Brandon Johnson

Nov. 7 (UPI) — A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction barring federal authorities from using force against protesters, journalists and others in Chicago as the Trump administration conducts an immigration crackdown in the city.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued her ruling Thursday, in a case brought against the Trump administration in early October alleging that federal agents in Chicago have responded to protests and negative media coverage “with a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians.”

The ruling explicitly states that the federal agents are prohibited from using crowd control weapons such as batons, rubber or plastic bullets, flash-bang grenades and tear gas against civilians unless there is “a threat of imminent harm to a law enforcement officer.”

In a bench ruling, reported on by The New York Times, Ellis said government officials, including Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol official leading the operation in Chicago, lied repeatedly about the tactics they employed against protesters.

The ruling comes amid growing criticism of the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration authorities executing Operation Midway Blitz, which began on Sept. 9, targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

Videos circulating online, however, show masked agents hauling a woman, later identified as U.S. citizen Dayanne Figueroa, from her vehicle, which they crashed into, and forcibly detaining a teacher from a daycare in front of school children. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., said they detained the woman without a warrant, calling the actions of the immigration agents “domestic terrorism.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson earlier Thursday said during a press conference the daycare employee’s arrest “shocked the conscience of every single Chicagoan.”

In her bench ruling Thursday, Ellis, a President Barack Obama appointee, rejected the government’s description of Chicago as a violent- and riot-riddled city, saying, “That simply is untrue, and the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion.”

With pointed remarks at Bovino, she said the federal agent “admitted that he lied” about being hit in the head with a rock in October, which was his reasoning for deploying tear gas canisters.

“Video evidence ultimately disproved this,” she said, CNN reported.

Lawyers with Lovey & Lovey who brought the case before the court described it as protecting the right to protest.

Steve Art, a partner at the firm, called Ellis’ preliminary injunction in a press conference a “powerful ruling.”

“For weeks, the Trump administration has deployed Gregory Bovino and his gang of thugs to terrorize our community. They have tear gassed dozens of residential neighborhoods, they have abused the elderly, they have abused pregnant women, they have abused young children. On our streets, they have used weapons of war,” he said.

“We want to be clear every person who is associated with or who has enabled the Trump administration’s violence in Chicago should be ashamed of themselves.”

1 of 2 | A protestor holding a sign stands in front of a Humvee and members of the National Guard August 14 outside of Union Station in Washington, D.C. On Thursday, a U.S. federal appeals court sided with the state’s and ruled against the Trump administration on federalized troops in Illinois and its largest city Chicago. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 17 (UPI) — A federal appeals court panel rejected the Trump administration’s request to overturn a lower court order blocking deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday said U.S. President Donald Trump‘s plan to deploy National Guard troops to Illinois “likely” violated the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which outlines specific state power.

“The facts do not justify the president’s actions,” the 18-page ruling read, adding that “political opposition is not rebellion.”

Roughly 200 federalized National Guardsmen currently sit in Illinois via Texas and more than a dozen from California. Trump federalized an additional 300 troops over the objection of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats.

Trump has repeatedly described Chicago and other Democratic-governed cities as a “war zone.” Pritzker has said there’s no evidence for Trump’s claims and led the state’s legal actions against the White House with other local and state officials.

During an appearance on Politico’s The Conversation podcast — to be aired Sunday — Pritzker said that Trump has “got the biggest platform in the country, the presidency, and he just says things.” He attacked Trump’s “lies” on crime.

“It’s propaganda, again, not true, but he’ll say it over and over and over again, hoping that people will believe him,” the governor said.

On Thursday, the court panel added the administration was unlikely to prove a rebellion against the U.S. government or that Trump as president could not enforce the law using regular federal forces.

The judges wrote in the decision they saw “insufficient evidence of a rebellion or danger of rebellion in Illinois.”

“The spirited, sustained, and occasionally violent actions of demonstrators in protest of the federal government’s immigration policies and actions, without more, does not give rise to a danger of rebellion against the government’s authority,” it continued.

An hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to determined if the temporary restraining order should be extended, which remains in effect until Thursday.

“To Illinoisans: Stay safe, record what you see and post it, and continue to peacefully protest. Make sure that your community members know their rights in times of crisis,” the two-term Pritzker said Thursday night on Bluesky.

Oct. 15 (UPI) — The Department of Homeland Security said it has credible intelligence that Mexican cartels have placed bounties on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers.

The Tuesday statement from DHS said criminal networks have instructed “U.S.-based sympathetics,” including Chicago street gangs, to “monitor, harass and assassinate” federal agents.

According to the federal agencies, the cartels are offering $2,000 for gathering intelligence, between $5,000 and $10,000 for kidnapping and assaults on standard ICE and CBP officers and up to $50,000 to assassinate high-ranking officials.

