NEW ORLEANS — About 250 federal border agents are expected to launch a months-long immigration crackdown Monday in southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi.
The operation dubbed “Swamp Sweep,” which aims to arrest 5,000 people, is centered in liberal New Orleans and is the latest federal immigration enforcement operation to target a Democratic-run city as President Trump’s administration pursues its mass deportation agenda.
Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who has led aggressive operations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C., is expected to lead the campaign.
Many in the greater New Orleans area, particularly in Latino communities, have been on edge since the planned operations were reported this month. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said he welcomes the federal agents.
Here’s what to know:
Border Patrol tactics criticized
Bovino has become the Trump administration’s go-to operative for leading large-scale, high-profile immigration enforcement campaigns. During his operation in Chicago, federal agents rappelled from a helicopter into an apartment complex and fired pepper balls and tear gas at protesters.
Federal agents arrested more than 3,200 immigrants during a surge in the Chicago area in recent months, but have not provided many details. Court documents on roughly 600 recent arrests showed that only a few of those arrested had criminal records representing a “high public safety risk,” according to federal government data.
The Border Patrol, which does not typically operate in dense urban areas or in situations with protesters, has been accused of heavy-handed tactics, prompting several lawsuits. A federal judge in Chicago this month accused Bovino of lying and rebuked him for deploying chemical irritants against protesters.
Bovino has doubled down on the efficacy of his agency’s operations.
“We’re finding and arresting illegal aliens, making these communities safer for the Americans who live there,” he said in a post on X.
Louisiana’s strict enforcement laws
The Department of Justice has accused New Orleans of undermining federal immigration enforcement and included it on a list of 18 so-called sanctuary cities. The city’s jail, which has been under long-standing oversight from a federal judge, does not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under most circumstances, and its Police Department views immigration enforcement as a civil matter outside its jurisdiction.
Louisiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature, however, has passed laws to compel New Orleans agencies to align with the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration stance.
One such law makes it a crime to “knowingly” do something intended to “hinder, delay, prevent, or otherwise interfere with or thwart” federal immigration enforcement efforts. Anyone who violates the law could face fines and up to a year of jail time.
Additionally, lawmakers expanded the crime of malfeasance in office, which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail, for government officials who refuse to comply with requests from agencies like ICE. It also prohibits police and judges from releasing from their custody anyone who “illegally entered” the U.S. “or unlawfully remained” here without providing advance notice to ICE.
New Orleans braces
In and around New Orleans, some immigration lawyers say they have been inundated with calls from people trying to prepare for the upcoming operation. One attorney, Miguel Elias, says his firm is conducting many consultations virtually or by telephone because people are too afraid to come in person.
He likens the steps many in the immigrant community are taking to what people do to prepare for a hurricane — hunker down or evacuate. Families are stocking up on groceries and making arrangements for friends to take their children to school to limit how frequently they leave the house, he said.
In the days leading up to Border Patrol’s planned operations, businesses have posted signs barring federal agents from entry and grassroots advocacy groups have offered rights-related training and workshops on documenting the planned crackdown.
New Orleans is famous for its blend of cultures, but only around 6.7% of its population of nearly 400,000 is foreign-born, rising to almost 10% in neighboring metro areas. That’s still well below the national average of 14.3%, according to U.S. census data.
The Pew Research Center estimates 110,000 immigrants who lack permanent legal status were living in Louisiana as of 2023, constituting approximately 2.4% of the state’s population. Most of them are from Honduras.
Amanda Toups, who owns the New Orleans Cajun restaurant Toups Meatery and runs a nonprofit to help feed neighbors in need, said she expects the federal operations will hurt the city’s tourism-dependent economy, which supports the rest of Louisiana.
“If you’re scaring off even 5% of tourism, that’s devastating,” she said. “You’re brown and walking around in town somewhere and you could get tackled by ICE and you’re an American citizen? Does that make you want to travel to New Orleans?”
Brook, Santana and Cline write for the Associated Press and reported from New Orleans, Washington and Baton Rouge, La., respectively.
The Chicago Bears won 24-15 in Philadelphia to strengthen their position at the top of a competitive NFC North table.
Their running backs provided the foundation for success against the Eagles, with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both rushing for more than 100 yards and each scoring a touchdown.
Caleb Williams found tight end Cole Kmet with a 28-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter to secure victory.
A win for Green Bay (8-3-1) over divisional rivals Detroit (7-5) on Thursday had tightened the gap to Chicago, but the Bears’ fifth consecutive victory improved their record to 9-3.
Chicago face the Packers in two of their next three fixtures, starting with a trip to Lambeau Field on Sunday, 7 December.
The Eagles, meanwhile, were subjected to boos by a section of their home supporters as they put in a disjointed performance to slip to a second successive defeat.
The reigning Super Bowl champions (8-4) lead the NFC East but the Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1) have closed in with victories over Philadelphia and the Kansas City Chiefs in their past two outings.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) began to restore trading on Friday after a technical issue disrupted operations on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq.
The shutdown was triggered by a cooling system failure at a data centre in the Chicago area, according to the facility’s operator, CyrusOne.
Engineering teams have since restarted several chillers and installed temporary cooling equipment to stabilise conditions, a spokesperson told Bloomberg.
According to CME Group’s indications, trading in US equity futures should be restarting soon after a glitch knocked it out for several hours.
The CME, one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges, hosts near-continuous trading in millions of contracts tied to the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq 100. Friday’s interruption left traders grappling with uncertainty as they awaited the restoration of the platforms that underpin much of global futures activity.
The outage halted trading of US Treasury futures, while European and UK bond markets that trade on a different exchange were reported unaffected.
Futures in individual stocks were not affected, either. Coinbase Global rose 2.6% in pre-market trading as Bitcoin stayed above $91,000.
Wall Street is operating on an abbreviated schedule on Friday after being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Stock trading will close at 1pm Eastern Time (7pm CET).
In European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.20% after the release of fresh inflation data.
Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.23% on gains in energy and mining stocks. The CAC 40 in France rose 0.19%.
In other dealings, Brent crude, the international standard for pricing, rose 0.13% to $62.62 per barrel.
They certainly didn’t want to provide opponents with bulletin board fodder during their attempt to bring a Super Bowl championship to their home city after the 1985 season.
As a large group of players from that team — billed as the Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew — said in the lyrics to one of the most unlikely hit songs and music videos of the 1980s: “We’re not here to start no trouble. We’re just here to do ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle.’”
All of those thoughts weighed on the minds of the 30 or so players who recorded “The Super Bowl Shuffle” four decades ago this month, several weeks before the NFL regular season even ended.
“If we don’t go to the Super Bowl, we’re gonna be the biggest idiots ever,” former Bears linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary says in “The Shuffle,” an NFL Films production presented by HBO Documentary Films. “We gotta win this thing, man.’”
Singletary is one of several of people who share their thoughts and memories about their participation in what has become a beloved relic during the 40-minute documentary that premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. PST on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. Director Jeff Cameron told The Times that it’s no coincidence that “The Shuffle” is dropping during the 40th anniversary season of the Bears’ only Super Bowl title.
“Outside of some print media or some articles, no one had really chronicled the entire genesis, development and production of ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle,’ which is so intertwined with that team,“ Cameron said.
The song was the brainchild of Chicago businessman Dick Meyer, who had formed Red Label Records the previous year. With the Bears off to a strong start to the 1985 season, Meyer thought a hip-hop record featuring many of the already beloved personalities from that team might have some success in Chicago.
Many players agreed to participate after learning that part of the proceeds were going toward the Chicago Community Trust. “We’re not doin’ this because we’re greedy,” running back Walter Payton rapped during his verse, “the Bears are doin’ it to feed the needy.”
The vocal tracks were recorded on Nov. 21, 1985. The Bears were 11-0 at the time, coming off a 44-0 rout of the Dallas Cowboys. They continued to roll the following weekend with a 36-0 victory against the Atlanta Falcons.
