It has been a year since Operation Midway Blitz commenced with the detainment of a man selling flowers in nearby Archer Heights. What began there quickly spread throughout Chicago.
For 64 days, the city and its suburbs came to be under siege. For 64 days, starting with the detainment of the flower vendor on Sept. 7, 2025, and ending in November with Border Patrol agents posing for a mocking class picture in Millennium Park, their leader Gregory Bovino in the middle, the federal government carried out a militarized immigration enforcement operation under the guise of making Chicago safer.
How is it, then, that a year later, people can feel so unsafe?
A changed Chicago forges on after the resistance
People in Little Village used to go to Baltazar Enríquez’s office to get their whistles. He estimates he handed out thousands last year during the immigration raids that roiled Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.
When they walk in now, it’s not whistles they’re after. It’s empathy. Someone to listen. A moment to vent or to grieve in the aftermath of what the administration of President Donald Trump touted as Operation Midway Blitz.
“How do we heal?” Enríquez, the president of the Little Village Community Council, asked recently. “That’s the part we’re learning.”
Elvira Arzeta patrols the western suburbs before dawn on Sept. 10, 2026. For over a year, Arzeta has headed out of her home at 5 a.m. to patrol hot spots frequented by federal agents targeting immigrants. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Dulce Porras-Goldstein, left, a librarian and Spanish language community liaison, speaks with community members at a resource fair on Aug. 26, 2026, in Bensenville. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Joaquin Brito, owner of La Florencia Bakery in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood, recalls the day he spotted ICE helicopters overhead during a standoff between residents and federal agents in 2025. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Odilia Ochoa, left, stands on her balcony and waves with her daughter, Katherine Ayala, and two grandchildren, Ennis Ayala, 4, and Gael Saucedo, 3, at the Mulberry apartments on Aug. 17, 2026, in Elgin. Last year, this apartment complex was targeted by federal agents. The two women were part of a community effort to alert neighbors to keep them safe from detainment. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Maria, who doesn’t want to share her last name or have her identity revealed, picks vegetables in the Community Garden near the Bensenville Community Library on Sept. 10, 2026. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Elvira Arzeta stops to speak with Victoria Martinez about the benefits of joining a Signal channel alerting residents about federal agents targeting immigrants in her area on Sept. 10, 2026. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Elvira Arzeta patrols the western suburbs before dawn on Sept. 10, 2026. For over a year, Arzeta has headed out of her home at 5 a.m. to patrol hot spots frequented by federal agents targeting immigrants. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Alma Santamaria, owner of Pos' Yo restaurant, helps an employee dressed in a chicken costume cross the street during a Belmont Cragin neighborhood festival to promote area businesses on July 15, 2026. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)
Leo Feler stands in front of his home, Aug. 11, 2026, in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood where federal immigration agents entered through his fence to detain men installing siding during Operation Midway Blitz. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Joaquin Brito prepares pastries at his business, La Florencia Bakery, on Aug. 31, 2026. Last fall, a few blocks from Brito’s bakery, dozens of residents stood off with federal agents following a car chase and crash. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Leo Feler shows image of an injured construction worker who had managed to escape ICE, as he describes the incident in which several construction workers working on his home were detained. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Alma Santamaria, owner of Pos' Yo restaurant, center, ducks under a balloon arch being installed to the storefront during a Belmont Cragin neighborhood festival on July 15, 2026. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)
Odilia Ochoa, left, and Sherry Liske, right, of Vecinos Unidos, hug outside of the Mulberry apartments on Aug. 17, 2026, in Elgin. The two women met after federal agents targeted the neighborhood last year. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
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Elvira Arzeta patrols the western suburbs before dawn on Sept. 10, 2026. For over a year, Arzeta has headed out of her home at 5 a.m. to patrol hot spots frequented by federal agents targeting immigrants. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
It has been a year this month since the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz began.
What it left behind can be measured in the number of neighborhood patrollers, like Elvira Arzeta, who are still making their daily rounds. It can be measured in places still coming back to life, where people keep a wary eye from apartment balconies and from behind cracks in window curtains.
“I am scared,” Arzeta said, who still wears a whistle around her neck. “But if I can help, I will do it. Even if it’s just saving a single person from being deported.”
Freddy Cazares, who has lived in the United States for over 20 years, meets with his legal team at the Resurrection Project office in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Aug. 6, 2026, to sign documents related to the continuation of his work permit application. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Freddy Cazares signs documents related to the continuation of his work permit application at the Resurrection Project office on Aug. 6, 2026. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Freddy Cazares leaves the Resurrection Project offices after signing documents related to the continuation of his work permit application on Aug. 6, 2026. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Freddy Cazares looks over paperwork as he exits the building that houses immigration court in Chicago on Feb. 5, 2026, following his hearing and routine check in. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Freddy Cazares, who has lived in the United States for over 20 years, meets with his legal team at the Resurection Project office in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, to sign documents related to the continuation of his work permit application. Cazares is from Mexico. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
With help from paralegal Elizabeth Suarez, Freddy Cazares, signs documents related to the continuation of his work permit application at the Resurrection Project office on Aug. 6, 2026. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
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Freddy Cazares, who has lived in the United States for over 20 years, meets with his legal team at the Resurrection Project office in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Aug. 6, 2026, to sign documents related to the continuation of his work permit application. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)
Nearly 3,800 immigrants were arrested and detained during Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, according to a Tribune analysis of ICE data provided by the research group Deportation Data Project. Among those, more than 1,000 ultimately won their release.
