ICE arrests nearly 550 in Chicago area as part of 'Midway Blitz'
[September 20, 2025]
By REBECCA SANTANA
PARK RIDGE, Ill. (AP) — Immigration enforcement officials have arrested
almost 550 people as part of an operation in the Chicago area that
launched a little less than two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland
Security said Friday.
The updated figure came hours after a senior immigration official
revealed in an interview with The Associated Press that more than 400
people had been arrested in the operation so far. The figures offer an
early gauge of what is shaping up as a major enforcement effort that
comes after similar operations were launched in Los Angeles and
Washington, D.C.
The figures released by Homeland Security include arrests by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement as well as other federal agencies assisting in
the operation.
ICE launched its Chicago area operation dubbed “Midway Blitz” on Sept.
8, drawing concern from activists and immigrant communities who say
there’s been a noticeable uptick in immigration enforcement agents. That
has deepened dread in communities already fearful of the large-scale
arrests or aggressive tactics used in other cities targeted by President
Donald Trump ’s hardline immigration policies.
The operation has brought allegations of excessive force and
heavy-handed dragnets that have ensnared U.S. citizens, while gratifying
Trump supporters who say he is delivering on a promise of mass
deportations.
The Trump administration has promised to send an influx of immigration
agents and National Guard troops to Chicago, over the fierce of
objections of local leaders and residents. A military deployment to
Chicago has yet to materialize even as immigration enforcement
operations continue.
Officials and activists in the Chicago area opposed to the enforcement
surge argue the approach is dangerous and imprecise, pointing to
accounts of two U.S. citizens who were briefly detained this week by
federal officers focused on immigration enforcement. Advocates also have
protested the death of a man shot by an ICE officer on Sept. 12 after
authorities said he tried to flee during a traffic stop, dragging the
officer.
Marcos Charles, the acting head of ICE's Enforcement and Removal
Operations, said in an interview with the Associated Press Friday that
as of Thursday roughly 50% to 60% of the Chicago operation arrests were
targeted arrests, meaning they were specific people that ICE was trying
to find because they had committed a crime, had a final order of removal
or had done something that put them on ICE’s radar.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents make an arrest
during an early morning operation in Park Ridge, Ill., Friday, Sept.
19, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

The rest were what’s often referred to as “collateral arrests,”
meaning people that ICE comes across during their operations who
aren’t the person they’re looking for but are in the country
illegally, so ICE can arrest them.
Collateral arrests were not allowed during the Biden administration
but the Trump administration threw out those restrictions almost
immediately after coming into office as part of Trump’s efforts to
beef up deportations.
“It doesn’t mean that the collateral arrests are non-criminal. Some
of our collateral arrests ... also have criminal convictions and
arrests. They just weren’t the people we were looking for at the
time,” said Charles.

The Department of Homeland Security launched “Midway Blitz” after
months of Trump administration criticism of Chicago and Illinois
over state and local policies that restrict law enforcement
cooperation with ICE.
ICE says these policies mean that immigrants who’ve committed crimes
in the U.S. and can be deported as a result are instead released
into the community. ICE says it then has to go out into the
community and track them down to remove them.
Many local officials and activists have said that immigration
enforcement is a federal responsibility and that if they cooperate
with ICE, it makes it less likely that immigrants who are victims or
witnesses to crime will come forward to work with police.
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