But their run of perfection came to an end Dec. 2, 1985, with an ugly 38-24 loss to the Dolphins in Miami on “Monday Night Football.” It just so happened that the music video shoot for “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was scheduled for the next morning in Chicago.
Suddenly, Gault said in the documentary, “Guys don’t want to do the video.”
Two of the team’s biggest stars, Payton and McMahon, didn’t show up. They were added into the video after shooting their parts one day after practice.
“It was pretty audacious of us to talk about going to the Super Bowl, winning it, you know?” McMahon said in the documentary. “We still got games to play, and we just lost.”
Chicago Bears players Mike Singletary (left) and Gary Fencik take part in the filming of ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle’ music video Dec. 3, 1985, at the Park West in Chicago.
(Paul Natkin / HBO / Getty Images)
But the video shoot may have had unexpected benefits for the players who participated.
“If not for ‘The Shuffle,’ they probably don’t even get together” that day, Cameron told The Times. “They probably don’t see each other until Wednesday because they have Tuesdays off after Monday night, and they’re right back in the film room or the practice field. They don’t properly get to just forget about the loss for a second, get together as a group of guys who like playing with each other and just who love each other.”
In behind-the-scenes footage provided to Cameron’s team by Meyer’s widow, Julia Meyer, the players are seen laughing and joking around as they attempt to learn a few dance moves and lip-sync their parts, all with varying degrees of success.
“We bonded in a way that we could never have bonded in any other way,” Singletary said in the documentary. “That was the fun part of working together in a totally different realm. There were guys that were backups teaching guys that were starters. We mixed in a way that we had never had a chance to do before. And it became a rallying point that brought us together, got us refocused. ‘This is what we said we were gonna do, let’s go get it done.’”
The single spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 41, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America (500,000 units moved). The music video, released commercially on VHS and Betamax, was certified platinum (one million units moved).
The song was even nominated for a Grammy in the category of “Best R&B Performance by a Duo or a Group with Vocals,” eventually losing to Prince and the Revolution for the song “Kiss.”
“I think it was the perfect marriage of that cast of characters from the top down … and the fact that, outside of the Miami game, of course, they just kept winning,” Cameron said. “And it wasn’t close. I think that certainly helps propel this video, along with the rise of MTV. It was a perfect storm of a pop cultural phenomenon.”
CHICAGO — Chicago has entered what many consider a new uneasy phase of a Trump administration immigration crackdown that has already led to thousands of arrests.
While a U.S. Border Patrol commander known for leading intense and controversial surges moved on to North Carolina, federal agents are still arresting immigrants across the nation’s third-largest city and suburbs.
A growing number of lawsuits stemming from the crackdown are winding through the courts. Authorities are investigating agents’ actions, including a fatal shooting. Activists say they are not letting their guard down in case things ramp up again, while many residents in the Democratic stronghold remain anxious.
“I feel a sense of paranoia over when they might be back,” said Santani Silva, an employee at a vintage store in the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Pilsen. “People are still afraid.”
Intensity slows, but arrests continue
For more than two months, the Chicago area was the focus of an aggressive operation led by Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander behind similar efforts in Los Angeles and soon Louisiana.
Armed and masked agents used unmarked SUVs and helicopters throughout the city of 2.7 million and its suburbs to target suspected criminals and immigration violators. Arrests often led to intense standoffs with bystanders, from wealthy neighborhoods to working-class suburbs.
While the intensity has died down in the week since Bovino left, reports of arrests still pop up. Activists tracking immigration agents said they confirmed 142 daily sightings at the height of the operation last month. The number is now roughly six a day.
“It’s not over,” said Brandon Lee with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “I don’t think it will be over.”
Suburb under siege
Bearing the brunt of the operation has been Broadview, a Chicago suburb of roughly 8,000 people that has housed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center for years.
Protests outside the facility have grown increasingly tense as federal agents used chemical agents that area neighbors felt. Broadview police also launched three criminal investigations into federal agents’ tactics.
Community leaders took the unusual step of declaring a civil emergency last week and moving public meetings online.
Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said the community has faced bomb threats, death threats and violent protests because of the crackdown.
“I will not allow threats of violence or intimidation to disrupt the essential functions of our government,” Thompson said.
Questionable arrests and detentions
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has touted more than 3,000 arrests, but the agency has provided details on only a few cases in which immigrants without legal permission to live in the country also had a criminal history.
The Trump administration posts photos on social media of supposed violent criminals apprehended in immigration operations, but the federal government’s own data paint a different picture.
Of 614 immigrants arrested and detained in recent months around Chicago, only 16, less than 3%, had criminal records representing a “high public safety risk,” according to federal government data submitted to the court as part of a 2022 consent decree about ICE arrests. Those records included domestic battery and drunk driving.
A judge in the cases said hundreds of immigrant detainees qualify to be released on bond, though an appeals court has paused their release. Attorneys say many more cases will follow as they get details from the government about arrests.
“None of this has quite added up,” said Ed Yohnka with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has been involved in several lawsuits. “What was this all about? What did this serve? What did any of this do?”
Investigations and lawsuits
The number of lawsuits triggered by the crackdown is growing, including on agents’ use of force and conditions at the Broadview center. In recent days, clergy members filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging they were being blocked from ministering inside a facility.
Federal prosecutors have also repeatedly dropped charges against protesters and other bystanders, including dismissing charges against a woman who was shot several times by a Border Patrol agent last month.
Meanwhile, federal agents are also under investigation in connection with the death of a suburban man fatally shot by ICE agents during a traffic stop. Mexico’s president has called for a thorough investigation, while ICE has said it did not use excessive force.
An autopsy report, obtained by the Associated Press last week, showed Silverio Villegas González died from a gunshot fired at “close range” to his neck. The death was declared a homicide.
In October, the body of the 38-year-old father who spent two decades in the U.S. was buried in the western Mexico state of Michoacan.
A chilling effect
Many of the once bustling business corridors in the Chicago area’s largely immigrant communities that had quieted down were seeing a buzz again with some street vendors slowly returning to their usual posts.
Andrea Melendez, the owner of Pink Flores Bakery and Cafe, said she has seen an increase in sales after struggling for months.
“As a new business, I was a bit scared when we saw sales drop,” she said. “But this week I’m feeling a bit more hope that things may get better.”
Eleanor Lara, 52, has spent months avoiding unnecessary trips outside her Chicago home, fearful that an encounter with immigration agents could have dire consequences.
Even as a U.S. citizen, she is afraid and carries her birth certificate. She is married to a Venezuelan man whose legal status is in limbo.
“We’re still sticking home,” she said.
Tareen and Fernando write for the Associated Press.
Nov. 22 (UPI) — A 14-year-old boy died and eight other teenagers were wounded in separate shootings in downtown Chicago hours after people were celebrating the start of the holiday season nearby.
The shooting occurred around 9:50 p.m. Friday, about four hours after the city’s official tree lighting at Daley Plaza and a few blocks away, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The mass shooting was outside the Chicago Theater on State Street and the other an hour later near Federal Plaza.
“The holiday season is a time when we come together as a city. It’s when we spend time with our family and our loved ones,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “This is the opposite type of behavior that anybody wants to see. We have too many guns and too many young people who don’t value their own lives or the lives of others.”
According to reports, a so-called teen takeover occurred after the tree lighting, and was described as 300 teens rioting in the streets.
Johnson said the chaos “set us back as a city, and it evokes fear.”
Several ambulances and police presence were seen with police tape wrapped across State Street near the Chicago Theater and Joffrey Ballet, according to WMAQ-TV, and WLS-TV reported gunfire outside its studios.
Officers on patrol “observed a large group on the sidewalk” and heard gunshots that sent people scattering, according to the Chicago Police Department.
Three boys aged 14 to 17 had graze wounds, while two others, aged 14 and 16, suffered leg wounds, while a 14-year-old girl was shot in the hip.
The seventh victim, a 13-year-old girl, was shot in the leg and taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital in fair condition.
