CHICAGO (AP, WGN) — Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the nation’s third-largest city that’s been promised by the Donald Trump administration, though few details of the operation were made public.
Bove said he was in Chicago on Sunday morning and observed Department of Homeland Security agents, along with assisting federal agencies — including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. He didn’t say where the operations took place in the city or detail any arrests.
“We will support everyone at the federal, state, and local levels who joins this critical mission to take back our communities,” Bove said in a statement. “We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we will not rest until the work is done.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said the agency “began conducting enhanced targeted operations (Sunday) in Chicago,” along with other federal partners, “to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.”
Carter declined to provide other details, citing an ongoing operation. Spokesmen for the FBI, ATF and the Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed their involvement but didn’t give other information.
On Sunday, WGN learned ICE agents showed up to at least two Albany Park buildings, one in the 4900 bloc of North Drake and the other in the 4800 block of North Central Avenue. However, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez (33rd Ward) said no one was taken into custody, to her knowledge, at those locations.
The FBI’s Chicago office issued a statement in response to an inquiry from WGN, saying: “The FBI, along with our Department of Justice partners, is assisting DHS and other federal law enforcement partners with their immigration enforcement efforts.”
The Chicago Police Department was not part of those crackdowns due to the city’s “Welcoming City Ordinance,” which means CPD “does not assist federal immigration authorities with enforcement action solely based on immigration status.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division also posted on its X feed Sunday morning: “The DEA, along with our Department of Justice partners, is assisting Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement partners with their immigration efforts,” in addition to photos of Bove’s visit.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, can also be seen in those photos.
On Sunday, ICE made 956 arrests on a national level. According to Homan, the primary goal is to round up undocumented individuals with a criminal history. Homan, however, did say in interviews recently that no one is off the table.
“Let me explain that. There are collateral arrests. Where do collateral arrests happen? Sanctuary cities,” Homan said in a recent interview.
One of those “collateral arrests” may have happened in Hermosa on Sunday, as sources told WGN News a husband and father of one with no criminal history was detained while on his way to work. His family allegedly was only made aware something was wrong when he didn’t show up for his shift.
ICE has not provided arrest numbers specific to Chicago.
Chicago residents, especially in immigrant circles, have already been on edge for months in anticipation of large-scale immigration arrests promised by the Trump administration.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday he’s all for deportations of criminals, not those contributing to the community.
“They are going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here,” Pritzker said. “When we’re talking about violent criminals who have been convicted and who are undocumented, we don’t want them in our state. We want them out of the country.”
Immigrant rights groups have tried to prepare with campaigns for immigrants to know their rights in case of an arrest. City officials have done the same, publishing similar information at hundreds of public transit stations.
On Friday, Chicago Public Schools officials mistakenly believed ICE agents had come to a city elementary school and put out statements to that effect before learning the agents were from the Secret Service. Word of immigration agents at a school — which have long been off limits to immigration agents until Trump ended the policy last week — drew swift criticism from community groups and Gov. JB Pritzker.
The Democratic governor, a frequent Trump critic, questioned the operations and targeting immigrants.
“We need to get rid of the violent criminals. But we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation, who are just doing what we hope that immigrants will do,” Pritzker said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Homan, however, levied criticism at both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing them of fearmongering after Friday’s incident at a CPS school. Homan insisted their operations are targeted and that the world should take note.
Chicago has been one of Trump’s favorite targets. The city has some of the strongest sanctuary protections, which bar cooperation between city police and immigration agents.
On Saturday, several immigrant rights groups sued ICE, seeking an injunction prohibiting certain types of immigration raids in Chicago.
“Immigrant communities who have called Chicago their home for decades are scared,” said Antonio Gutierrez from Organized Communities Against Deportation, one of the plaintiffs. “We refuse to live in fear and will fight any attempts to roll back the work we’ve done to keep families together.”
On Sunday, Johnson issued the following statement amid reports of ICE activity in the city:
“There have been confirmed reports of ICE enforcement activity in Chicago today, Sunday, January 26. Per City code, Chicago police were not involved in this immigration enforcement activity. My team and I are in close communication with City officials including the CPD. It is imperative that all Chicagoans know their constitutional rights and share the Know Your Rights guidance with their neighbors and community.”
Durkin Richer reported from Washington
