Feds say more than 1,500 arrested in

The Department of Homeland Security has said federal agents have made more than 1,500 arrests as part of the immigration crackdown in the Chicago area dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which began more than a month ago.

CBS News Chicago has been digging into federal data to find out exactly who is being arrested and if those numbers really line up.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed months ago, asking for the names and numbers of people who’d been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago, ICE referred CBS News Chicago to a data dashboard that tells a pretty interesting story.

The website shows the arrests cover not just people arrested in the Chicago area, but all of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas – the six states covered by ICE’s Chicago field office.

ICE said, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 – the last day they were able to update the portal before the federal government shutdown – they’ve arrested 2,011 people, detained 1,469 of those individuals, and have removed (deported) 1,044 of those arrested.

The removal numbers lag behind previous years, with 3,266 removed during the same time period last year, 2,392 removed during that time in 2023, 1,645 removed in the same time period in 2022, and 1,799 removed in that time in 2021.

The website indicates the data is updated quarterly, and is sorted by year. ICE noted the data could fluctuate until “locked” at the end of December.

Confusing, given a tweet by Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino saying DHS has made more than 1,500 arrests with “more to come!”

Erendira Rendon is the chief program officer at The Resurrection Project, which has been helping families find legal assistance amid the ICE crackdown, and has been keeping their own numbers on arrests.

“What we saw in September was our highest month, with 337 individuals requesting legal assistance, and in the month of October we will have already reached – even though we’re only midway through – 190 requests for assistance,” she said.

Rendon also said the feds are now subjecting nearly everyone arrested during the immigration crackdown to mandatory detention, meaning they will be held for the remainder of their immigration case, rather than allowing some of them to be released on bond.

“Previously, we would be able to go over to court, demonstrate that the individual is of good moral character, demonstrate that the individual would continue their deportation case outside of detention, and we would be able to receive bond,” Rendon said.

Meantime, the clock is ticking at the ICE facility in Broadview, where a federal judge has ordered the feds to take down a fence before midnight Tuesday night.

The fence was erected Sept. 23 outside the ICE facility on Beach Street in Broadview. For weeks, it has been a symbol of tension between federal authorities, protesters, and the Village of Broadview itself.

Hours after it went up, the Broadview Fire Department demanded the Department of Homeland Security have it removed, saying it was built without a permit, and was blocking emergency responders’ access to that road.

The village later filed a federal lawsuit, and last week a judge ordered the fence removed by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.