Alderman Brian Hopkins initially posted on X that “300 juveniles rioting in the Loop now, at least 5 victims shot, one critical with life threatening gunshot wound to torso. Multiple police officers attacked and injured with mace and stun guns, at least one PO hospitalized.”
Less than an hour later at 10:40 p.m., a few blocks away, one person died with multiple gunshot wounds at Northwestern Memorial and an 18-year-old was found in serious condition with a leg wound.
Five weapons were recovered and 18 arrests were made throughout, but those in custody weren’t considered suspects in the shootings, Johnson said.
“No parent wants to get that terrible, life-altering call,” Johnson said Saturday morning at an unrelated event on the West Side. “It is senseless violence like these shootings that makes us all feel unsafe, and it has left too many families in Chicago reeling.”
The city had deployed 700 additional police officers for the tree lighting along with community violence intervention workers.
“Clearly what we put in place did not do enough to prevent what we were concerned about from actually manifesting,” Johnson said.
The mayor said additional police personnel were being deployed for Saturday night’s Mag Mile Lights Festival.
“We will continue to make the necessary adjustments as we move along to ensure that these large, peaceful, citywide events can take place without the terror and the harm of gun violence,” the mayor added.
The City Council has vetoed a “snap curfew” of gatherings of young people anywhere in the city with 30 minutes’ notice.
“I’m the first person to recognize that we have more work to do in this city to provide safe spaces for our young people. But these types of violent gatherings can never be an alternative, nor can they be normalized,” Johnson said.
“We need to deter them from attending large, unsanctioned after-gatherings, where weapons are likely to be present. There’s always more we as adults can do to make sure that we know where our kids are and what they are doing.”
President Donald Trump has decried the violence in the city, though violent crime has decreased for the past several years.
Trump has taken credit for recent declines there, giving credit to the Operation Midway Blitz immigration raids his administration launched in September.
“I am proud to announce that Chicago, Illinois, despite all of the radical opposition and obstruction we have from the Mayor and Governor, has seen Car Theft, Shootings, Robberies, Violent Crime, and everything else drop dramatically,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Nov. 12.
Through Nov. 14, there have been 373 people killed in the city this year, which is 242 less than the same period in 2024, according to tracking by the Chicago Tribune.
In 2024, a total of 573 people were killed in Chicago.
The demolition of the East Wing of the White House is seen during construction in Washington, on Monday. President Donald Trump began demolishing the East Wing last month to build a $200 million ballroom at the property. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Nov. 20 (UPI) — The Justice Department on Thursday ended its case against a woman who was shot after allegedly ramming a Customs and Border Protection vehicle in October.
Marimar Martinez, 30, and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, 21, were charged with assault for following and allegedly ramming a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by CBP agent Charles Exum on Oct. 4, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois Andrew Boutros filed court papers to end the prosecution on Thursday without citing a reason, though.
U.S. District of Northern Illinois Judge Georgia Alexakis granted the DOJ’s motion to dismiss the case against both defendants early Thursday evening, KTEN reported.
“Border Patrol law enforcement officers were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles,” the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in a prepared statement, as reported by NBC News.
Martinez “was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and has a history of doxing federal agents,” the DHS added.
Her attorney agreed she had a firearm in her vehicle but argued that she was not brandishing it.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty, but evidence revealed Exum bragged in messages to others about shooting five times and causing seven wounds.
During a recent hearing, a defense attorney asked Exum why he apparently bragged about shooting Martinez while using the Signal messaging app.
He said he is a firearms instructor and “I take pride in my shooting skills.”
Exum was participating in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Midway Blitz” when Martinez and Ruiz allegedly boxed in the vehicle he was driving and then struck it.
The defendants said Exum struck them with the vehicle he was driving and then shot Martinez.
Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Chicago and Portland, Ore., are being sent home, and those who will remain will continue to stay off the streets amid court battles over their deployment by the Trump administration, a defense official said Monday.
The withdrawal of soldiers — sent from California and Texas — is part of a larger change to troop deployments after President Trump began his immigration crackdown in various cities with Democratic leadership. The official requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.
U.S. Northern Command said in a statement Sunday it was “shifting and/or rightsizing” units in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago. Although it said there would be a “constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city.”
In the coming days, 200 California National Guard troops currently deployed to Oregon will be sent home, and about 100 will remain in the Portland area doing training, the official said. The military also plans to cut in half the number of Oregon National Guard troops on deployment there from 200 soldiers to 100, the official said.
About 200 Texas National Guard troops in Chicago also are being sent home and about 200 soldiers will be on standby at Fort Bliss, an Army base that stretches across parts of Texas and New Mexico, the official said.
About 300 Illinois National Guard troops will remain in the Chicago area, also doing training, but they currently are not legally allowed to conduct operations with the Department of Homeland Security, the official said.
The official said the upcoming holiday season may have played a role in the change in deployments.
Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said Trump “never should have illegally deployed our troops in the first place.”
“We’re glad they’re finally coming home,” she wrote in an email. “It’s long overdue!”
Separately, the Trump administration has stepped up immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina, expanding an aggressive campaign that’s been spearheaded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
National Guard deployments have been one of the most controversial initiatives of Trump’s second term, demonstrating an expanded willingness to use the military to accomplish domestic goals.
Troops, including active-duty Marines, were deployed to Los Angeles during immigration protests earlier this year.
The National Guard was also sent to Washington, D.C., where they were part of a broader federal intervention that Trump claimed was necessary because of crime problems.
The deployments later expanded to Portland and Chicago.
Although they don’t play a law enforcement role, members of the National Guard have been tasked with protecting federal facilities, particularly those run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
About 100 troops who have been in Los Angeles will remain on deployment, the defense official said.
Watson writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
After a surge in Border Patrol activity in North Carolina’s largest city over the weekend, including dozens of arrests, Gov. Josh Stein said the effort is “stoking fear,” not making Charlotte safer.
The Trump administration has made the Democratic city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement surge it says will combat crime, despite fierce objections from local leaders and downtrending crime rates. Charlotte residents reported encounters with federal immigration agents near churches, apartment complexes and stores.
“We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling, and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks,” Stein said in a video statement late Sunday. “This is not making us safer. It’s stoking fear and dividing our community.”
Stein acknowledged that it was a stressful time, but he called on residents to stay peaceful. If people see something wrong, he said they should record it and report it to local law enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, has said it was focusing on North Carolina because of so-called sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents.
Several county jails house immigrant arrestees and honor detainers, which allow jails to hold detainees for immigration officers to pick them up. But Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located, does not. Also, the city’s police department does not help with immigration enforcement. DHS alleged that about 1,400 detainers across North Carolina had not been honored, putting the public at risk.
Gregory Bovino, who led hundreds of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in a similar effort in Chicago, documented some of the more than 80 arrests he said agents had made in social media posts on Sunday. He posted pictures of people the Trump administration commonly dubs “criminal illegal aliens,” meaning people living in the U.S. without legal permission who allegedly have criminal records. That included one of a man with an alleged history of drunk driving convictions.
The activity has prompted fear and questions, including where detainees would be held, how long the operation would last and what agents’ tactics — criticized elsewhere as aggressive and racist — would look like in North Carolina.
However, some welcomed the effort, including Mecklenburg County Republican Party Chairman Kyle Kirby, who said in a post Saturday that the county GOP “stands with the rule of law — and with every Charlottean’s safety first.”
Bovino’s operations in Chicago and Los Angeles triggered lawsuits over the use of force, including widespread deployment of chemical agents. Democratic leaders in both cities accused agents of inflaming community tensions. Federal agents fatally shot one suburban Chicago man during a traffic stop.
Bovino, head of a Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, and other Trump administration officials have called their tactics appropriate for growing threats on agents.
Tareen, Witte and Dale write for the Associated Press. Tareen and Dale reported from Chicago. Witte reported from Annapolis, Md.
