New immigration campaign prompts confusion in Chicago

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CHICAGO — The Department of Homeland Security trumpeted the start of a new immigration operation Monday in Chicago, stirring up fresh confusion and anxiety as the city remained on alert for a federal intervention President Donald Trump has touted for days.

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Blasting so-called sanctuary laws in Chicago and Illinois, the latest effort targets people without legal permission to live in the U.S. who have criminal records. Like other Trump administration plans, it was stamped with a splashy name, “Operation Midway Blitz,” and circulated on social media with the mugshots of 11 foreign-born men it said should be deported.

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“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor (JB) Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” said a statement from DHS.

Pritzker, who has been locked in a back-and-forth with Trump for days, criticized the move. He and Mayor Brandon Johnson have defended the state and city’s extensive sanctuary laws which bar coordination between local police and immigration agents. They’ve accused the Trump administration of using scare tactics, particularly with Latino residents in the nation’s third-largest city.

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“Once again, this isn’t about fighting crime. That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisians.”

Chicago has been bracing for an influx of immigration agents and possibly the National Guard for two weeks. Numerous protests have cropped up downtown, outside a suburban military base DHS plans to use and at an immigration processing center that’s expected to be a hub of activity.

Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and as part of his unprecedented law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C., where he has direct legal control. For the federal intervention in Los Angeles, a judge deemed the National Guard deployment illegal, but the Trump administration got a victory related to immigration enforcement there when the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a restraining order barring agents there from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location.

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U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, rejected the latest operation announced in Chicago.

“These actions don’t make us safer,” he said in a statement. “They are a waste of money, stoke fear, and represent another failed attempt at a distraction.”

It remained unclear what role Monday’s announced program would play in a Chicago surge.

Adding to the confusion was a handful of immigration arrests over the weekend in Chicago, which galvanized the city’s vocal activist network and worries that it was the start of something bigger.

“This is about terrorizing our communities,” said Chicago City Council member Jeylu Gutierrez said. “But we will not be intimidated.”

She and immigrant rights activists said that five people arrested were “beloved community members.” Some were on their way to work when arrested Sunday. Another works as a flower vendor.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed four arrests but gave sparse information, noting criminal histories with previous arrests and one conviction for driving under the influence.

“ICE has always operated in Chicago,” the agency said in a statement. “We will continue our law enforcement and public safety mission, undeterred, as we surge ICE resources in the city in coordination with our federal partners.”

DHS said the operation announced Monday would be in honor of Katie Abraham, one of two Illinois women killed in a January fatal car crash. A grand jury indicted a 29-year-old man in the hit-and-run. The Guatemalan national also faces federal false identification crimes.

— Associated Press writer Christine Fernando contributed to this report.

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