Original Date Announced

CNN reports that the Trump administration is preparing to conduct a “major immigration operation” in Chicago. The operation will include personnel from ICE, CBP, and possibly other agencies. Officials are also preparing the National Guard to help if a "peacekeeping" presence is needed. Preparations, already underway, include sending armored vehicles to the city and surging federal agents. The blueprint for the operation is the administration's actions in Los Angeles.

Trump 2.0 [ID #1946]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.08.30 Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago - Executive Order Denouncing Any Attempts to Deploy the US Armed Forces in Chicago and to Establish the protecting Chicago Initiative

Mayor Brandon Johnson issued Executive Order 2025-6, outlining how the city will work to resist the anticipated immigration-enforcement operation. The executive order "demands" that President Trump "stand down from any attempts to deploy the U.S. Armed Forces . . . in Chicago." It further provides that "no [Chicago Police Department] personnel shall be assigned joint law enforcement patrols, arrest operations, or other law enforcement duties alongside federal law enforcement, or military personnel, or National Guard units engaging in civil immigration enforcement." It also establishes the Protecting Chicago Initiative to coordinate the City's work "to promote the well-being and safeguard the rights of all Chicagoans in response to threats arising from the actions and inactions of the federal government."

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.09.08 DHS - ICE Launches Operation Midway Blitz

ICE and DHS announced the launch of "Operation Midway Blitz," an immigration-enforcement operation in Chicago. The operation will target immigrants who have committed crimes, with an allegation that they "flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets."

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.09.19 Reported: ICE arrests nearly 550 in Chicago area as part of ‘Midway Blitz’ - AP News

The Associated Press (AP) reports that ICE officials have arrested almost 550 people in the Chicago area as part of its "Midway Blitz" operation. This DHS-provided figure includes arrests by ICE and other assisting federal agencies. Marcos Charles, the acting head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, said that roughly 50 to 60% of the arrests were targeted, while the rest were collateral arrests.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.02 Reported: Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building - WBEZ Chicago

WBEZ Chicago reports that federal agents from the Border Patrol, FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) arrested 37 people in a Chicago raid on an apartment building. DHS claims that it targeted the South Shore neighborhood since it is "known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates.” Federal agents used flashbang grenades to burst through the building and forcibly entered and searched residents' apartments overnight. They "pull[ed] men, women and children from their apartments, some of them naked, residents and witnesses said. Agents approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building, and U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours."

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.06 Complaint - State of Illinois v. Trump

The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to challenge the Illinois National Guard's federalization and deployment to perform federal law-enforcement functions in Chicago. On October 4, 2025, DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth invoked 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and sent 400 Texas Guard troops into Chicago.

The complaint states that the federal government has infringed Illinois' sovereignty and right to self-governance: The federalization and deployment of the Illinois Guard will cause harm to the State's interests by preventing those members from engaging in other critical work and will redirect valuable social and health-care services away from their proper use. It alleges that the administration's actions violate federal statutes (Posse Comitatus Act, Administrative Procedure Act), as well as the Constitution's Tenth Amendment, Take Care Clause, Militia Clause, and separation of powers and equal sovereignty principles. State of Illinois v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-12174 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. Our litigation entries generally report only the initial complaint and any major substantive filings or decisions. For additional information, CourtListener provides access to PACER and all available pleadings. Other sites that track litigation in more detail or organize cases by topic include Civil Rights Clearinghouse, Justice Action Center, National Immigration Litigation Alliance, and Just Security**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.06 Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago - Prohibiting the Use of City Parking Lots, Vacant Lots, and Garages for Civil Immigration Enforcement Staging Areas, Processing Locations, or Operations Bases

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson issued Executive Order 2025-8, which prohibits the use of any city-owned or city-controlled parking lots, garages, and vacant lots as staging areas, processing sites, or operational bases for federal civil immigration enforcement activities. The order, intended to reinforce Chicago’s “Welcoming City” policies, responds to reports of federal enforcement staging on public property, which the Mayor said undermines community trust. The order also invites private property owners and institutions to voluntarily display city-provided signage designating their premises as off-limits to such operations.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.06 Complaint - Chicago Headline Club v. Noem

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the federal government, representing members of the press, clergy and ordinary citizens to protect free speech under the First Amendment. The lawsuit responds to federal agents interfering with protestors' right to peacefully protest at the Broadview ICE facility and general Chicagoland area. The complaint also alleges violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Fourth Amendment's limitations on the use of excessive force and unreasonable seizures, and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The Plaintiffs seek a temporary restraining order for immediate relief against the suppression of free speech. Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-12173 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.09 TRO - State of Illinois v. Trump