A top Border Patrol commander touted dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city Sunday as Charlotte residents reported encounters with federal immigration agents near churches and apartment complexes.
The Trump administration has made the Democratic city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement surge it says will combat crime, despite fierce objections from local leaders and data showing declining crime rates.
Gregory Bovino, who led hundreds of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on a similar operation in Chicago, went on social media to document some of the arrests he said numbered more than 80 in Charlotte. He posted pictures of people the administration commonly dubs “criminal illegal aliens,” in reference to people living in the U.S. without legal permission who are alleged to have criminal records. That included one of a man with an alleged history of drunk driving convictions.
“We arrested him, taking him off the streets of Charlotte so he can’t continue to ignore our laws and drive intoxicated on the same roads you and your loved ones are on,” Bovino wrote on X.
The effort was dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” a play on the title of the beloved E.B. White children’s book, which isn’t about North Carolina — and whose story of friendship and solidarity with a seemingly doomed farm animal would appear antithetical to the federal crackdown.
The flurry of activity immediately raised questions, including where detainees would be held, how long the operation would run and what agents’ tactics that have been heavily criticized elsewhere would look like in North Carolina.
Bovino’s operations in Chicago and Los Angeles triggered a series of lawsuits and investigations over questions about use of force, including wide deployment of chemical agents. Democratic leaders in both cities said that agents’ presence inflamed community tensions and led to violence. During the Chicago area operation, federal agents fatally shot one suburban man during an attempted traffic stop.
Bovino and other Trump administration officials have called the use of force an appropriate response to growing threats on agents’ lives.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Patrol, did not respond to inquiries about the Charlotte arrests. Bovino’s spokesman did not return a request for comment Sunday.
Elsewhere, Homeland Security has not offered many details about who it is arresting. For instance, in Chicago, the agency provided names and details on only a handful of its more than 3,000 arrests in the metro region from September to last week. In several instances U.S. citizens were handcuffed and detained during operations, and dozens of demonstrators were also charged, often in community clashes over arrests or protests.
By Sunday, reports of CBP activity were “overwhelming” and difficult to quantify, Greg Asciutto, executive director of the community development group CharlotteEast, said in an email.
“The past two hours we’ve received countless reports of CBP activity at churches, apartment complexes and a hardware store,” he said.
City Councilmember-elect JD Mazuera Arias said federal agents appeared to be focused on churches and apartment complexes.
“Houses of worship. I mean, that’s just awful,” he said. “These are sanctuaries for people who are looking for hope and faith in dark times like these and who no longer can feel safe because of the gross violation of people’s right to worship.”
Tareen, Witte and Dale write for the Associated Press. Tareen and Dale reported from Chicago, Witte from Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 16 (UPI) — Hundreds of troops from the Texas National Guard and California National Guard will return to their home states after their deployment to Chicago and Portland, Ore., reports said Sunday.
President Donald Trump federalized 200 members of the Texas National Guard who were deployed to Chicago on Oct. 6, while another 200 from the California National Guard were deployed to Portland.
Around 300 Illinois National Guard troops were also activated in Chicago, and 200 Oregon National Guard troops were activated in Portland.
The Trump administration has justified the federalization of National Guard troops as a means to protect federal authorities and buildings amid widespread protests over raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies.
Anonymous sources told CBS News and CNN that troops from California and Texas would soon return home, while the Trump administration would reduce the number of federalized Oregon National Guard members from 200 to 100, keeping all 300 Illinois National Guard members in place.
To activate the troops, Trump had invoked Title 10 of the federal code, which allows the president to call up National Guard members from any state if another is “in danger of invasion by a foreign nation” or if there is a “danger of rebellion against the authority of the government.”
The activations prompted immediate lawsuits in Illinois and Oregon, which contested Trump’s justification for federalizing and sending National Guard troops.
U.S. District Court Judge April Perry in her ruling had found that there was “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois.”
Her ruling was then upheld by a circuit court panel that wrote “political opposition is not rebellion,” blocking the National Guard members from actually deploying on Chicago streets.
The Trump administration then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has issued an order for a supplemental briefing and has not yet granted a full review of the case.
Concurrently, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut granted a temporary restraining order to block the federalization of Oregon National Guard troops in early October, also preventing them from deploying on Chicago streets.
A circuit court panel then stayed her order, permitting their deployment as the case continued through the lower court.
Immergut then issued a ruling on Nov. 7 that found Trump’s federalization order to be unlawful, exceeding his statutory authority under Title 10 and violating the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on state sovereignty, again blocking their deployment. The Trump administration has appealed that case to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, U.S. Northern Command issued a statement Friday that said the U.S. Defense Department would “be shifting” its Title 10 footprint in Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles, which saw troop deployments earlier this year. It indicated that the U.S. would be establishing a “long-term presence” of troops in each city.
“Our work to protect federal functions, personnel, and property remains a top priority — each and every day. We are prepared to commit as many troops as needed, for as long as needed, to support our law enforcement partners in cities across the country,” the statement reads.
“Our troops in each city (and others) are trained and ready, and will be employed whenever needed to support law enforcement and keep our citizens safe.”
CHICAGO — A Chicago day-care center employee who was detained by immigration agents at work as children were being dropped off last week has been released, according to her attorney.
Diana Santillana Galeano was detained Nov. 5 at the Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center on the north side of Chicago. A video showed officers struggling with her as they walked out the front door. Her attorneys said in a statement Thursday that she was released from a detention center in Indiana on Wednesday night.
“We are thrilled that Ms. Santillana was released, and has been able to return home to Chicago where she belongs,” attorney Charlie Wysong said in the statement. “We will continue to pursue her immigration claims to stay in the United States. We are grateful to her community for the outpouring of support over these difficult days, and ask that her privacy be respected while she rests and recovers from this ordeal.”
Her case reflects the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics. But her detention at a day care was unusual even under “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has resulted in more than 3,000 immigration arrests in the Chicago area since early September. Agents have rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter in a middle-of-the-night apartment building raid, appeared with overwhelming force in recreational areas and launched tear gas amid protests.
“I am so grateful to everyone who has advocated on my behalf, and on behalf of the countless others who have experienced similar trauma over recent months in the Chicago area,” Santillana Galeano said in the same statement. “I love our community and the children I teach, and I can’t wait to see them again.”
The Department of Homeland Security said last week that the woman, who is from Colombia, entered the U.S. illegally in June 2023 but obtained authorization to work under the Biden administration. The department denied that the day care was targeted.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The next city bracing for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is Charlotte, North Carolina, which could see an influx of federal agents as early as this weekend, a county sheriff said Thursday.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said in a statement that two federal officials confirmed a plan for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to start an enforcement operation on Saturday or early next week in North Carolina’s largest city. His office declined to identify those officials. McFadden said details about the operation haven’t been disclosed, and his office hasn’t been asked to assist.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin declined to comment, saying, “Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations.”
President Trump has defended sending the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and even the nation’s capital, saying the unprecedented operations are needed to fight crime and carry out his mass deportation agenda. Charlotte is another such Democratic stronghold, and the state will have one of the most hotly contested U.S. Senate races in the country next year.
Activists, faith leaders, and local and state officials in the city had already begun preparing the immigrant community, sharing information about resources and attempting to calm fears. A call organized by the group CharlotteEAST had nearly 500 people on it Wednesday.
“The purpose of this call was to create a mutual aid network. It was an information resource sharing session,” said City Councilmember-Elect JD Mazuera Arias.
“Let’s get as many people as possible aware of the helpers and who the people are that are doing the work that individuals can plug into, either as volunteers to donate to or those who are in need of support can turn to,” said CharlotteEAST executive director Greg Asciutto.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department also sought to clarify its role, saying it “has no authority to enforce federal immigration laws,” and is not involved in planning or carrying out these enforcement operations.
Mazuera Arias and others said they had already begun receiving reports of what appeared to be plainclothes officers in neighborhoods and on local transit.
