ICE begins raids on illegal immigrants in Chicago

A week later than planned, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began raids to detain illegal immigrants in Chicago. The operation was put on hold after leaks that mass arrests of undocumented immigrants would begin there. Since then, ICE announced 956 arrests, bringing the total to 2,681 in Donald Trump's first week in office.

The Border czar himself, Tom Homan, participated in the operation, along with other authorities such as acting assistant attorney general Emil Bove. The operations in the Windy City involved several federal agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In a statement, the deputy attorney general said that "we will support everyone at the federal, state and local levels to join in this critical mission to take back our communities. We will use every tool available to address obstruction and other illegal impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we will not rest until the job is done."

Illinois Democratic senators support "those improperly caught in the raids"

However, Illinois Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth were critical of the operations, accusing the administration of overstepping its bounds and making its offices available to "those unduly caught up in these raids."