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(Bloomberg) — Trump administration officials enabled misconduct by federal immigration and border patrol agents as part of an enforcement crackdown last year in Chicago, which led to mass raids, many arrests and some violent conflicts with protesters, according to an Illinois state investigation.
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Federal agents “engaged in dangerous high-speed vehicular pursuits, extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts, amounting to unconstitutional uses of force,” the Illinois Accountability Commission said in a report released Thursday examining the administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”
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Officials from the White House, Department of Homeland, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol “lied to the public about the motivations and outcomes of Operation Midway Blitz and concealed and distorted key facts about events involving federal immigration agents,” according to the report.
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The Chicago operation was among several high-profile enforcement actions in major US cities as part of President Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown. Chicago and Illinois sued over the president’s plan to deploy National Guard troops, which the US Supreme Court blocked, and filed legal claims to halt what they called “menacing” tactics by agents.
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“We can’t let people forget the atrocities that happened here in our cities and the erosion of our democracy happening in the United States,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat and outspoken Trump critic, said in a statement. Pritzker, who is running for a third term and is often cited as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, established the commission by executive order in October.
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The commission referred its findings to state law enforcement officials.
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“If JB Pritzker spent this much time and energy addressing crime and supporting the arrest of criminal illegal aliens instead of providing them with sanctuary, Illinois residents would be much safer,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
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The impacts of the raids were widespread, according to the report, affecting areas including education and the overall economy of the city.
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Chicago Public Schools attendance fell 1.25% after the announcement of Operation Midway Blitz, more than double the rate drop of previous years. The economic impact on local businesses was likened to the pandemic. In Little Village, a majority Latino neighborhood known as the “Mexico of the Midwest,” 70 businesses reported 40% to 70% declines in sales during the operation, according to an analysis by Enlace Chicago that was included in the report.
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The city’s broader hospitality industry also suffered. One business owner described in the report said his employees were afraid to come to work or take public transit for fear of immigration agents, which meant he didn’t have enough employees to operate on some days.
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