“This is some of the chaos that we also saw in Chicago,” state Sen. Caleb Theodros, who represents Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, said Thursday.
Theodros was one of several local and state officials who issued a statement of solidarity this week.
“More than 150,000 foreign-born residents live in our city, contributing billions to our economy and enriching every neighborhood with culture, hard work, and hope,” it read, adding: “We will stand together, look out for one another, and ensure that fear never divides the city we all call home.”
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol chief who led Customs and Border Protection’s recent Chicago operation and was also central to the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, had been coy about where agents would target next.
The Trump administration’s so-called “ Operation Midway Blitz ” in the Chicago area was announced in early September, over the objections of local leaders and after weeks of threats on the Democratic stronghold.
It started as a handful of arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the suburbs but eventually included hundreds of Customs and Border Protection agents whose tactics grew increasingly aggressive. More than 3,200 people suspected of violating immigration laws have been arrested across Chicago and its many suburbs dipping into Indiana.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both immigration agencies, has offered few details on the arrests, aside from publicizing a handful of people who were living in the U.S. without legal permission and had criminal records.
The group Indivisible Charlotte and the Carolina Migrant Network will be conducting a training for volunteers on Friday.
“Training people how to recognize legitimate ICE agents, versus obviously those who don’t look legitimate,” said Tony Siracusa, spokesman for Indvisible Charlotte. “They’re not always wearing vests that say ‘ICE.’ And what your rights are.”
The groups will also discuss areas where they can conduct “pop up protests.”
“Obviously, we’re not doing anything that is going to encourage people to go get arrested by federal agents,” he said.
Siracusa said locals are “not freaking out, but very definitely concerned. Nobody asked for this help. Nobody asked for this, at least no one of any official capacity.”
Breed and Verduzco write for the Associated Press. Breed reported from Wake Forest, N.C. AP writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
The “Purge” movies are missing from the list, as are the entries in the “Saw” franchise. There are no “Evil Dead” titles. “The Exorcist” is suspiciously absent.
The list, in this case, is the favorite four films of Pope Leo XIV, f.k.a. Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago. The pontiff released the list via video ahead of a planned meeting Saturday with luminaries from the world of cinema.
To avoid the risk of being played off the stage by the academy’s orchestra, let’s share the winners quickly:
1. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 1946 2. “The Sound of Music,” 1965 3. “Ordinary People,” 1980 4. “Life Is Beautiful,” 1997
That’s it. No “The Agony and the Ecstasy.” No “Pope Joan” or “Spotlight” or “Conclave,” for obvious reasons. No “Sister Act” or “Oh, God!” or any of the associated sequels, for less obvious reasons.
As a matter of fact, not a single comedy at all, much less a goofy comedy. And on either the drama or comedy fronts, the pope definitely could have chosen at least one flick set in his former neck of the woods. Think “The Blues Brothers,” “Home Alone,” “The Untouchables,” “High Fidelity,” “Eight Men Out” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” (Think “Chicago,” for goodness’ sake.)
Pope Leo will apparently be meeting Saturday with Hollywood types including, Variety reports, actors Monica Bellucci, Cate Blanchett, Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Viggo Mortensen and Chris Pine, plus directors Spike Lee, George Miller, Giuseppe Tornatore and Gus Van Sant.
Seems the pope “has expressed his desire to deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema, and in particular with actors and directors, exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values,” according to a statement obtained by CNN.
That sounds all well and good, and a person can’t really go wrong with the movies on the pope’s list — two of the four are best picture Oscar winners, and the other two are best picture nominees.
That said, let’s shed a tiny tear for the exclusion of “Bruce Almighty,” if only because Morgan Freeman could use a little papal recognition too.
In September, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, depicted as Lt. Col. Kilgore, the gung-ho warmonger memorably played by Robert Duvall in Francis Ford Coppola’s messy masterpiece, “Apocalypse Now” — except the graphic bore the title “Chipocalypse Now.”
Trump sent out the message as his scorched-earth immigration enforcement campaign descended on the Windy City after doing its cruelty calisthenics in Southern California over the summer. Two months later, the campaign — nicknamed “Operation Midway Blitz” — shows no sign of slowing down.
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La migra has been so out of control that a federal judge issued an injunction against their use of force, saying what they’ve done “shocks the conscience.” Among other outrages, agents shot and killed an immigrant trying to drive away from them, ran into a daycare facility and dragged out a teacher and tear-gassed a street that was about to host a Halloween kiddie parade.
I had a chance to witness the mayhem it has caused last week — and how Chicagoans have fought back.
The University of Chicago brought me to do talks with students and the community for a couple of days, including with members of the Maroon, the school’s newspaper. Earlier in the week, Fox News put them on blast because they had created a database of places around campus where la migra had been spotted.
Good job, young scribes!
In Little Village, pocket Patton meets his match
After my speech at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, I noticed someone had hung whistles around the neck of a bronze bust. Whistles have become the unlikely tool of resistance in the city, I wrote in a columna — something that I argued Latinos nationwide had also employed metaphorically with their election night clapback at Republicans.
When I woke up Thursday morning at my tony hotel, the Chicago Tribune’s front page screamed “Use of Force Under Fire” and focused on the actions of commander-at-large Gregory Bovino. You remember him, Angelenos: he’s the pocket Patton who oversaw the pointless invasion of MacArthur Park in July and seemed to spend as much time in front of cameras as doing his actual job.
Bovino has continued the buffoonery in Chicago, where he admitted under oath to lying about why he had tossed a tear gas canister at residents in Little Village, the city’s most famous Mexican American neighborhood, in October (Bovino originally said someone hit him with a rock).
I Ubered to Little Village to meet with community activist Baltazar Enriquez so we could eat at one of his neighborhood’s famous Mexican restaurants and talk about what has happened.
I instead walked right into a cacophony of whistles, honks and screams: Bovino and his goons were cruising around Little Village and surrounding neighborhoods that morning just for the hell of it.
From L.A. to the rest of the country, and back
“Every time Trump or la migra lose in something, they pull something like this,” a business owner told me as she looked out on 26th Street, Little Village’s main thoroughfare. Customers were hiding inside her store. Over four hours, I followed Enriquez as he and other activists drove through Little Village’s streets to warn their neighbors what was happening.
The scene played out again in Little Village on Saturday shortly after I filed my columna, with Bovino holding a tear gas canister in his hand and threatening to toss it at residents, openly mocking the federal judge’s injunction prohibiting him from such reckless terrorizing (Monday, the Department of Homeland Security claimed agents had weathered gun shots, bricks, paint cans and rammed vehicles). And to top it off, he had his officers pose in front of Chicago’s infamous stainless steel bean for a photo, just like they did in front of the Hollywood sign (Block Club Chicago reported the funboys shouted “Little Village” for giggles).
Given ICE just received billions of dollars in funds to hire more agents and construct detention camps across the country, expect more scenes like this to continue in Chicago, boomerang back to Southern California and cut through the heart of Latino USA in the weeks, months and years to come. But I nevertheless left Chicagoland with hope — and a whistle.
Time for us to start wearing them, Los Angeles.
Today’s top stories
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) currently faces the lowest approval ratings of any national leader in Washington.
Democrats in the House vowed to keep fighting for insurance subsidies.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is facing pressure to step down as Senate Democratic leader after failing to prevent members of his caucus from breaking ranks.
States are caught in Trump’s legal battle to revoke SNAP benefits after a federal judge ordered full funding.
A brief bout of summer weather
Courts protect LGBTQ+ rights
More big stories
Commentary and opinions
California columnist Anita Chabria argues that Democrats crumbled like cookies in the shutdown fight.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is still writing his path to the presidency. Columnist George Skelton points to Zohran Mamdani for inspiration.
President Trump’s effort to rename Veterans Day flopped — and for good reason, argues guest contributor Joanna Davidson.
This morning’s must reads
Other great reads
For your downtime
(Andrew Rae / For The Times)
Going out
Staying in
Question of the day: What’s one special dish your family makes for Thanksgiving?
