CHICAGO — Federal immigration agents have come under scrutiny following a series of aggressive operations across Chicago that residents and officials say resemble military-style raids, escalating tensions in the nation’s third-largest city amid a widening immigration crackdown.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker condemned the actions on Sunday, saying federal agents had turned residential neighborhoods into “a war zone.” “They fire tear gas and smoke grenades and make it look like it’s a war zone,” Pritzker told CNN, calling for investigations into the operations.
Since the Trump administration launched a new deportation drive last month, more than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested in the Chicago area. But local officials and community groups say U.S. citizens, lawful residents, and even children have been among those detained in increasingly forceful encounters.
In one operation early last week, federal agents used helicopters and unmarked trucks to surround a five-story apartment building in the South Shore neighborhood, a largely Black area that has recently taken in migrants seeking asylum. According to witnesses, agents rappelled from helicopters, broke down doors, and zip-tied residents — including U.S. citizens and minors — without presenting warrants.
Rodrick Johnson, a 67-year-old U.S. citizen, said agents forced their way into his apartment. “I asked if they had a warrant and for a lawyer,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “They never brought one.”
Advocates from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) said doors were torn from hinges and residents were left terrified. “This is not normal. It’s not OK,” said Dixon Romeo of the Southside Together organization.
DHS officials defended the operation, saying they were targeting members of the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua gang and individuals involved in drug and weapons crimes. But the agency declined to address allegations that children were zip-tied or separated from their parents.
Reports of federal agents deploying tear gas and chemical agents have grown in recent days. In one case, activists say agents released a chemical canister near a public school in Logan Square, prompting nearby Funston Elementary School to move recess indoors.
The same day, Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes said she was handcuffed after questioning ICE officers at a hospital where a man injured during a pursuit had been taken. “ICE acted like an invading army in our neighborhoods,” said state Representative Lilian Jiménez. “Helicopters hovered above our homes, terrifying families. These shameful actions violate our most basic liberties.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the tactics, describing them as necessary to protect agents in “extremely dangerous situations.”
On Saturday, federal Border Patrol agents shot and wounded a woman on the city’s Southwest Side, alleging she tried to ram their vehicles. The woman, identified as Marimar Martinez, and another man were later charged with assaulting federal officers. Activists, however, dispute the official account, saying agents caused the collision.
The confrontation triggered hours-long protests in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, where agents fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators.
Suburban officials are also pushing back. The village of Broadview — home to a major immigration processing center — has filed multiple complaints and a federal lawsuit against DHS, accusing it of violating local laws and obstructing fire access by erecting an unauthorized eight-foot fence around the facility.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and the fence’s immediate removal, calling it “an immediate public safety hazard.”
Meanwhile, civil rights groups have filed dozens of complaints alleging violations of a 2022 consent decree governing immigration arrests in Illinois and five other states. Attorneys are seeking to extend the decree amid what they describe as “systematic disregard” for constitutional protections.
Governor Pritzker has ordered state agencies to investigate claims that children were detained and zip-tied. “Military-style tactics have no place in our neighborhoods,” he said.
As protests and legal challenges intensify, Chicago remains a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s renewed push to expand deportations — a campaign that is testing the limits of federal authority and inflaming political divisions across the state.