“These criminal networks are not just resisting the rule of law, they are waging an organized campaign of terror against the brave men and women who protected our borders and communities,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.

ICE has been conducting an immigration crackdown in Chicago, employing aggressive tactics, such as the use of tear gas and forced entries, that have drawn criticism over the use of force and accusations of intimidation against residents. Local leaders have accused the Trump administration of overreach and violating the Constitution.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to deploy the National Guard to the city, but federal judges have blocked or delayed the move.

“ICE is recklessly throwing tear gas into our neighborhoods and busy streets, including near children at school and CPD officers,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday in a statement.

“The Trump administration must stop their deployment of dangerous chemical weapons into the air of peaceful American communities.”

Trump has criticized out at Pritzker for resisting troop deployments, saying he and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers.”

According to the DHS, gangs have established so-called spotter networks in Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. Groups including the Latin Kins have stationed members on rooftops with firearms and radios to track ICE and CBP movements to disrupt federal immigration raids being conducted under Operation Midway Blitz.

Last week, the Justice Department charged Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, with one count of murder-for-hire targeting a senior ICE agent involved in the Chicago operation.

Federal prosecutors alleged Martinez, identified as a Latin Kings gang member, sent a Snapchat message offering $10,000 “if u take him down” and $2,000 for information on the agent’s whereabouts.

On Oct. 3, DHS announced that more than 1,000 undocumented migrants had been detained under Operation Midway Blitz, which began Sept. 8.

Sept. 20 (UPI) — Three protesters were arrested after U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents clashed with more than “100 rioters” outside a processing center in west suburban Chicago, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The incident occurred on Friday morning outside the Broadview processing facility, in which “rioters assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property,” the agency said in a news release.

The situation at the facility, located 13 miles west of downtown Chicago, escalated during the day.

During the morning, vans picked up and dropped off rioters “as an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement,” the agency said.

On Friday afternoon, one woman appeared to be shot with a paintball gun at close range, WLS-TV reported. She was placed in handcuffs.

Just before 8 p.m., agents launched tear gas into the crowd outside the detention facility.

“Our ICE enforcement officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them,” HHS said. “Disturbingly, in recent days, two ICE officers’ have had cars used as weapons against them.”

ICE has stepped up enforcement in Chicago as part of “Operation Midway Blitz,” which began Sept. 8. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who led an immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, was on hand at the facility.

Since personnel were added last week, the operation has “resulted in the arrest of hundreds of criminal illegal aliens, including Tren de Aragua gang members,” whom DHS said “prior criminal histories of” murder, sexual assault, drug trafficking, robbery and other offenses.

Chicago is a sanctuary city, meaning local, county or state law enforcement doesn’t need to cooperate with federal authorities to protect undocumented immigrants.

“Police under JB Pritzker’s sanctuary jurisdiction refused to answer multiple calls for assistance,” HHS said. “These rioters and sanctuary politicians are choosing to side with criminals over American victims.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Johnson are Democrats.

“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Illinois by lawless rioters is despicable and Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson must call for it to end,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans.

“From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is going to get law enforcement killed. This violence against ICE must end.”

On Friday, two demonstrators were seen being detained by agents, WLS-TV reported. Agents were attempting to move vehicles, with the demonstrators in the way and not moving.

“We have here a federal government that is actively working against its people, that is doing everything possible to divide them,” Alderman Andre Vasquez said. “They are building the same system that they are going to use for everyone else.”

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly was among several elected officials outside the detention center.

“I had to come over, talk to some people and see for myself,” Kelly, who serves the 2nd Congressional District, which serves southern Chicago and suburbs. “People are being treated like animals. What ICE is doing is unconscionable. I know that they are doing what they are told to do. But they are treating people like animals not people. It’s a Gestapo-type action.”

Protesters have a right to make their voices heard, official with the American Civil Liberties Union said.

“What isn’t protested is the attempt to obstruct or to you know limit the building or the government employees from entering or leaving that building,” Ed Yhonka, ACLU of Illinois director of communications and public policy, told WLS. “Someone attempting to puncture the tire of a vehicle, that’s not speech. That’s an action, and that isn’t protected by the Constitution.”

An Illinois Democratic congressional candidate was shown in a video being shoved to the ground during an anti-ICE protest outside the location.

“This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights,” Kat Abughazaleh, a former reporter and Democratic candidate for Congress, posted the video to her X account on Friday.

She is running in the 9th Congressional District, which serves north suburban Chicago.

She later posted Friday that “Once last week, twice today, ICE has picked me up and thrown me on the ground. Honestly, it doesn’t compare to what our neighbors who are trapped inside the Broadview processing facility.”

McLaughlin accused Abughazaleh of seeking attention for her campaign by attempting to “obstruct justice.”

