DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visits Chicago area Tuesday, dozens arrested since start of ‘Operation Midway Blitz’

WEST CHICAGO/BROADVIEW, Ill. (WGN) — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the Chicago area Tuesday morning as President Donald Trump and his administration continue what they call “Operation Midway Blitz.”

On her X feed Tuesday, Noem confirmed she was “on the ground in Chicago” while posting video of DHS making arrests in northwest suburban Elgin.

She also addressed the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in northwest suburban Franklin Park last week Friday, in which an ICE agent suffered severe injuries after being dragged by a vehicle.

Tuesday’s arrests add to the dozens that have taken place around Chicagoland in less than two weeks during “Operation Midway Blitz.”

State Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-14th District) met with ICE on Monday, and it was confirmed then that 250 people had been taken into custody since the operation started on Sept. 6. They’ve since been transferred to detention centers in Indiana and Wisconsin.

The Trump administration says ICE’s enforcement actions during the operation are focused on people who it has determined are in the U.S. illegally.

Activists, community leaders and some Illinois lawmakers, however, continue to speak out against operations in the area by ICE agents, with an anti-ICE protest scheduled for noon Tuesday in west suburban Melrose Park.

Latest arrests

DHS made arrests Tuesday morning in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive in Elgin. WGN-TV approached the home, where the door could be seen completely ripped off its hinges.

In the video posted by Noem to social media, men can be seen taken from the home in handcuffs. Noem said the arrests were due to assault, DUI and felony stalking.

According to the Elgin Area Rapid Response Team, agents raided the home at 6 a.m. Elgin residents told WGN-TV they awoke to the sound of helicopters and drones.

“Very odd. I called the police department, and I asked them, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Is there something we should be aware of?'” resident Angie Hurst said. “And they said it was an unspecified agency that came without notifying them.”

The latest arrests come a day after lawmakers, residents and activists voiced outrage Monday after they said more than 15 people, including one minor, were taken into custody by ICE agents in the western suburbs.

State senators and community leaders said ICE operations appeared to focus heavily on West Chicago, which is located around 30 miles west of the city.

“People are afraid. People are scared,” State Sen. Karina Villa (D-25th District) said. “We stand together against ICE.”

Villa could be seen on video confronting ICE agents Monday, and she released a follow-up statement that reads:

“Donald Trump sent his masked men to terrorize our peaceful community. ICE has become a rogue agency that has blatantly disregarded constitutional rights and gone far beyond its authority. People are dying. Just this week, a father, Silvero Villegas-Gonzalez, was killed after dropping his children off at school — a man profiled because of the color of his skin, who will never return home.

“(Monday) in my hometown of West Chicago, ICE targeted families on their way to work and school. Donald Trump has targeted our community because we embody everything he hates.

“When our neighbors were confronted, we stood together because our strength lies in protecting one another. Fear has no place in our neighborhoods. Illinois must always be a state where every family is safe, valued, and protected.

“Together we say: ‘Not in my city. Not in my state. Not in our Illinois.'”

Villa’s statement referred to Villegas-Gonzalez, the man shot and killed by ICE in Franklin Park last week Friday.

ICE said it was conducting law enforcement activity in the 9800 block of Grand Avenue and subsequently conducted a vehicle stop. A man, later identified as Villegas-Gonzalez by the Department of Homeland Security, resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arresting team, according to ICE.

An ICE agent was then dragged by the vehicle and discharged his firearm, striking Villegas-Gonzalez, according to ICE. Villegas-Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the hospital, and the agent was stabilized but suffered severe injuries, ICE said.

In her statement on social media Tuesday, Noem addressed the fatal shooting of Villegas-Gonzalez, as well as the latest “Operation Midway Blitz” operations. The statement reads:

“This week, a brave ICE officer was dragged many yards by a car after a criminal illegal alien resisted arrest. His life was put at risk and he sustained serious injuries.

“President Trump has been clear: if politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will. I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down.

“Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI, and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning.”

Other lawmakers, however, have echoed concerns about the effects the raids are having on children and families.

“They’re not just on the street corners. ICE was patrolling around our schools and our places of work,” State Rep. Maura Hirschauer (D-49th District) said. “(Monday) I saw firsthand how terrifying it is for our families, for our educators.”

A spokesperson for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights says children are witnessing their parents getting arrested.

“We already have in the past 24 hours, two incidents, one in Cicero and one in Little Village, where ICE is doing this to continue to intentionally spread fear and terrorize our communities,” the spokesperson said.

WGN-TV has reached out to ICE for comment but has not yet received a response.

An anti-ICE protest is scheduled for noon Tuesday in west suburban Melrose Park.