Last week, rumors swirled that Border Patrol was heading out of Chicago. Cmdr. Greg Bovino has since left for North Carolina. As for his 200-plus agents — who’ve made more arrests than ICE — the exit timeline is unclear.
Feds in Chicago loom large regardless, with over 3,000 arrested since June. At this crossroads, we’re taking a look back at the last two months specifically: “Operation Midway Blitz.”
2 Months of “Midway Blitz”
- Sept. 9: The surge in federal immigration raids gets an official name: “Operation Midway Blitz.” In addition to ramped-up ICE activity, this includes the arrival of Border Patrol.
- Sept. 12: A man in Franklin Park is fatally shot by a federal immigration officer during an arrest attempt.
- Sept. 19: Protestors gather outside the ICE facility in Broadview and are struck with tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber bullets. This marks the first of ongoing protests there.
- Sept. 28: Dozens of feds swarm the streets of the Loop in full tactical gear, making several arrests.
- Sept. 30: Feds storm and raid a South Shore apartment complex during the night, detaining dozens of U.S. citizens as well as children.
- Oct. 3: Masked agents deploy tear gas and a smoke bomb in Logan Square. The same day, feds handcuff Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th) inside a hospital.
- Oct. 4: A woman in Brighton Park is shot five times by a Customs and Border Protection agent. Protests follow in the neighborhood, met with tear gas.
- Oct. 7: Hundreds of federalized National Guard troops arrive from Texas to Illinois and post up at the training ground in Elwood. The following day, they are barred from entering Chicagoland.
- Oct. 12: Feds deploy tear gas in Albany Park as a crowd amasses to disrupt ongoing arrests.
- Oct. 16: Feds raid the Swap-o-Rama flea market, arresting 15.
- Oct. 17: Illinois State Police officers usher roughly 100 Broadview protesters into the street. Then, activists say, ISP attacked them with billy clubs.
- Oct. 23: On the second day in a row of aggressive Little Village raids, Bovino hurls tear gas into a crowd, apparently violating Judge Sara Ellis’ restriction on force. He later admits he was not struck with a rock first.
- Oct. 24: Feds raid Lincoln Park and Lakeview, deploying tear gas on a residential street.
- Oct 30: Six protestors are indicted on federal conspiracy charges for impeding officers in Broadview, including a committeeman and a congressional candidate. All six later plead not guilty.
- Nov. 5: Feds pull a teacher from preschool in North Center, in front of students. The same day, a judge orders improvements to “inhumane” conditions at the Broadview ICE facility.
- Nov. 6: Judge Ellis again limits federal agents’ use of force on civilians and mandates visible identification.
- Nov. 8: Shots are fired at feds in Little Village as raids continue in the neighborhood. The same day, feds pepper spray a baby girl in Cicero.
- Nov. 10: Feds, including Bovino, gather for a smiling photo-op at the Bean in Millennium Park.
- Nov. 12: A judge orders the release of 300-plus people detained by ICE between June and October without arrests. He suspects hundreds more were made without warrants, too.
- Nov. 15: Officials announce the 200 Texas National Guard troops will leave Illinois.