Judi Farkas said: “An old Russian recipe that has descended through 5 generations of our family, Carrot Tzimmis was traditionally served as part of the Passover meal. It’s perfect with a Thanksgiving turkey. Tzimmis is sweet, as are so many of the Thanksgiving dishes, so I pair it with a Jalapeño Cornbread dressing and a robust salad vinaigrette so that no one gets overwhelmed. It connects me to my family’s heritage, but repurposed for the holidays we celebrate now.”
Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally … the photo of the day
A person surfs at Salt Creek Beach on Sunday in Dana Point.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter Hugo Martin, assistant editor Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor June Hsu, editorial fellow Andrew Campa, weekend reporter Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
LITTLE VILLAGE, Il. — The moment I got out of my Uber ride in this West Side Chicago neighborhood, the noise was everywhere.
Honks. Cursing. Screeching tires. Revving engines. Whistles. So many whistles.
Immigration authorities were sweeping through — again. And people weren’t having it.
Old, young, Latino, Black and white, folks shouted warnings from cars and from businesses like a game of Telephone across 26th Street, the heart of this historic Latino community. One of them was Eric Vandeford, who glanced in every direction for any sign of la migra.
“We all surrounded them earlier trying to get someone and they just left,” the 32-year-old said. He looked down 26th. “I gotta go,” he snapped and jogged off.
I arrived at 9:30 in the morning hoping to grab breakfast before interviewing Baltazar Enriquez. He’s president of the Little Village Community Council, a long-standing nonprofit that has added to its mission of organizing food drives and fighting against environmental racism to face off against Trump’s deportation machine.
Instead, I found myself in a chase to keep up with immigration agents.
Residents watch federal agents as they make a stop in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. Federal agents participating in Operation Midway Blitz engage in daily patrols through the city’s neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs searching for undocumented immigrants.
(Scott Olson / Getty Images)
Over the last two months, la migra has swept throughout Chicago but has swung its hammer with gusto on Little Village, known as La Villita by residents and considered the Mexican heart of the city. Imagine the density of Pico-Union with the small-town feel of Boyle Heights and the fierce pride of South L.A., then mix in murals and nationally known Mexican restaurants — Carnitas Uruapan, Taqueria El Milagro.
It’s a charming barrio, and it’s been under siege, like many other neighborhoods in the Windy City.
Immigration agents have staged operations in the parking lots of local schools before grabbing undocumented immigrants and citizens alike. When Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino swung by in late October, he tossed a tear gas canister toward a group of protesters filming him, a move so reprehensible that a federal judge issued an injunction banning such force the morning I was in Little Village.
Now, the rumor was that Bovino was cruising around with a caravan.
He’s the man the Trump administration tasked with its deportation deluge in Southern California this summer before moving on to Chicago. In L.A., Bovino mostly mugged for the cameras, like the time he oversaw an invasion of an emptied MacArthur Park in July with the National Guard parked on Wilshire Boulevard. Bovino said it was necessary to stop transnational gangs, but he nabbed no one.
In Chicago, Bovino has dialed the cruelty and spectacle to 11. Residents have responded in kind in a way I haven’t seen in Southern California. Sure, Angelenos have organized block patrols and group chats and enlisted the help of politicians and nonprofit leaders just like Chicago.
But we don’t have the whistles.
They’ve become the fall soundtrack of the Windy City to the point organizers are holding “Whistlemania” events to hand them out by the thousands. Chicago has a radical legacy that predates L.A. by decades — anarchists, socialists and immigrants were fighting back against government-sponsored thugs when L.A. was still a relative cow town.
The suburban apathy that has kept too many Southern Californians on the sidelines as immigration agents sweep into our cities was nowhere to be felt in Little Village. People poured out of businesses and their residences. Others looked out from rooftops. The intensity of their pushback was more concentrated, raw and widespread than almost anything I’ve seen back home.
It wasn’t just the activists on call — block after block was ready.
Honks and whistles went off toward the west. I ran toward them and met Rogelio Lopez Jr. He was going inside grocery stores and discount marts to let people know that el hielo — ICE — was nearby.
Federal agents, including from Border Patrol and the Bureau of Prisons, stop a resident and request to see his proof of citizenship in Chicago. The man produced the required documents and was allowed to go free.
(Scott Olson / Getty Images)
The 53-year-old Little Village resident was enjoying lunch with his father at Carniceria Aguascalientes the day Bovino unleashed his mayhem nearby. He and other customers bolted to confront the Border Patrol bigwig.
“I’m sure he was thinking, ‘Here’s this guy standing in front of my force with a stupid little whistle in my territory.’ No, you’re in our territory.”
A minivan stopped near us and rolled down its window. “We lost them by Central and 26th!” shouted 32-year-old Mariana Ochoa from the back seat as she held her son on her lap. Joining us now was a masked 18-year-old college student who went by Ella and is a U.S. citizen along with her parents. She rattled off all the locations where her WhatsApp group had spotted ICE that morning. Lopez texted them to his own group.
Ella took a call from her mother.
“I’ll be back home soon, Ama,” the college student said in Spanish. “Love you. Stay inside.”
Angry residents gathered on street corners. Many had whistles — pink, black, orange, green — around their necks. Lopez handed one to Juan Ballena, who immediately used it — a shrill, reedy blast soon answered by others.
He waved up and down 26th Street. “Look at the buildings,” said the 61-year-old. “Closed. Closed. Closed. These migra are ruining a beautiful town.”
Nearby, 64-year-old Flavio Luviano stood outside his wife’s bistro with a whistle in one hand and a laminated know-your-rights card in the other. Business is down — and so is trust.
“I always have the door locked,” said the dual Mexican and U.S. citizen in Spanish. “People will come who aren’t from here and say, ‘Let me in’ and I tell them, ‘No, only with a warrant.’ They get angry, and I say, ‘I don’t care, we need to protect the people we know.’”
Three blocks toward the east, the horns and screams and whistles I had heard an hour ago were going off again. ICE had just passed by.
The stocky Enriquez stood in the middle of the street trying to clear cars whose drivers had tried to block off what they said were undercover immigration agents. People around him were scrambling in every direction while on their phones letting others know what had just happened. “I got their … license plates on my phone!” a woman yelled to no one in particular.
Most had whistles around their necks.
Wearing Crocs, a puffer jacket and sweats, Enriquez looked like a defensive end about to start a training session.
Soon, we were off again.
Border Patrol agent Gregory Bovino speaks with other federal agents during a gas station stop before resuming immigration arrests in Chicago.
(Jamie Kelter Davis / Getty Images)
Esparza and the driver, Lissette Barrera, sped up and down Little Village’s narrow tree-lined streets, many with signs that read “Hands Off Chicago” inside the city’s flag scheme. They alternated between blowing their whistles, pounding on the car horn and yelling “¡Andala migra!”
Immigration agents always seemed a few minutes ahead. Reports via texts said they were asking people about their legal status. Some were detained.
We finally parked underneath the Little Village Arch, a colonial-style gateway crossing over the part of 26th Street where Uber dropped me off earlier. A crowd was waiting for Enriquez to hear his game plan: “No ramming, no throwing, no nothing. Just follow and film.”
A Chicago police officer passed by. “Ya se fueron [They’re gone],” he told Enriquez very matter-of-factly. “The whistles worked.”
Steven Villalobos pulled up in a raised truck with a giant Mexico flag flapping from its cab. It was his first-ever protest.
“I’ve been seeing this for months and enough was enough — I had to join,” said the Little Village lifer. Near him, Amor Cardenas nodded.
“It sucks that my mom can’t even go to … Ross, bro,” said the 20-year-old. She was still in her pajamas. “You don’t understand this feeling of terror until it’s in front of you. Then, there’s no turning back.”
Barrera and I jumped in the back seat of another car as Enriquez took the wheel. She opened a bag of Sabritones and passed it to two other passengers. The four of them had just returned home on an overnight bus from Washington, D.C., where they participated in an anti-Trump protest at the National Mall.
