The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched an operation in Illinois that it says will target illegal immigrants engaged in criminal activity in the state, with a focus on Chicago.
Called Operation Midway Blitz, the federal government said the round-ups will be carried out in honour of Katie Abraham, “who was killed in Illinois by a criminal illegal alien who should have never been in our country,” the DHS wrote in a press release Monday.
Abraham died in a hit-and-run on Jan. 9 in Urbana, Ill., after an alleged drunk driver, who police say was undocumented, hit the 20-year-old’s vehicle with an SUV.
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Chloe Polzin, a friend of Abraham’s and a passenger during the deadly crash, died the next day as a result of the incident, ABC Eyewitness News said.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for creating an immigration policy that the Trump administration says has allowed criminals to operate freely in Chicago and the state at large.
“For years, Governor Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians released Tren de Aragua gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers on Chicago’s streets — putting American lives at risk and making Chicago a magnet for criminals,” she said.
Illinois is sometimes referred to as a “sanctuary state,” where police cooperation with immigration and customs officers is limited.
A Paraguayan woman whose relative was detained by federal agents scuffles with officers in the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on July 16, 2025, in New York City.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message: no city is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. 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,” McLaughlin continued.
The press release contains a list of men it says are “criminal illegal aliens” at large in Illinois, who are accused of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to rape and kidnapping.
All the men listed are from Central and South America.
Over the weekend, Pritzker responded to the president’s plans to station immigration officers in Chicago.
“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator,” he wrote on X.
Trump, on Saturday, posed an image of himself donning a cowboy hat and sunglasses set against a fiery Chicago skyline with numerous helicopters flying overhead, and the caption,” I love the smell of deportations in the morning…Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of War.”
The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.
This is not a joke. This is not normal.
Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator. pic.twitter.com/f87Zek7Cqb
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) September 6, 2025
Abraham’s father, Joe Abraham, told Eyewitness News that he believes Pritzker’s approach to immigration is “unsustainable,” which is why he allowed his daughter’s name to be used on the DHS’s Illinois immigration clampdown.
“If their purpose is to remove illegal criminal aliens from the streets, I guess I’m all for that,” Joe Abraham told the outlet.
On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that several arrests had been made in Chicago, though it’s unclear how many as of this writing.
As of August 24, there 61,226 people in ICE detention, according to Trac Immigration.