US starts detaining undocumented migrants in Chicago
Kyiv • UNN
US immigration authorities have launched an operation to arrest about 270 illegal immigrants in Chicago. The raid is being conducted with the participation of the FBI and other federal agencies as part of a new immigration policy.
On Sunday, US immigration authorities began conducting detentions in Chicago, targeting undocumented residents living in the "sanctuary city," UNN reports citing the Financial Times.
Details
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed in X that its agents, as well as several federal agencies, including the FBI, had launched operations in the city. "Border Czar" Tom Homan was in Chicago to conduct the raid, as was Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
According to TV host Phil McGraw, who accompanied ICE officials and agents to their command center in Chicago and broadcasted live for his channel Merit TV, the operation targeted about 270 "known criminals.
US President Donald Trump made immigration a central issue in his campaign and promised "mass deportations." Chicago has been on edge for more than a week after news outlets reported the administration's plans to conduct raids, and fewer people have been taking to the streets in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations.
According to the U.S. Census, just under a fifth of the Chicago metropolitan area's population was born outside the U.S. This group includes people with immigration status ranging from naturalized citizens to illegal aliens. Mexicans make up the largest group born outside the United States, followed by immigrants from India and Poland.
About 52,000 immigrants have arrived in the city since August 2022, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott began busing people from the border to Chicago and other Democratic-controlled cities.
As a sanctuary city since the 1980s, Chicago has adopted policies that limit cooperation with federal authorities in enforcing immigration laws.
The city council voted this month to reject a proposal that would have weakened these protections.
Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center, said that many of the orders violate U.S. laws and the Constitution.