“This fame-hungry, cable TV candidate is so desperate for her 15 minutes of fame that she will go so far as to put our law enforcement at risk and obstruct justice,” she told Fox News Digital.

At Elgin Community College, federal agents allegedly took an undocumented student into custody in a parking lot outside a building on the main campus.

There are at least 150,000 undocumented immigrants living in Chicago, Rob Paral, a demographer at the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois Chicago, told The New York Times earlier this month. There are 2.7 million residents in Chicago and 9.26 million in the Chicago metro area.

Pew Research reported in August that there are about 550,000 unauthorized immigrants living in the state of Illinois, with a population of 12.8 million, according to 2023 data.

Aug. 31 (UPI) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday confirmed the Trump administration plans to increase immigration resources in Chicago amid a planned federal crackdown on crime in the city.

In an appearance on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Noem said Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be expanding operations in Chicago to “go after the worst of the worst in the country, like President [Donald] Trump has told us to do.”

She said the agency would be “focusing on those that are perpetuating murder and rape and trafficking of drugs and humans across our country, knowing that every single citizen deserves to be safe.”

Noem’s comments come after weeks of Trump leveraging federal resources — namely the National Guard — to target crime in cities he deems unsafe. He deployed troops to Washington, D.C., in August to crack down on crime, which he described as “out of control.”

Speaking Aug. 11 about the deployment, Trump called out other cities with high crime, including Chicago, Baltimore, Oakland, Calif., and New York City. He followed that up Saturday with a Truth Social post calling Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker “weak and pathetic,” saying he should straighten out crime or “we’re coming.”

In response to Trump’s threats to send National Guard troops to Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson on Saturday signed an executive order seeking to avoid militarization in the city. The order demands that Trump end “his threats to deploy the National Guard” to Chicago.

“I do not take this executive action lightly,” Johnson said during a signing ceremony. “I would’ve preferred to work more collaboratively to pass legislation … but unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some kind of militarized activity by the federal government.”

In an appearance on Face the Nation, Pritzker said no one in the Trump administration has reach out to him or any other officials in Chicago about a possible deployment of National Guard troops to the city, which he described as “an invasion.” He said federal agencies should coordinate with local law enforcement.

“But they don’t want to do that either, and I must say, it’s disruptive, it’s dangerous,” Pritzker said. “It tends to inflame passions on the ground when they don’t let us know what their plans are, and when we can’t coordinate with them.”

He said if Trump does send National Guard troops to Chicago, he’ll take it to the courts.

“Any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency,” he said. “There is not.”

Aug. 30 (UPI) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Saturday signed an executive order that demands President Donald Trump end “his threats to deploy the National Guard” to his city.

The “Protecting Chicago Initiative” is in response to a “credible threat” that troops will be deployed in a few days, and directs the city to pursue all legal and legislative avenues stop stop the deployment.

“I do not take this executive action lightly,” Johnson said during a signing in the mayor’s ceremonial office, said. “I would’ve preferred to work more collaboratively to pass legislation … but unfortunately we do not have the luxury of time. We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some kind of militarized activity by the federal government.”

In addition, the order affirms that Chicago police will remain a locally controlled law enforcement agency. Earlier this month, when Trump deployed troops to Washington, D.C., the Trump administration took over the police department.

“We do not want military checkpoints or armored vehicles on our streets and we do not want to see families ripped apart,” Johnson said. “We will take any action necessary to protect the rights of all Chicagoans.”

Federal law enforcement and U.S. Armed Forces in the order are told to abide by municipal laws, including not concealing their identities, using body cameras when interacting with a member of the public and displaying which agency they are with, including their last name and badge number.

“This executive order makes it emphatically clear this president is not going to come in and deputize our police department,” Johnson said. “We do not want to see tanks in our streets. We do not want families ripped apart. … And I don’t take orders from the federal government.”

The Naval Station Great Lakes, about 40 miles north of downtown Chicago in North Chicago, confirmed that it is preparing to host federal immigration agents. The base, which is the largest military installation in the state, is planning to host more than 200 federal agents from Tuesday to Sept. 30.

Johnson has set Friday as the arrival date.

The Naval base is in Lake County, north of Cook County.

Esiah Campos, the county’s Board Commissioner and Navy corpsman who finished his training at Naval Station Great Lakes in 2020, urged state legislators Friday to ban law enforcement from using masks statewide. Also for Lake County mayors to reaffirm their commitment not to assist ICE.

“It hurts to see the base I drilled out of to house ICE and Homeland Security agents to terrorize our people,” Campos said at a Friday news conference with other legislators and community groups in North Chicago’s Veterans Memorial Park. “This is not a time for platitudes. Now is a time for action.”

Since 1985 Chicago has been a sanctuary city, which limits local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzer has told Trump the federal response is not needed, considering crime has fallen significantly.

