Escalating Immigration Enforcement: Military-Style Tactics in Chicago Spark Controversy and Legal Challenges

Agents employed unmarked vehicles and helicopter support to encircle a five-story apartment complex during operations.

Chicago:

Federal immigration enforcement has escalated dramatically in Chicago, with tactics including helicopter assaults on residential buildings while families slept, deployment of chemical agents near educational facilities, and even handcuffing a Chicago City Council member at a hospital.

Community leaders, activists, and residents report that these increasingly confrontational methods employed by immigration agents are creating violent confrontations and heightening tensions across neighborhoods in America's third-largest metropolitan area.

"They are transforming communities into conflict zones," Illinois Governor JB Pritzker stated during a CNN interview Sunday. "Their use of tear gas and smoke grenades creates an atmosphere resembling a battlefield."

The Chicago area has seen over 1,000 immigrants detained since the immigration enforcement operation commenced last month. The Trump administration has additionally pledged to deploy National Guard personnel to support increased deportation efforts.

However, these intensifying and bold enforcement actions have affected not only undocumented immigrants but also swept up U.S. citizens, legal residents, and children in daily operations across Chicago's 2.7 million population and surrounding suburbs.

Activists gathered Sunday at a South Side apartment building where the Department of Homeland Security reported arresting 37 immigrants in an operation that has prompted Governor Pritzker to call for an investigation.

While federal operations have primarily targeted Latino and immigrant-dense neighborhoods, Tuesday's early morning raid unfolded in the predominantly Black South Shore community, which recently received a small number of asylum-seeking migrants resettled in Chicago.

The operation involved unmarked vehicles and helicopter support to surround the residential building. According to NewsNation, which received permission to observe the action, agents "rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters." They proceeded to conduct door-to-door searches, waking residents and restraining them with zip ties.

According to residents and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which surveyed the area afterward, those restrained with zip ties included children and American citizens.

Rodrick Johnson, a U.S. citizen temporarily detained during the operation, told the Chicago Sun-Times that agents broke through his door and restrained him with zip ties. "I requested to see a warrant and asked for legal representation," the 67-year-old reported. "Neither request was granted."

Dixon Romero of Southside Together, an organization assisting affected residents, described doors being forcibly removed from their hinges during the operation. "Every resident we interviewed expressed feeling unsafe," he stated. "This approach is extraordinary, unacceptable, and unjust."

Governor Pritzker, a two-term Democrat, has directed state agencies to investigate allegations that children were restrained and separated from parents, asserting that "military-style tactics" are inappropriate for operations involving children. Several Democratic members of Illinois' congressional delegation convened near the site Sunday, demanding an end to immigration raids.

DHS officials stated they were targeting individuals connected to the Tren de Aragua gang. Without providing specific arrest details or addressing how children were treated, DHS indicated "some targeted subjects are believed to be involved in narcotics trafficking and distribution, weapons offenses, and immigration violations."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared heavily edited footage of the operation on social media platform X, showing agents breaching doors, helicopter activity, and adults in restraints, though most of the minute-long video featured background music instead of actual audio.

Agency representatives did not respond to inquiries on Sunday.

Brandon Lee from ICIRR reported that while some residents were released with electronic monitoring ankle devices, others remain unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, chemical agent deployment has become increasingly common and visible over the past week. Initially used for crowd control during protests, agents have now employed these substances on city streets and during immigration operations, according to ICIRR.

An emergency hotline established to report immigration agent sightings received over 800 calls Friday alone, the same day activists reported agents deployed a chemical canister near a school in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. This activity prompted nearby Funston Elementary School to keep students indoors during recess periods.

That same day, Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed at a hospital after requesting agents produce a warrant for an individual who had suffered a leg fracture while being pursued by ICE agents, who subsequently transported him to the emergency department.

"ICE behaved like an occupying force in our neighborhoods," stated Democratic state Representative Lilian Jiménez. "Helicopters hovered above our homes, terrorizing families and disrupting community peace. These disgraceful and unlawful actions violate not only constitutional protections but our most fundamental liberty: the right to live without persecution and fear."

Immigration agents shot a woman they claim was armed and attempted to strike them with a vehicle after agents were "boxed in by 10 cars." She and another individual were charged Sunday with forcibly assaulting, impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement. However, activist organizations contend immigration agents caused the multi-vehicle collision and detained the woman, who is a U.S. citizen.

Noem has defended the aggressive enforcement approach, describing the operations as hazardous for agents and citing threats against officers' safety. "It's an extraordinarily dangerous situation," she stated during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" weekend program.

Leaders in a Chicago suburb housing an immigration processing center have taken legal action against federal agents.

The village of Broadview has emerged as a focal point in immigration enforcement operations. The processing center in this community of 8,000 residents serves as the location where immigrants are processed for detention or deportation.

Demonstrations outside the facility have grown increasingly tense with nearly daily arrests. Civil rights organizations have condemned aggressive tactics employed by agents, while municipal officials have initiated three separate criminal investigations against federal personnel.

Local officials have demanded federal authorities remove an 8-foot barrier they claim was "illegally" erected outside the facility. They filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking a temporary restraining order and immediate removal of the fence, which they assert blocks emergency fire access.

"The fence additionally constitutes an immediate public safety hazard," the legal filing stated.

Also pending is an anticipated ruling regarding alleged violations of a 2022 consent decree governing how federal immigration agents may conduct arrests in six states including Illinois. Though the order expired in May, attorneys have requested an extension and documented dozens of additional alleged violations in the past month.

(This article has not been edited by NDTV staff and is generated from a syndicated source.)