Enriquez drove slower. He and a volunteer named Lille logged on to Instagram and livestreamed from their respective phones to an audience of about a thousand.
“Those who have papers, come out and patrol,” he said in Spanish in a deep voice. “Those who don’t, stay inside.”
“Tell Baltazar that I’m going to buy him a caguama,” Lille said someone had commented. A tall boy of beer.
For the first time all morning, Enriquez smiled. “Make it two.”
The 46-year-old Enriquez was born in Michoacán, came to Chicago without papers as a child and received his American citizenship thanks to the 1986 amnesty. He cut his activist teeth with the Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as ACORN, before becoming the Little Village Community Council vice president in 2008.
A rapid responder blows a whistle to warn residents of an approaching caravan of federal agents in Chicago.
(Scott Olson / Getty Images)
Espinoza said the idea of using whistles to alert people about ICE in Chicago started in Little Village but came indirectly from Los Angeles. During a June Zoom call, Enriquez heard activists say they couldn’t communicate with one another while protesting outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. after their cellphones suddenly stopped working.
“So I thought we needed low tech to beat that if it happened here,” Enriquez said as we cruised past a city-owned lot where ICE had staged operations weeks earlier. Signs now said immigration agents weren’t allowed. “People at first thought the whistles were a joke. But then we used them once and la migra took off — and it spread like wildfire.”
We were now in nearby Brighton Park. He was following a tip that Bovino was approaching residents himself.
“They just tear-gassed someone!” someone yelled over the phone. “They’re taking people right now.”
The call cut short.
Enriquez tried to speed back to Little Village but hit construction traffic. Barrera jumped out of the car to grab two traffic cones. “To trap pepper balls when ICE fires them,” she explained.
Another call. “They got my son,” a woman quietly said in Spanish.
“Go to the [Little Village Community Council] office and we’ll help,” Enriquez replied.
“I can’t go out. I don’t have papers.”
When we passed an elementary school off Western Avenue, Barrera screamed in Spanish, “Take in the kids because la migra is driving around!” Teachers immediately blew their whistles and rushed their students inside.
Amid the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, residents watch a parade while celebrating Mexican Independence Day in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on Sept. 14.
(Brandon Bell / Getty Images)
ICE was out of Little Village — for now. Enriquez logged back on to Instagram Live.
“Good job, guys. Stay on their ICE nalgas.”
We took a right on 26th toward the Little Village Community Center’s small office. “We’re going to take a break,” Enriquez told his audience. We’ve gotta get pizza for everyone.”
Bilingual signs taped to the storefront window read “ICE OUT!” and “Free Whistles.”
“It was just supposed to be the bad people that they were going to target, they told us, but that didn’t happen,” said Nayeli Girón, a 24-year-old student. She wore a jacket that read “Southwest,” the name of a nearby neighborhood. “Every day it’s a different story. That’s why we need to stand up.”
Chicago police officers responded to a call of gunshots fired at federal agents Saturday amid immigration enforcement operations that drew protesters into the streets, the department said.
There were no reports of anyone hit by gunfire, according to police, and the federal Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on the social platform X that the shots were fired by a man in a black Jeep who was targeting the agents.
The suspect and the vehicle have not been located, according to DHS.
Tensions are high as federal enforcement has grown increasingly aggressive some two months into an immigration operation in Chicago dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” Some residents have protested, at times following and confronting heavily armed agents.
A federal judge issued an extensive injunction this week restricting agents’ use of force after saying a top Border Patrol official repeatedly lied about threats posed by protesters.
Saturday’s Border Patrol operation in Little Village, a largely Mexican neighborhood, attracted protesters who blew whistles, honked car horns and yelled at agents to leave. Some confronted police officers they viewed as helping the federal agents.
One police vehicle had its taillight smashed and windshield damaged. DHS said some protesters threw a paint can and bricks at agents’ vehicles.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nov. 8 (UPI) — One or more people fired shots at Customs and Border Protection agents, who were carrying out law enforcement activities in a southwestern Chicago neighborhood on Saturday.
The agents were in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood as part of the Operation Midway Blitz operation to enforce federal immigration laws in the sanctuary city when an unidentified male in a black Jeep fired shots at the agents and then fled in his vehicle.
The number of shots fired was not announced.
“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of violence and obstruction,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X.
“Over the past two months, we’ve seen an increase in assaults and obstruction targeting federal law enforcement during operations,” the post continued.
“These confrontations highlight the dangers our agents face daily and the escalating aggression toward law enforcement. The violence must end.”
The incident occurred near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue when agents detained a young woman, which drew the attention of protesters who demanded CBP release her, according to WLS-TV.
As protesters followed the CBP caravan in which the woman was detained, the man in the black Jeep fired shots at the agents.
Some protesters also threw bricks and a paint can at the agents’ vehicles, CBS News reported.
The Chicago Police Department arrived on the scene to clear it and restore order.
No arrests have been made, but federal law enforcement is continuing to search for the driver of the black Jeep.
Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said the CBP agents “came out of their vehicles pointing their weapons” and “used tear gas on people,” WLS-TV reported.
After Chicago police arrived, one police officer was struck by a vehicle and taken to a local hospital for treatment. His condition was not reported.
The Chicago Police Department said there were no reports of anyone being struck by gunfire.
CBP agents continued their law enforcement activities near 26th and Pulaski and deployed tear gas to fend off protesters as they detained another person.
Many protesters used whistles and car horns to warn others of the CBP activities during an afternoon attempt to detain a man and his niece near 25th and Sawyers.
The incident also required the attention of the Chicago Police Department after someone used a vehicle to ram a CBP vehicle.
MOVE over, New York! Chicago will win your heart (and stomach), says writer Qin Xie.
“Is this place famous or something?” I overhear someone ask as our camera-wielding tour group files into Mr Beef.
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Move over New York… Chicago will win over your heartCredit: Alamy Stock PhotoMural mania in Wicker ParkCredit: Shutterstock / WhiteBlush
The low-key Chicago sandwich shop is a cult favourite, serving wafer-thin slices of roast beef in gravy-dipped bread since 1979.
But thanks to TV show The Bear, which is inspired by the eatery, its popularity has sky-rocketed and now fans are flocking here on food tours.
At £96 plus tips, the half-day bus tour is a pricey day out – but as I bite into my flavour bomb of a sandwich, there’s nowhere I’d rather be (Chicagofoodtours.com).
Pizza the action
I’ve visited Chicago a few times and I always book a food tour, because the city is home to some of the best restaurants in the US.
First-timers should try the gut-busting Original Chicago Pizza Tour, £66 for a half-day, where the classic deep dish is the star (Chicagopizzatours.com), though the fabulous half-day tacos and tequila tour in Pilsen, the city’s Mexican neighbourhood, is better for making friends.
Twinning is winning at chic L7 Chicago By LotteCredit: Supplied by PR
I met a local improv comedian on mine and ended up going to his show.
Fantastic food aside, I love checking out the artworks scattered around Millennium Park, free fireworks displays at Navy Pier every Wednesday and Saturday night, plus quirky attractions like the Museum of Ice Cream, where you can try the hot-dog flavour!
It’s certainly an experience, but the strawberry cheesecake flavour is so much better.
On gloriously sunny days, it’s utter bliss to cycle along the Lakefront Trail next to Lake Michigan, stopping to flop out at the sandy beaches beside the city skyline.
I use bike-share scheme Divvy – there are bikes everywhere and they cost just £13 a day (Divvybikes.com).
The Museum of Ice Cream’s ‘hot dog’Credit: Supplied by Qin Xie
The best place to refuel is Whispers at Oak Street Beach, right on the sand, although an iced coffee here will set you back close to £7 (Whispersgroup.com).
I’m staying at L7 Chicago By Lotte, a hotel in the heart of the city with rooms that come with yoga mats and free weights (Lottehotel.com).