U.S. District Judge April M. Perry granted the State of Illinois' and the City of Chicago's motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). The TRO enjoins the administration from "ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard" in Illinois. It will expire on October 23, 2025. A hearing is scheduled for October 22, 2025 to address whether the TRO should be extended for 14 days. State of Illinois v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-12174 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.11 Order - State of Illinois v. Trump

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit granted a partial administrative stay of the district court’s October 9 order enjoining the National Guard's federalization in Illinois. The court denied a stay of the prohibition on deployment. As a result, federalized National Guard troops may remain under federal control within Illinois but may not be deployed pending further proceedings. The court clarified that Guard members are not required to return to their home states unless so ordered by a subsequent court ruling. State of Illinois v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-12174 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.13 Reported: Tackles, projectiles and gunfire: Many fear ICE tactics are growing more violent - NPR

NPR reports an increase in violence and excessive force by ICE officials in enforcement actions across the Chicago area and other cities. In multiple cases, officers have been filmed using pepper balls, tackling people, and drawing weapons, sometimes at bystanders and journalists. Advocates say these incidents are part of a broader pattern of escalating force, citing recent raids, shootings, and injuries during ICE operations. Federal officials have defended these actions as necessary responses to perceived threats, but body camera footage and witness accounts have raised questions about whether the force used was justified.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.17 Modified Temporary Restraining Order - Chicago Headline Club v. Noem

District Judge Sara Ellis issued a modified temporary restraining order, enjoining the federal government from, among other things, arresting, threatening to arrest, or using force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a journalist; issuing a crowd dispersal order requiring any person to leave a public place that they lawfully have a right to be; using riot control weapons on members of the press, protestors, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to safety; and using force unless necessary and proportional to effectuate an apprehension or arrest. Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-12173 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.28 Order - Chicago Headline Club v. Noem

District Judge Sara Ellis entered an order requiring, among other things, that the federal government have all federal agents operating in Operation Midway Blitz place an identifier "conspicuously" on their uniform; that CBP strive to ensure that all agents working in Operation Midway Blitz have born-worn cameras; and that Gregory Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, appear in court every week day to report on the use of force activities for each day. Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-12173 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.30 Complaint - Gonzalez v. Noem

Two immigrants filed a class action lawsuit alleging "mass constitutional violations" at the Broadview detention facility, where immigrants detained in "Operation Midway Blitz" are being held. The complaint alleges that detainees at Broadview are subject to unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, denial of sufficient food and water, unavailable medical care, coercive attempts to force detainees to sign voluntary departure forms, and denial of access to counsel. The lawsuit seeks to represent a class defined as: “All immigration detainees who are detained and those who will be detained in the future at the Broadview ICE facility at 1930 Beach Street, Broadview, Illinois.” The complaint alleges that the government's actions violate the Fifth Amendment, First Amendment, Administrative Procedure Act, and DHS's own regulations. Gonzalez v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-13323 (N.D. Ill.)

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.31 Writ of Mandamus - Noem v. Ellis

The Seventh Circuit overturned District Judge Sara Ellis' order in Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-12173 (N.D. Ill.), that Gregory Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, appear in court every day to report on the use of force in Chicago by federal immigration agents. The federal government had petitioned the Seventh Circuit for a writ of mandamus following Judge Ellis' order. The Seventh Circuit stated that the order "infringes on the separation of powers" because it "sets the court up as a supervisor of Chief Bovino’s activities, intruding into personnel management decisions of the Executive Branch" and "puts the court in the position of an inquisitor rather than that of a neutral adjudicator of the parties’ adversarial presentations." Noem v. Ellis, No. 25-2936 (7th Cir.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.05 TRO - Gonzalez v. Noem

District Judge Robert Gettleman issued a temporary restraining order, ordering the Trump administration to improve conditions at the Broadview facility. Among other things, the court ordered the government to provide all persons detained at Broadview overnight with a clean bedding mat and bedding with sufficient space to sleep; hygiene products; three full meals a day; water; prescribed medication; telephone services to communicate with counsel; and a list of pro bono attorneys. Gonzalez v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-13323 (N.D. Ill.)

