase in federal immigration enforcement.

President Donald Trump says the surge in immigration enforcement activity in the Chicago area is about getting dangerous criminals off the streets.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Some 300 federal agents are using North Chicago's Naval Station Great Lakes as the logistical hub for ramped-up operations.

Protesters and federal agents have continued to clash outside an ICE Processing Center in Broadview, Illinois.

ABC7 is tracking the latest news in the city and suburbs. Here are the latest developments.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
ByHannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois
Oct 21, 2025, 8:49 PM GMT

Trump agrees to extend judge's block on deploying National Guard in Chicago as SCOTUS weighs case

The Trump administration has agreed to extend a federal judge's temporary block on deploying National Guard troops to Chicago while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether to stay the judge's order.

In a filing Tuesday - two days before U.S. District Judge April Perry's 14-day temporary restraining order is set to expire - Department of Justice attorneys said they'd consented to a 30-day extension of the order. The Trump administration appealed the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court late last week, and it's unclear when the high court may rule.

Oct 20, 2025, 10:33 PM GMT

Illinois responds to Trump admin. appeal to SCOTUS to allow Nat. Guard deployment in Chicago area

The state of Illinois responded on Monday to the Trump administration's emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to allow National Guard troops to take to Chicago-area streets.

That appeal seeks to overturn a judge's temporary restraining order that blocks the Guard's deployment.

Monday's response includes several arguments for why the request for a stay should be denied.

The state says there is no rebellion or danger of rebellion in Illinois, and therefore, no legal justification for using troops. Click here for more.

Oct 21, 2025, 2:49 AM GMT

Judge orders feds to preserve videos of agents using tear gas; ICE says some footage likely erased

A judge on Monday ordered the government to preserve all video evidence that shows federal immigration enforcement agents deploying tear gas and other chemical agents toward Chicago-area protesters, members of the media and others since the beginning of the Department of Homeland Security's immigration operation "Midway Blitz."

But on the stand Monday, the second-in-command of Chicago's Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office said any footage, at least from Broadview's ICE processing facility, recorded before Sept. 18 has likely already been erased.

District Court Judge Sara Ellis order came as representatives from both ICE and Customs and Border Patrol testified before her at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Monday about recent protests and the use of tear gas in the Chicago area.

"If there hasn't been a preservation order given, it needs to be given," Ellis said.

For hours, Ellis questioned officials at the heart of the government's immigration enforcement operation in Chicago. She asked them to explain their agencies' policies and tactics regarding use of force, body-worn cameras, and proper methods of identification. Click here for more.

Oct 19, 2025, 10:44 PM GMT

Federal immigration agents attacked while trying to arrest man in Bolingbrook, police say

Federal immigration agents say they were attacked in the south suburbs on Sunday morning.

Bolingbrook police said officers responded to the 100-block of Williamsburg Lane for a reported battery just before 10 a.m.

The agents told officers that they were trying to arrest a 46-year-old man in a parking lot when two people approached and started hitting them.

The man and the two alleged attackers, females of unknown ages, ran away and into a nearby home.

No one was arrested, and the agents declined medical attention.

Further information was not immediately available.