They soon learned that didn’t necessarily mean freedom.
For immigrants without legal status, release is often framed as a victory. In reality, it is usually temporary, conditional and far from secure. Years can pass before an initial court date. A final resolution can take much longer.
Chicago police are posted near federal agents as community members and activists protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Federal officers detain a person while community members and activists protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Elizabeth Ruiz pleads with a U.S. Border Patrol agent for information about her son, Anthony Ruiz, as she is moved back behind police tape. Anthony Ruiz was detained by federal agents during a protest in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
Federal agents detain a person near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
A woman is given milk to ease the pain in her eyes after federal officers threw canisters of chemical agents at community members and protesters from their vehicles while leaving the Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Federal agents use tear gas and smoke on community members and activists while they protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue, Oct. 4, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Chicago police watch as federal agents detain people while community members and activists protest near the 3900 block of Chicago's South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
A federal agent holds a launcher that fires gas canisters while community members and activists protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Federal agents launch gas near Chicago police while attempting to control a group of protesters near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
A federal agent lobs a gas canister at protesters near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Federal agents are on the scene where community members and activists protest after a protester was shot near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Federal officers detain a person near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
A protester throws a chemical agent canister back toward Chicago police and federal officers after it was thrown toward community members and activists near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Elizabeth Ruiz pleads with a U.S. Border Patrol agent for information about her son, Anthony Ruiz, who was detained in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
Federal immigration agents conduct an investigation with a vehicle in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
Community members and activists protest federal agents' actions after a protester was shot near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Tire smoke from a squealing car fills the air as federal immigration agents conduct an investigation during a protest in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
Chicago police officers arrive at the scene where a protester was shot by a federal immigration agent in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025, (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
Community members and activists protest federal agents' actions after a protester was shot near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Detainees are brought to the side of the road as federal immigration agents conduct an investigation in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
Community members and activists protest federal agents' actions after a protester was shot near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Federal agents are on the scene where community members and activists held a rally after a protester was shot near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
People protest as federal immigration agents conduct an investigation in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Tsai/baiduhai)
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Chicago police are posted near federal agents as community members and activists protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
During and after the immigration crackdown, which amounted to a small-scale military incursion into Chicago and its suburbs, local officials have been beset by disagreements and hand-wringing over how to meet the moment, according to dozens of Tribune interviews and a review of hundreds of pages of documents obtained through public records requests.
The blitz was the most dramatic test to date of the rules of engagement Illinois has established for how local law enforcement deals with federal immigration agents. In the months since, the Tribune found, those rules have grown no clearer.
U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a person while community members and activists protest in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Handcuffed detainees are led into a van by federal agents as protesters demonstrate on June 4, 2025, outside an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago's South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
A family walks away in tears after their mother was detained on June 4, 2025, outside an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago's South Loop. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
A protester is shot with a pepper ball outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility on Sept. 19, 2025, in suburban Broadview. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Lisa Porter screams at federal agents to leave as they sit in their SUV along East Busse Avenue on Oct. 19, 2025, in suburban Mount Prospect. Porter and several neighbors were upset to see so many federal agents in their community searching on public and private property for a man that agents claimed is a dangerous criminal. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
A woman has milk poured on her face after federal officers threw canisters of chemical agents at protesters from their vehicles while leaving Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Border Patrol agents detain painter Krzysztof Klim while verifying his identification on Oct. 31, 2025, next to Halloween decorations outside a house in Chicago’s Edison Park neighborhood. Klim, originally from Poland and now a U.S. citizen, was briefly detained and then released. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Ofelia Torres, 16, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and her mother, Sandibell Hidalgo, sit in their Chicago home on Oct. 20, 2025. Torres' father and Hidalgo's husband, Rubén Torres Maldonado, was arrested by ICE officers at a Home Depot in suburban Niles. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
Curtis Evans, of Evanston, carries a U.S. flag through tear gas deployed by federal officers as they attempted to clear protesters from the entrance of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in west suburban Broadview, on Sept. 19, 2025. Evans was a Marine during President Ronald Reagan’s term. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Protesters tussle with federal agents as they block a vehicle from entering the ICE facility in west suburban Broadview, on Sept. 19, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Illinois State Police detain a protester wearing a clown nose during a protest near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility on Oct. 17, 2025, in west suburban Broadview. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)
Residents watch while U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and other federal agents finish their march along North Clark Street by the Newberry Library in Chicago’s Gold Coast area on Sept. 28, 2025, as part of a show of force. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Marimar Martínez is greeted by her family after being released from the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Oct. 6, 2026, in Chicago. Martínez was in custody after being shot by immigration agents and charged with assaulting federal officers during an incident in the city's Brighton Park neighborhood two days earlier. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)
Rubén Torres Maldonado is reunited with his children, Nathan, 4, and Ofelia, 16, along with his wife, Sandibell Hidalgo, left, at the family's home in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood on Oct. 30, 2025. An immigration judge granted bond to Torres the previous day. Torres was arrested by federal immigration agents at a Home Depot while daughter Ofelia was on a temporary break from treatment for Stage 4 cancer. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)
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U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a person while community members and activists protest in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
The baiduhai won the Pulitzer Prize on May 4, 2026, for local reporting on Monday for its coverage of Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement mission in the Chicago area last fall.
The following stories, photographs and editorials were submitted to judges for consideration.
