Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched 'enhanced targeted operations' in Chicago, collaborating with federal agencies to enforce immigration law and target criminal aliens. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove visited Chicago to observe the operations, which focused on 270 'high-value' targets identified as known criminals and terrorists. The move has sparked anxiety among Chicago's immigrant communities, who have been preparing for potential large-scale arrests.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ), in conjunction with several other federal agencies, initiated what they termed 'enhanced targeted operations' in Chicago on Sunday. ICE announced in a statement on social media that they were collaborating with their federal partners 'to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.
' The Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago Office also confirmed its involvement in enforcement efforts alongside the Justice Department and ICE. The agency's X account shared photographs seemingly depicting border czar Tom Homan engaging in conversations with federal agents. ICE identified the other agencies involved as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Marshals Service. However, no further details regarding the operations, including specific locations or the number of arrests made, were made public on Sunday. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove traveled to Chicago on Sunday to 'personally observe' immigration enforcement operations, a practice frequently championed by President Donald Trump. Bove's visit to the nation's third-largest city was intended 'to personally observe Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operations' and to extend support to the efforts of assisting federal agencies, according to U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Chad Gilmartin. Homan accompanied Bove on the visit, along with television personality Dr. Phil, who discussed the mission in a video posted on Sunday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'It's a pretty high risk mission that we're going on. This truly is a targeted ICE mission because they're not sweeping neighborhoods like people are trying to imply,' Dr. Phil stated. 'I know that because I've been involved in this, heading into this. They've identified 270 high value targets. What I mean by that is these are known criminals and terrorists. We're talking about murderers, child traffickers, child rapists. We're talking about bad actors, both in the countries they've come from and since they've been here in the United States,' he continued. 'That's who ICE is targeting to bring out of these communities. We're going after specific targets, not just sweeping neighborhoods and picking up anyone that looks like they don't belong here. Anybody belongs here.' Messages left for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ATF and FBI officials were not immediately returned to the Associated Press.Chicago residents, particularly those within immigrant communities, have been experiencing heightened anxiety for months in anticipation of large-scale immigration arrests previously announced by the Trump administration. Immigrant rights organizations have been actively preparing with campaigns to educate immigrants about their rights in the event of an arrest. City officials have undertaken similar initiatives, disseminating comparable information at hundreds of public transportation hubs. On Saturday, a local immigrant advocacy group filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and ICE concerning their planned deportation raids. On Friday, officials from Chicago Public Schools mistakenly believed ICE agents had arrived at a city elementary school and issued public statements to that effect before discovering that the agents were from the Secret Service. The news of immigration agents at a school — institutions that had long been off-limits to immigration agents until Trump revoked the policy last week — prompted swift criticism from community groups and Governor JB Pritzker.The Democratic governor, a staunch Trump critic, questioned the operations and their targeting of immigrants. 'We need to get rid of the violent criminals. But we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation, who are just doing what we hope that immigrants will do,' Pritzker stated on Sunday during CNN's 'State of the Union.' Chicago has been one of Trump's primary targets. The city boasts some of the most robust sanctuary protections, which prohibit cooperation between city police and immigration agents. On Saturday, several immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit against ICE, seeking a court injunction to prohibit certain types of immigration raids in Chicago. 'Immigrant communities who have called Chicago their home for decades are scared,' said Antonio Gutierrez from Organized Communities Against Deportation, one of the plaintiffs. 'We refuse to live in fear and will fight any attempts to roll back the work we’ve done to keep families together.' The Associated Press contributed to this story
IMMIGRATION ICE CHICAGO FEDERAL AGENCIES CRIMINAL ALIENS TARGETED OPERATIONS EMIL BOVE TOM HOMAN DR. PHIL SANCTUARY CITIES
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