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.05 Reported: Teacher pulled out of Chicago day care by armed ICE agents, alderman says - NBC News

NBC News reports that ICE agents entered a Chicago Spanish-immersion day care center and arrested a staff member in front of children, an action that would have been prohibited before Trump ended the “sensitive locations” policy on his first day in office. The early-morning arrest, captured on video, shows agents forcefully detaining the worker as teachers insisted she had a valid work permit. Agents searched multiple classrooms while children were present, and one teacher hid with a child in fear, according to Rep. Delia Ramirez.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.06 Preliminary Injunction - Chicago Headline Club v. Noem

District Judge Sara Ellis issued a detailed preliminary injunction that, among other things, enjoins federal agents from arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a journalist; using riot control weapons on class members; and using hands-on physical force or restraint tactics involving pressure to the neck on class members. The order also requires federal agents to have visible identification affixed to their uniforms and be equipped and trained with body cameras.

The court also granted plaintiffs’ motion for class certification on the same day, defining the class as: all persons who are or will in the future non-violently demonstrate, protest, observe, document, or record at DHS immigration enforcement and removal operations in the Northern District of Illinois. In that order, Judge Ellis stated that the Defendants and their agents had used force "indiscriminately, without making individualized assessments as to threat" and that "senior officials have encouraged and endorsed federal agents’ targeting of non-violent individuals exercising their First Amendment rights." Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-12173 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.07 Reported: Feds Tell Faith Leaders ‘No More Prayer’ Outside Broadview Facility - Block Club Chicago

Block Club Chicago reports that federal authorities told faith leaders and activists that prayer would no longer be allowed outside or inside the Broadview ICE facility, after denying religious groups entry for the third time that day. The announcement surprised local officials, with Broadview’s police chief saying he was consulting the mayor and an attorney about whether a federal agency can legally prohibit religious gatherings on village-owned land. The federal representative stated that “there is no more prayer” because the facility is “not of a religious background.”

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.13 Order - Castañon Nava v. DHS

District Judge Jeffrey Cummings granted plaintiffs’ motion for placement of potential class members on alternatives to detention, ordering the Trump administration to release hundreds of detainees who are believed to have been arrested without warrants or probable cause in violation of a 2022 consent decree--many of whom were arrested during Operation Midway Blitz. The court ordered the government to fully release the 13 class members whom the parties agree were unlawfully arrested; it also ordered the government to release 615 other class members on bond and ICE's Alternatives to Detention program—as long as they are not subject to mandatory detention. Judge Cummings also ordered ICE to stay deportation and voluntary departure proceedings for these individuals. In addition, Judge Cummings ordered the government to provide a list of names and threat levels of the remaining 3,000-3,300 individuals arrested since June 11, 2025. Castañon Nava v. DHS, No. 1:18-cv-03757 (N.D. Ill.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.17 Reported: DOJ records show hundreds of immigrants arrested in Chicago had no criminal records - NPR

NPR reports a new DOJ filing from Castañon Nava v. DHS showing that 97% of 614 undocumented immigrants arrested in recent Chicago immigration raids had no criminal record, contradicting claimed administration targeting of dangerous offenders. Of those arrested, only 2.6% had criminal history, with very few involving serious offenses.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.19 Order Staying Preliminary Injunction - Chicago Headline Club v. Noem

The Seventh Circuit granted the federal government's request for a stay pending appeal of the district court's preliminary injunction from November 6. The preliminary injunction had restricted federal agents' ability to, among other things, arrest journalists and use riot control weapons and physical force against protestors. The Seventh Circuit found that the injunction was "overbroad" because its "practical effect is to enjoin all law enforcement officers within the Executive Branch" and "too prescriptive" such that it "resembles a federal regulation." The court also found that the order "impermissibly infring[es] on the separation of powers," as it "requires the enjoined parties to submit for judicial review all current and future internal guidance, policies, and directives regarding efforts to implement the order."

The Seventh Circuit noted, however, that the district court's factual findings in this case "may support entry of a more tailored and appropriate preliminary injunction that directly addresses the First and Fourth Amendment claims raised." Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, No. 25-3023 (7th Cir.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.20 Order - Castañon Nava v. DHS

The Seventh Circuit stayed two orders issued by District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, one on October 7 and one on November 13, that required the release on bond of hundreds of immigrants detained during the Trump administration's enforcement surge in Illinois. The district court had found that ICE's use of informal administrative warrants during "Operation Midway Blitz" violated a 2022 settlement requiring judicial warrants for most arrests. The court gave no explanation for the stay, but scheduled oral arguments for December 2 on the Trump administration's motion for stay pending appeal. Castañon Nava v. DHS, No. 25-3050 (7th Cir.).

**Link to case here. See litigation note above**