Spotlight:
The Illinois Accountability Commission

Operation Midway Blitz was among the most aggressive federal immigration operations conducted in the Chicagoland area, prompting Governor JB Pritzker to establish the Illinois Accountability Commission by executive order.

Charged with creating a public record of the operation, examining its impact on individuals and communities, and developing recommendations to prevent future harm, the Commission gathered testimony, reviewed evidence, and documented the experiences of those affected.

We draw on the Commission's findings to bring depth and humanity to the stories on this site and to highlight an example of public accountability in action.

Operation Midway Blitz

How Federal Agents Used Violence and Terror to “Blitz” Chicagoland.

What happened in chicago

From September through December 2025, federal immigration officers descended on the Chicagoland area, conducting widespread enforcement actions that disproportionately affected immigrant communities.  

See what it was like at street level in the Chicago area during Operation Midway Blitz.

Timeline

Nov 14, 2024
Homan promises "Shock and awe"

Homan promises “Shock and Awe”

Incoming Border Czar Tom Homan said the public should expect “Shock and Awe” on the administration’s first day. The statement established the intended scale and deliberately intimidating posture of the coming enforcement campaign.
May 28–31, 2025
Arrest quotas reshape enforcement

Arrest quotas reshape enforcement

Stephen Miller announced a target of at least 3,000 ICE arrests per day, while officials threatened underperforming regional leaders and urged agents to “push the envelope.” These directives prioritized arrest volume over individualized public-safety assessments.
Sep 6, 2025
Trump depicts Chicago as a military target

Trump depicts Chicago as a military target

Trump posted the “Chipocalypse Now” image, writing that Chicago would learn why it was called the “Department of War.” The message framed the coming operation as a military confrontation with a Democratic-led city.
Sep 8, 2025
Operation Midway Blitz begins

Operation Midway Blitz begins

DHS launched Operation Midway Blitz, claiming it would target people with criminal records whom Illinois sanctuary policies had placed on the streets. This “worst of the worst” justification became the central claim against which the operation’s actual conduct would be measured.
Sep 8–10, 2025
Race-based stops receive legal cover; Bovino takes command

Race-based stops receive legal cover; Bovino takes command

The Supreme Court stayed restrictions on immigration stops relying on race, ethnicity, language, and related characteristics. Two days later, Gregory Bovino arrived to oversee CBP operations in Chicago with hundreds of agents and vehicles standing by.
Sep 12, 2025
Agents kill Silverio Villegas González

Agents kill Silverio Villegas González

ICE agents shot and killed Villegas González during a Franklin Park traffic stop. Body-camera footage later undermined DHS’s claim that an agent had been dragged a significant distance and seriously injured.
Sep 16, 2025
Noem leads the Elgin raid; Bovino expands “Operation at Large”

Noem leads the Elgin raid; Bovino expands “Operation at Large”

A raid led by Secretary Kristi Noem used helicopters, armored vehicles, bright lights, and smoke bombs, detaining at least seven people, including two U.S. citizens. Bovino simultaneously announced a roving CBP operation modeled on tactics previously used in Los Angeles.
Sep 19–27, 2025
Broadview becomes a center of force

Broadview becomes a center of force

Federal agents repeatedly used tear gas, pepper balls, and projectiles against protesters, clergy, and journalists outside the Broadview facility. Agents also threw Kat Abughazaleh to the ground and arrested journalist Steve Held.
Sep 30, 2025
Federal agents conduct the South Shore raid

Federal agents conduct the South Shore raid

Heavily armed agents raided an apartment building overnight, forced residents outside, zip-tied many of them, and reportedly separated people by national origin. The operation produced 37 arrests and became a defining example of militarized neighborhood enforcement.
Oct 3–4, 2025
Command involvement and military escalation

Command involvement and military escalation

Noem and Bovino appeared at Broadview as agents used chemical irritants and Bovino pushed people to the ground, including an elected township trustee. The following day, Trump activated 300 Illinois National Guard members to support federal operations.
Oct 4, 2025
Agent Charles Exum shoots Marimar Martinez

Agent Charles Exum shoots Marimar Martinez

Exum shot the Chicago teacher five times and later boasted about the shooting, while ballistics evidence indicated she had been driving away from agents. Bovino subsequently praised Exum’s service and offered to extend his retirement eligibility.
Oct 6–9, 2025
Courts intervene

Courts intervene

Journalists and protesters sued over excessive force, and Judge Sara Ellis restricted agents’ use of force while requiring body-camera activation. A separate federal order blocked deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois.
Oct 14–23, 2025
Indiscriminate force spreads through Chicago

Indiscriminate force spreads through Chicago

Agents tear-gassed families, babies, journalists, and Chicago police officers on the East Side before occupying Little Village and using additional chemical agents. Body-camera footage showed agents intended to gas the East Side crowd regardless of its conduct.
Oct 23, 2025
Illinois establishes the Accountability Commission

Illinois establishes the Accountability Commission

Governor Pritzker signed the executive order creating the Illinois Accountability Commission amid continuing federal operations and uses of force. The Commission represented Illinois’s institutional response to alleged federal overreach.
Oct 28–Nov 20, 2025

The official narrative collapses under judicial scrutiny

Judge Ellis found Bovino evasive and “not credible” and concluded that he admitted to lying about the Little Village incident. Her subsequent opinion held that the government’s “widespread misrepresentations” called its broader account of Midway Blitz into question.

People arrested by ICE*

%

Of those arrested had no criminal convictions*

American citizens arrested by ICE or CBP**

*Government data on detention stays in Broadview or Chicago holding facilities between September 8th and November 10th, 2025 or December 16-18th, 2025 provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request, processed by the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by Illinois Accountability Commission staff. See Deportation Data Project data here.

**Estimate given during Chicago Headline Club v . Noem examination of Shawn Byers, Deputy Field Office Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations

deliberate deception

When questioned, the federal government lied about agents’ conduct—and made it clear that accountability would have to come from somewhere else.

“No American citizens have been arrested.”

—DHS Secretary Kristi Noem

“All uses of force have been more than exemplary.”

—Chief Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino

“They haven’t gone far enough.”

— President Donald Trump

“To all ICE officers, you have federal immunity.”

—White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller

Part 2

Illinois Fights Back

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