Trump administration launches immigration enforcement blitz in Chicago

Protesters gather for a rally and march to Trump Tower, demanding a halt to deportation plans in Chicago, Illinois, United States on January 25, 2025. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

The Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement blitz in Chicago on Sunday that includes several federal agencies that have been granted additional authorities to arrest undocumented immigrants in the US, according to multiple sources.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are expected to be joined by officials from multiple Department of Justice agencies as they target public safety and national security threats. It’s a multiday operation that will spread across the country.

In a statement, ICE confirmed the “enhanced targeted operations” in Chicago began Sunday.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities,” the statement reads.

The Chicago operation is part of a broader effort to add manpower to ICE, which has limited resources and agents, as the administration tries to ramp up arrests nationwide and amass a larger force to carry out the president’s deportation pledge.

The immigration crackdown has included sweeping executive orders restricting legal pathways to come to the US, expanding the powers of immigration authorities, attempting to ban birthright citizenship and threatening sanctuary jurisdictions. The deportations have also escalated tensions with at least two South American allies. Trump issued emergency retaliatory tariffs on Colombia after two repatriation flights of migrants were not allowed to land there, he said on his Truth Social network.

In addition, ICE field offices were told to meet a quota of 75 arrests per day as the administration tries to dramatically ramp up apprehensions of undocumented immigrants in the US, according to two sources.

In the last fiscal year, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted 113,431 administrative arrests in all, according to an agency report. That equates to about 310 arrests a day. The latest directive to ICE teams would pave the way to surpassing the number of daily arrests in the last year, while placing additional pressure on ICE officers as they try to meet the quota.

Late last week, acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a directive giving Justice Department law enforcement officials immigration-enforcement authority. The agencies include the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

“Mobilizing these law enforcement officials will help fulfill President Trump’s promise to the American people to carry out mass deportations,” Huffman said in a statement announcing his directive.

White House border czar Tom Homan has previously said that if other undocumented immigrants are encountered over the course of their operation, they may also be arrested and detained — referring to these as “collateral” arrests. Homan is in Chicago to oversee operations, according to one of the sources.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove is in Chicago Sunday to observe immigration enforcement operations.

“This morning, I had the privilege of observing brave men and women of the Department deploying in lockstep with DHS to address a national emergency arising from four years of failed immigration policy,” Bove said in a statement.

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement to CNN it does not document immigration status, and in accordance with its “Welcoming City Ordinance,” “does not share information with federal immigration authorities.”

“We will not intervene or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties,” the statement from Chicago Police reads.

Trump administration expands enforcement

Previous administrations, including the Biden administration, also sought out public safety and national security threats when carrying out immigration enforcement operations.

Homan has argued that the guidelines under Biden set up hurdles for officers targeting criminals, while former Biden officials maintained those guidelines established a clear focus.

Homan told ABC News in an interview that aired Sunday there’s “no number” of deportations needed to view Trump’s immigration agenda as successful, stating that “every public safety threat removed from this country is a success.”

“There’s no number on it. So my success is going to be based on what Congress gives us. More money, the better we’re going to do,” Homan said.

Homan said military flights to deport illegal immigrants will continue daily, calling the military’s role in mass deportations a “force multiplier” that “sends a strong signal” to the rest of the world. He added that he anticipates a greater volume of deportations over time.

“You can see the numbers steadily increase, the number of arrests nationwide as we open up the aperture,” he said. “Right now it’s considering public safety threats, national security threats. That’s a smaller population. So we’re going to do this on a priority basis as President Trump’s promised. But as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.”

Chicago grappled with an influx of migrants during the Biden administration following surges along the US southern border and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to transport migrants to Democratic-led cities.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday that he, too, wants violent criminals out of the country, but he expressed concern about how the administration is carrying out operations.

“If that’s who they’re picking up, we’re all for it,” Pritzker said. But, the Democratic governor said, “They’re going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here, who may have been here for a decade or two decades.”

“Why are we going after them? These are not people who are causing problems in our country,” Pritzker said on “State of the Union.”

Immigrant advocacy groups in Chicago also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the weekend arguing the administration targeted the city for being a sanctuary jurisdiction. The term is broadly applied to jurisdictions that have policies in place designed to limit cooperation with or involvement in federal immigration enforcement actions. How such policies are enforced can vary.

The suit was filed by Organized Communities Against Deportation, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.

The plaintiffs claim the administration’s planned operations target the city for its sanctuary status and amount to a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

“President Donald Trump and Defendant Benjamine Huffman, the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), have declared Chicago ‘ground zero’ for immigration enforcement; the federal government intends to ‘make an example of Chicago’ and quash the Sanctuary City movement,” the court filing states. “The federal government’s decision to target the Plaintiffs’ communities because of its animus towards the Sanctuary City movement is a clear violation of the First Amendment.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement it doesn’t comment on pending litigation. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Priscilla Alvarez and Gloria Pazmino, CNN