Just days after President Donald Trump posted on social media about planned “Department of War” efforts in Chicago, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security have announced new operations in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security posted on X Monday morning, saying it was launching what it called “Operation Midway Blitz” to “target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois.”
The operation references the death of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old Glenview woman who was killed in January in Urbana, Illinois, along with a friend by a suspected drunk driver who was believed to be an illegal immigrant and fled the scene of the crash. A Guatemalan national was later arrested by Urbana police and charged in connection with the crash.
Still, the post does not provide any indication of timing nor potential locations that could be targeted.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement posted a photo on social media a short time later showing an ICE vehicle with the Chicago skyline behind it.
“CHICAGO: a sanctuary city that attracts and protects criminal illegal aliens to the detriment of law-abiding citizens,” the post read. “In an ICE-led operation, we are here to remove these dangerous public safety threats from American communities.”
Also on Monday, the city of Evanston released an alert to residents saying it was “informed of the likelihood that federal immigration agents will be present in our community in the coming days.”
“We take this potentiality seriously and urge community members to be aware and report sightings of federal agents to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights hotline immediately (855-435-7693 or icirr.org),” the city’s message read in part. “It is important to know your rights in any interaction with federal agents.”
As of Monday morning, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office said there has been no communication or coordination from the White House to the governor’s office directly.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform Saturday, used a parody meme referencing the 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” to threaten deportations and the use of the Department of War to combat crime in the city of Chicago.
‘”I love the smell of deportations in the morning…Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,'” the post read.
The dramatic meme shows Trump in front of the Chicago skyline with helicopters above, along with flames and a cloud of smoke. The president’s post referenced the “Department of War,” which was approved as a secondary title to the Department of Defense under an executive order he signed Friday.
Trump was asked about the meme on the South Lawn of the White House by NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor Sunday morning. Calling the question “fake news” and telling Alcindor to “be quiet,” the president insisted that his goal is to clean up Chicago.
“We’re not going to war. We’re going to clean up our cities,” he said.
It remains unclear if the National Guard will still be deployed to Chicago, but enhanced federal immigration enforcement operations had been expected for days, with warnings of raids as early as last weekend.
Pritzker said last week Illinois State Police received a call from Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino warning of federals operations “sometime in the coming week.”
“In the coming days, we expect to see what has played out in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., to happen here in Chicago,” Pritzker said during a press conference Tuesday. “Many of these individuals are being relocated from Los Angeles for deployment in Chicago.”
Officials said Monday they had not seen the ramped up efforts they were bracing for, however.
An aide to Pritzker told NBC News while they are monitoring reports of some federal law enforcement arrests over the weekend, they have so far seen nothing to suggest the promised surge has begun in Chicago.
On Monday, Johnson’s office confirmed three arrests by ICE took place in the city’s 14th Ward Sunday.
At least 300 federal agents were expected to come to the Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago as part of the Trump Administration’s enhanced operations from ICE, Customs and Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security, North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. said last week.
Last week, a report from The New York Times said Homeland Security officials requested to use Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago for their operations, which would include space for 250 department personnel plus a “Tactical Operations Center” and an “Incident Command Post,” as well as bathrooms, laundry, parking for 140 vehicles and storage space for medical supplies and weapons like rubber bullets and tear gas.
It was not immediately clear if “Operation Midway Blitz” was connected to such plans.
At the same time, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said in a letter to the village’s roughly 8,000 residents last week that federal officials said a two-story building at 1930 Beach St. will be used for a “large-scale” immigration enforcement campaign led by the Trump administration. The campaign is set to last for approximately 45 days.
The letter also warned residents that protests and demonstrations near the building, “like those seen earlier this year in Los Angeles, where property damage and assaults against law enforcement were reported,” could occur.
The Broadview processing center, which draws frequent protests, has been under fire recently for allegations that immigrants have been held for days instead of hours and forced to sleep on floors. The complaints led four Democratic members of Illinois’ congressional delegation to attempt an unscheduled visit to the site in June.
Immigration attorneys have previously told NBC Chicago that during the last round of scaled up ICE enforcement, it was difficult to make contact with their clients at the facility.
Pritzker has said he is “deeply concerned” that ICE will target Mexican Independence Day.
“We have reason to believe that Stephen Miller chose the month of September to come to Chicago because of celebrations around Mexican Independence Day that happen here every year,” Pritzker said last week. “It breaks my heart to report that we have been told ICE will try and disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades. Let’s be clear: the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here.”
In Chicago, organizers with El Grito, a popular Mexican Independence Day event slated for Sept. 13 and 14 in Grant Park, moved to postpone the festival due to the concerns.
“This was a painful decision; however, with the heightened political tensions and given our location in downtown Chicago, we need to keep our community safe,” organizer German Gonzalez said in a statement Thursday. “To proceed in spite of the advice we’ve received directly from city and state officials and potentially expose our community to becoming collateral damage would be irresponsible. That’s a risk we are not willing to take.”
The city’s iconic parade, however, remains planned as scheduled.
“The city of Chicago will celebrate the independence of Mexico the way it has done in the past,” Johnson said. “I know the president is working hard to intimidate, I’m not intimidated. No one should be.”
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