On Tuesday, he posted on X: “If Trump wants to get to Chicago, he’s going to have to go through us. And we’re not backing down.”

During a news conference in Chicago on Thursday, he said: “Donald Trump is exactly the kind of person that our founders warned us about. He cozies up to dictators like Putin because he idolizes them. His actions are dangerous and un-American.

Trump has said he would tackle crime next in Chicago after deploying personnel to the nation’s capital, which is a federal jurisdiction.

“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” Trump said on Aug. 22. “Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent and we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”

“No, Donald. You can’t do whatever you want,” the governor responded to the president on X.

Through late August, Chicago had 266 homicides in 2025, according to the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Midwest city is “about 25% below where they were in the first half of 2019,” Ernesto Lopez, a senior research specialist at the Council on Criminal Justice, told the Chicago Sun Times.

In 2024, there were 581 murders in Chicago with 621 in 2023 in a city of 2.7 million people.

The top homicide rate is in Memphis, Tenn., with 409 per 100,000 for a total of 372 in 2023. Chicago wasn’t even in the top 15 with 29.7 per 100,000.

The drop in homicides in Chicago from 2019 to 2025 was significantly larger than the national average.

Chicago’s highest concentrations of crime is in neighborhoods on the South and West sides, and not downtown.

The governor showed off parts of the city this week, including where crime dropped.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Friday that his next targets for crime crackdowns would be Chicago and New York.

“After we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe also,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” he added. “Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor [Brandon Johnson]. Grossly incompetent and we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”

Trump said there were “African American ladies, beautiful ladies,” urging him to intervene in Chicago, a city that has long struggled with gun violence. He indicated his administration would focus next on Chicago and then others, such as New York City.

He threatened using the “regular military,” an escalation from federal takeovers of police and deploying the National Guard.

“I really am honored that the National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police,” Trump said during a press conference. “And we haven’t had to bring in the regular military, which we’re willing to do if we have to.”

He said he could keep National Guard members in the city “as long as I want” by declaring a national emergency. More than 1,900 National Guard troops from multiple states, including West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Louisiana and Tennessee, as well as the District of Columbia, have been mobilized in the district, according to Joint Task Force-DC.

Trump also took aim at D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and threatened to do more than just seize control of the police force.

“I’m tired of listening to these people say how safe it was before we got here. It was unsafe. It was horrible. And Mayor Bowser better get her act straight, or she won’t be mayor very long because we’ll take it over with the federal government running like it’s supposed to be run,” Trump said.

Trump dismissed polling that showed most city residents disapprove of the deployment of federal troops, calling it “fake news” and claiming that residents of Chicago and cities are begging for a similar crackdown where they live.

It was not immediately clear how a federal crackdown in Chicago would transpire. The District of Columbia is not a part of any state and has restrictions on its ability to self-govern, so the president has the ability to effectively federalize its police force. Other cities and states do not have similar status.

June 17 (UPI) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is warning President Donald Trump to “respect the Constitution” after the president ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to ramp up deportation efforts in Democratic-led sanctuary cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.

In response, Johnson and city officials announced Tuesday they will relaunch a “Know Your Rights” ad campaign to educate Chicago residents.

“Even if the federal government doesn’t know or care about the Constitution, Chicagoans deserve to know their constitutional rights,” Johnson told reporters at a City Hall news conference.

The ads, which will educate residents about their rights if they are stopped or detained by ICE agents, will be displayed on more than 400 screens across the Chicago Transit Authority system.

The ads direct transit riders to the campaign website with a more in-depth resource guide, which is translated in multiple languages. The guide instructs residents how to react if stopped, but warned the information “should not be construed as legal advice.”

“We can’t tell people not to be afraid,” said Beatriz Ponce de León, Chicago’s deputy mayor of immigrant, migrant and refugee rights. “Folks are seeing what is happening here and in other cities. But what we can do is give people information. The best that people can do is be prepared.”

Earlier this month, Trump deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles to help protect ICE agents and federal buildings after protests in the downtown area turned violent. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom objected to the president’s actions, calling the deployment unjustified.

Other sanctuary cities, including Chicago, are now bracing for a similar crackdown. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has joined Johnson in opposing the president’s actions, while Trump denounced state leadership.

“I look at Chicago. You’ve got a really bad governor and a bad mayor. But the governor is probably the worst in history,” Trump said.

Pritzker responded by saying, “I think you can see that this has not gone well for him politically, and he’s all about the politics.”

Acting director of ICE, Tom Homan, told CNN in January that Chicago’s efforts to educated undocumented immigrants have made deportation efforts “very difficult.”

“For instance, Chicago is very well educated,” Homan said. “They call it ‘know your rights.’ I call it how to escape arrest … how to hide from ICE.”