Trump Administration Launches ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ in Chicago Amid Clash with Illinois Leaders

by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

CHICAGO (Worthy News) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday the start of Operation Midway Blitz, an immigration enforcement campaign targeting criminal noncitizen migrants in Chicago, drawing sharp pushback from Illinois leaders.

The operation, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is dedicated to Katie Abraham, an Illinois woman killed in January in a crash involving Guatemalan national Julio Cucul-Bol, who was in the U.S. illegally. ICE says the initiative will focus on “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” who were released under Illinois’ sanctuary policies.

“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS said in a press release. Alongside the announcement, ICE published the names and photos of eleven fugitives with criminal charges or convictions who remain at large in Illinois.

Trump: “We’re not going to war”

President Donald Trump, who amplified the rollout with fiery rhetoric online, denied suggestions he was declaring “war” on Chicago.

“We’re not going to war. We’re going to clean up our cities. We’re going to clean them up so they don’t kill five people every weekend. That’s not war. That’s common sense,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday.

Over the weekend, Trump posted an image of Chicago’s skyline with helicopters and flames, captioned “Chipocalypse now”—a play on the war film Apocalypse Now. He also wrote, “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of War.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused Trump of threatening an American city, calling him a “wannabe dictator” who “won’t intimidate Illinois.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city received no notice of the federal action and warned against what he called “militarized immigration enforcement without due process.”

Targeting bail reform, local leaders

During remarks Monday to the Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, Trump criticized Illinois’ 2023 SAFE-T Act provision abolishing cash bail.

“Cashless bail started a wave in our country where a killer kills somebody and is out on the street by the afternoon, in many cases going out and killing again,” Trump said, blaming Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson for making Chicago a “magnet for criminals.”

“You try and reason with people like in Chicago with the governor and the mayor, you try and reason with them and it’s like you’re talking to a wall,” he said.

Republicans in Illinois have repeatedly called for repeal or revision of the cash bail law, which made the state the first in the nation to abolish the practice.

Honoring a victim, pursuing fugitives

ICE said the operation honors Abraham, who was killed by a drunk driver south of Chicago. The driver, who attempted to flee to Mexico, was later captured in Texas. ICE said the tragedy underscores the consequences of sanctuary policies.

“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message: no city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens,” ICE said. “If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”

Next steps

It remains unclear how long Operation Midway Blitz will last. ICE said it has “always operated in Chicago” and will continue to surge resources to the city “undeterred.”

Gov. Pritzker argued the Trump administration has not coordinated with local or state officials, saying, “Once again, this isn’t about fighting crime. That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks.”

As the federal government escalates its immigration crackdown in Chicago, the political battle between Washington and Illinois leaders shows no signs of cooling down.

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