Tactical ICE raids expected in Chicago after protests lead to damage,
arrests
[June 12, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Chicago officials are preparing for more intense
federal immigration enforcement and potential protests this weekend.
During a march and demonstration Tuesday evening in downtown Chicago,
protesters marked several cars, police vehicles and Chicago Transit
Authority buses with graffiti, blocked traffic and held anti-ICE and
anti-police signs.
At least 15 protesters were arrested. City officials indicated that they
expect additional protests on Saturday.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, said
Wednesday the city received word that U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement tactical units would soon be ready to deploy in Chicago.
Pacione-Zayas also said that Chicago was one of five Democrat-led cities
ICE would be targeting and that agents were expected to visit
workplaces.
The mayor said his administration was prepared, but he repeatedly
criticized President Donald Trump.
“As far as what our preparation will look like moving forward, we do
know that this president is determined to insert chaos. Our
responsibility locally is continue to provide calm and structure,”
Johnson said.
The mayor said his administration showed at the Democratic National
Convention last summer that it knows how to protect people’s right to
assemble.
At various times during his media availability Wednesday, Johnson
described the President and/or his administration as “sick,” “cowards,”
“hypocrites,” “dangerous,” and “fraudulent.” The mayor also repeated a
remark he made last week when he said Trump was setting “human traps.”
Johnson said he was counting on all of Chicago to resist.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a news briefing in
Washington, D.C. Wednesday that the Trump administration was ending
chaos and restoring law and order.
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“The mob violence is being stomped out. Criminals responsible will
swiftly be brought to justice, and the Trump administration’s
operations to arrest illegal aliens are continuing unabated,”
Leavitt said.
After describing the federal government’s response to anti-ICE riots
in Los Angeles, Leavitt said Democrats are attempting to use a
violent mob as a weapon against their own constituents to prevent
the enforcement of immigration law.
Leavitt called federal immigration officers “heroic” and said they
have targeted illegal alien murderers, rapists and pedophiles.
Two Illinois members of Congress spoke at a press conference in
Washington Wednesday to mark the 13th anniversary of Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals, the executive order by President Barack
Obama to allow children brought into the U.S. illegally to stay
without being deported.
Illinois U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, lashed out at the Trump
administration.
“I’m the congresista of a welcoming state that this fascist
government attacks but we will not allow to walk us back our love
and our commitment to our immigrant communities,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said the Trump administration was putting DACA recipients at
risk.
Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, said he would not
name names, but some politicians label immigrants as rapists,
terrorists and murderers.
“That’s why we’re here today, to remind our friends, Democrats and
Republicans, that immigration has many faces. The immigration we’re
talking about through DACA is a face that means a better and
stronger America,” Durbin said.
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