Nearly 4,400 people were detained in Illinois during Operation Midway Blitz, according to Deportation Data Project figures analyzed by CBS News. The report found that 85 percent had no criminal convictions. The Trump administration announced the operation on Sept. 8, 2025, saying it would deport thousands, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The campaign has also drawn legal challenges over the use of crowd-control chemicals. Attorneys representing protesters, clergy and journalists alleged that federal agents used tear gas and pepper spray against Chicago crowds, NBC News reported. The Oct. 14, 2025 confrontation near 105th Street and Avenue N, where at least three people were detained, was among the incidents discussed in that coverage.
Chicago and Illinois officials responded
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order in October 2025 barring federal immigration authorities from using city-owned property, including municipal and public school parking lots, as staging areas for operations, according to the City of Chicago. In March, the City Council unanimously authorized the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to investigate whether Chicago officers violated the Welcoming City Ordinance by assisting federal agents during immigration sweeps, WTTW reported.
State officials separately referred evidence involving federal agents to local police departments and state’s attorneys for investigation and possible criminal prosecution, according to Capitol News Illinois. Whether prosecutors will bring criminal charges remains unresolved. Civil claims have also been filed, Block Club Chicago reported.
Brito’s account of the aftermath
Joaquin Brito, the owner of La Florencia Bakery on Chicago’s East Side, told the Chicago Tribune that he resettled in the United States from Mexico at 16, has no family in the country and remains concerned about encounters with immigration authorities.
Brito also told the Tribune that business at the bakery fell by about half during September and October 2025. Demand associated with Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Three Kings Day in January later helped business recover, and he said it had largely returned to normal. The Tribune’s account said Brito continued to notice federal agents in the streets and remained uneasy months after the East Side confrontation.
