Chicago: The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a major crackdown on undocumented immigrants in Chicago, escalating tensions between the White House and Illinois Democrats who accuse President Donald Trump of using federal power for political theatre.
The initiative, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, will target repeat-offender undocumented immigrants in Chicago and across Illinois. DHS said the operation was launched in honor of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old Illinois college student killed in a drunk-driving hit-and-run allegedly caused by Guatemalan national Julio Cucul-Bol.
“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS announced on X. The department stressed that the mission is separate from any wider federal law enforcement intervention in Chicago.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned both the raids and Trump’s online promotion of them. The president shared an “Apocalypse Now”-themed video titled Chipocalypse Now, depicting himself as a military commander over the Chicago skyline with the line, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning.”
DHS is launching Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by criminal illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois.
This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois… pic.twitter.com/OjbgtTE1Au
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 8, 2025
Pritzker accused Trump of threatening an American city with the Department of War, while Johnson vowed to “defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago.”
Trump defended the crackdown, insisting only criminals would be targeted. “Governor Pritzker just stated that he doesn’t want Federal Government HELP! WHY???” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I want to help the people of Chicago, not hurt them. Only the criminals will be hurt.”
The operation echoes Trump’s 2020 deployment of federal officers under Operation Legend, which then-Attorney General Bill Barr said led to 500 arrests in Chicago and a temporary drop in the city’s murder rate.
Abraham and her friend Chloe Polzin were stopped at a traffic light in Urbana when their car was struck from behind at high speed. Abraham died at the scene, while Polzin died the following day. Cucul-Bol was later arrested in Texas and charged with multiple counts of document fraud.