It’s steps away from Chicago Riverwalk, the waterside footpath where the locals hang out, and it’s here that I join Urban Kayaks for a paddle past towering skyscrapers as a guide shares stories about the architecture.
Exploring the neighbourhoods, like leafy Lincoln Park with its free zoo, or trendy Wicker Park and Bucktown, which are packed with cool street art and edgy boutiques.
It’s why I can’t get enough of this city – each of its 77 neighbourhoods feels like somewhere new.
Qin joined Urban Kayaks for a paddle past towering skyscrapersCredit: Supplied by Qin Xie
FYI
A five-night trip with return flights, a room at L7 Chicago By Lotte and selected tours costs from £1,575 per person (Audley travel.com).
CHICAGO — When I turned on my phone after landing at O’Hare Airport on Wednesday, texts poured in from friends and colleagues warning that I was about to enter a region under siege.
Many sent a video from that morning of immigration agents running into a day care facility in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood to pull out a teacher. It was the latest attack against the metropolis by President Trump’s deportation Leviathan, whose so-called Operation Midway Blitz this fall has made its earlier occupation of Los Angeles look like a play date.
Armed agents have sauntered through downtown and manned a flotilla of boats on the Chicago River. They shot and killed a fleeing immigrant and raided an apartment building with the help of a Black Hawk helicopter. In nearby Broadview, home to the region’s main ICE detention facility, rooftop migra shot pepper balls at protesters below, including a pastor. They even tear-gassed a neighborhood that was about to host a Halloween children’s parade, for chrissakes.
From Back of the Yards to Cicero, Brighton Park to Evanston, immigration agents have sown terror throughout Chicagoland with such glee that a federal judge declared that it “shocks the conscience” and issued an injunction limiting their use of force — which they no doubt will ignore.
I was in town to speak to students at the University of Chicago about the importance of reporting on things one may not like. Heaven knows that’s been my 2025. But as I waited to deplane, I checked my email and found something I’ve sorely needed this year:
Hope.
On Tuesday, Democrats won governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia by wide margins. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York, telling Trump to “Turn. The. Volume. Up” during a soaring victory speech.
Back home in California, 64% of voters favored Proposition 50, the ballot initiative crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom to create up to five Democratic-leaning congressional districts in response to Trump’s gerrymandering in Texas.
It was a humiliating rebuke of Trumpism. And the tip of the Democratic spear? Latinos.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic governor-elect in New Jersey, takes a photo during an election-night party. Democrats reclaimed political momentum Tuesday with gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia, early signs that voter unease with the economy in President Trump’s second term could give them a path to winning control of Congress next year.
(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In New Jersey, where Trump received 46% of the Latino vote in 2024, a CNN exit poll showed just 31% of Latinos siding with the losing GOP candidate for governor. Nearly two-thirds of Latinos in Virginia went against Cuban American Atty. General Jason Miyares, a Republican who also lost. The CNN poll also found that more than 70% of California Latinos voted for Proposition 50, a year after GOP Latino legislators made historic gains in Sacramento.
At the same time, support for Trump has dropped among Latinos. Only 25% of Latinos surveyed in October by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research viewed Trump favorably — a cratering from the 45% who liked him in April. Even more telling, two-thirds of Latino men thought negatively of Trump — despite 51% of that demographic choosing him in 2024.
Latinos’ leftward shift on election night already set off as many thought pieces as Trump did when he captured 48% of the Latino vote — the most a Republican presidential candidate has earned, despite his long history of slurring, maligning and insulting America’s largest minority. Democrats, who have long depended on Latino voters, were shocked, and GOP leaders were delighted, feeling that a demographic that had long eluded them was finally, truly within reach.
This week Latinos sent a loud message: You had your chance, y nada.
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to play off his party’s collapse among Latinos to NBC News, sniffling, “I do believe that the demographic shift that we were able to see and experience in the 2024 election will hold.”
Mike: time to bring the Republican Party out of its Stockholm syndrome. Your guy has blown it with Latinos. Let him keep doubling down on his madness, and Latinos will continue to flip on ustedes like a tortilla.
Trump’s 2024 victory was the culmination of an extraordinary shift in the Latino electorate that few saw coming — but I did. As I’ve written ad nauseam since 2016, Latinos were beginning to favor the GOP on issues like limited government, immigration restrictions and transgender athletes in high school sports because Democrats were taking them for granted, obsessing over woke shibboleths while neglecting blue-collar issues like gas prices and high taxes.
A voter holds a sign in Spanish while riding with other voters to the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center as part of a 2024 event organized by LUCHA (Living United For Change In Arizona) for Latinx voters and volunteers in Arizona.
(Anna Watts/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
All this was was happening as the Biden administration made it easier for newly arrived undocumented immigrants to remain, angering those who have been here for decades without similar help. The long-standing tendency for Latinos to sympathize with the latest Latin Americans to cross over eroded, and some became more receptive to Trump’s apocalyptic words against open borders.
Last year 63% of Latinos in California considered undocumented immigrants to be a “burden,” according to a poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times.
That happened to be the same percentage of California voters who favored Prop. 187, the infamous 1994 initiative that sought to make life miserable for undocumented immigrants and showed the GOP that xenophobic politics can work.
After the 2024 election, Latinos seemed to be joining earlier Catholic immigrants who were once cast as invaders — Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans — on the road to assimilation and the waiting arms of the Republican party. All Trump had to do was improve the economy and clamp down on the border. If he did the former, Latinos would have been largely supportive of the latter, as long as deportations focused on newcomers.
Instead, Trump wasted his opportunity.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents knock on the door of a residence during a targeted enforcement operation in Chicago.
Trump officials keep issuing punitive policies that crush the dreams of Latinos, like a crackdown on English fluency in the trucking industry and ending federal grants that helped colleges and universities recruit and retain Latino students.
Federal agents leave the area of North A Street as residents and community members protest an early morning federal enforcement action in Oxnard.
(Julie Leopo/For The Times)
But Trump’s biggest mistake has been his indiscriminate deportation raids. His toxic alphabet soup of immigration enforcement agencies — HSI, ERO, CPB, ICE — largely has ignored the so-called “worst of the worst” in favor of tamale ladies, fruteros and longtime residents. Nearly three-quarters of immigrants in ICE detention as of September have no criminal convictions, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Trump’s deportation deluge has rained down across the country as his administration repeatedly has exhibited white supremacist tendencies, from effectively blocking all new refugees except South African Boers to pumping out social media garbage extolling a mythical America where white makes right and Latinos exist only as blurry mug shots of alleged illegal immigrants.
A federal agent holds his weapon as law enforcement officers conduct a raid on street vendors. New Yorkers witnessing the attempted detainments began protesting and attempted to block agents.
(Michael Nigro/LightRocket via Getty Images)
No wonder 65% of Latinos feel it’s a “bad time” to be Latino in the U.S. — a 25-percentage-point drop in optimism from March of last year, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll done with Telemundo and released this week.
Trump even is losing credibility among Latino Republicans, with a September 2024 AP-NORC poll finding that 83% of them had a “very” or “somewhat” positive view of the president last year.
Trump very well can win back some of those Latinos in 2026 if the economy improves. But every time his migra goons tackle innocents, another Latino will turn on him and get ready to fight back.
At the University of Chicago, orange whistles hung around a bronze bust just outside the room where I spoke. They’ve become a symbol of resistance to Trump’s invasion of the City of Strong Shoulders, blown by activists to alert everyone that la migra is on the prowl.
A bronze bust with whistles around it inside Swift Hall at the University of Chicago. They’ve become a symbol of resistance, blown by activists to alert everyone that la migra is on the prowl.
(Gustavo Arellano/Los Angeles Times)
I grabbed one as a memento of my time here and also as a reminder of what’s happening with Latinos right now. Nationwide, we’re warning everyone from the front lines — the streets, the ballot box, the courtroom, everywhere — about the excesses of Trump and warning him what happens if he doesn’t listen.
