The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that more than 1,500 illegal immigrants, including pedophiles, violent gang members, and armed robbers, have been arrested across Illinois under Operation Midway Blitz.
“Operation Midway Blitz is making Illinois SAFE again,” DHS said in an October 14 post on X.
“DHS law enforcement has made over 1,500 arrests across Illinois, including of pedophiles, vicious gang members, and armed robbers.
“@POTUS Trump and @Sec Noem WILL NOT allow criminal illegal aliens to terrorize our cities.”
Launched on September 8, the enforcement initiative is targeting criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and other parts of Illinois “seeking protection under the sanctuary policies of Governor Pritzker,” DHS said earlier this month.
Both the state and the city are designated sanctuary jurisdictions under the Department of Justice.
Criminals Arrested Under Operation Midway Blitz
According to DHS, arrests have included a Mexican national convicted of aggravated domestic battery of a three-year-old child, a Mauritanian national previously arrested for battery against a public official, and another Mexican national charged with criminal sexual assault and domestic battery.
“Our patriotic law enforcement officers are making these arrests despite working without pay because of the Democrats’ shutdown,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
She added that President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “will not allow continued violence or repeat offenders to terrorize our neighborhoods and victimize our children.”
On Oct. 11, DHS also announced the arrest of Elias Cepeda, a Chicago rioter with alleged ties to Antifa.
Cepeda, who works as a journalist and teaches at the University of Illinois, was found carrying a loaded firearm and extra magazines outside ICE’s Broadview facility.
DHS said Cepeda has promoted social media posts glorifying violence against federal law enforcement.
DHS noted that since the operation began, ICE officers have faced a 1,000% increase in assaults, with rioters vandalizing vehicles and attacking officers.
National Guard Legal Battle
The Trump administration’s move to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago as part of the crackdown has sparked legal challenges.
On Oct. 10, a federal district court temporarily blocked the deployment following a lawsuit from Illinois and the City of Chicago.
The administration appealed, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the next day that while Trump can federalize National Guard troops in Illinois, they cannot yet be deployed in Chicago until litigation plays out.
Roughly 500 Guard members from Illinois and Texas have already been called up.
Sanctuary Leaders Push Back
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have blasted Trump’s enforcement strategy.
Johnson signed an “ICE Free Zone” order banning federal agents from using city property, claiming:
“We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights, nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority.
“ICE agents are detaining elected officials, tear-gassing protestors, children, and Chicago police officers, and abusing Chicago residents.
“We will not stand for that in our city.”
Pritzker accused Trump of staging an “unconstitutional invasion” of Illinois, alleging the administration is using “service personnel as political props and as pawns.”
DHS rejected those charges in an Oct. 6 statement, saying:
“President Trump has the authority under the Constitution to deploy troops, wherever they’re stationed, to defend federal facilities from attacks.
“Whether it’s the ICE facility in Broadview or the courthouse in Portland, we will defend federal property wherever they are under siege.”
The agency also dismissed accusations of racial profiling as “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” emphasizing that immigration enforcement is based solely on an individual’s unlawful status in the country.
READ MORE – Two Biden-Era Illegal Alien ‘Thugs’ Arrested for Highway Shooting
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