'Reign of terror': ICE raids hit Mexican neighborhood in Chicago amid court battles
Source: USA Today
Oct, 22, 2025, 9:48 p.m. ET
CHICAGO – Federal immigration enforcement agents raided the city’s longtime historic Mexican neighborhood on Oct. 22, removing several people, causing car accidents and brandishing weapons, according to residents, local leaders and advocates.
The raids come as Chicago awaits the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether Trump can deploy the National Guard to the city or not. White House lawyers have argued immigration agents cannot enforce federal law without the help of the military. Also on Oct. 22, administration lawyers agreed to leave in place a lower court judge’s decision barring troop deployments until the higher court rules.
Agents in the morning descended on the commercial corridor of Little Village, a South Side neighborhood and heart of Chicago’s Mexican community. Photos and video from the scene show masked U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents sprinting after people and local business owners locking their doors ahead of agents. "A reign of terror was brought upon our neighborhood," local Ald. Mike Rodriguez told USA TODAY. "They took at least eight people, of those eight, four were U.S. citizens, and two were members of my staff."
The raids on the city’s most prominent Mexican neighborhood come as part of President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz, his Chicago-area immigration enforcement crackdown. Trump launched the blitz on Sept. 8, saying it was needed to catch "the worst of the worst" criminal immigrants. Many local critics say instead innocent people are being left terrorized.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/22/chicago-ice-raids-little-village-mexican-neighborhood/86841101007/
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