Immigration news in Chicago

"Broadview Six" defendants Katherine Abughazaleh, clockwise from upper left, Andre Martin, Michael Rabbitt, Joselyn Walsh, Brian Straw and Catherine Sharp. (baiduhai)

‘Broadview Six’ judge requests US attorney’s office communications, including Boutros email

By Jason Meisner

October 9, 2026 at 3:32 p.m.

The federal judge considering potential sanctions in the controversial "Broadview Six" made her first formal...

Goats graze along the Pecos river near it’s confluence with the Rio Grande river at the border with Mexico, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, near Comstock, Texas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

How Texas landowners are fighting back against Donald Trump’s border wall

By Rebecca Santana

October 9, 2026 at 8:05 a.m.

The message from the Trump administration has been clear: It is moving ahead with a...

Jorge Villegas holds a framed portrait of his brother Silverio Villegas González during a procession honoring his memory in Irimbo, Michoacán on Oct. 1, 2025. His sister Graciela Villegas, right, walks next to him. A procession honoring Silverio Villegas González and other immigrants in the United States took place in his hometown of Irimbo, Michoacán on Oct 1, 2025. (Fernando Espinal Moreno)

Family of Mexican father killed by ICE agent in Franklin Park files claim against federal government

By Laura Rodríguez Presa

October 8, 2026 at 4:20 p.m.

Just a year after Silverio Villegas González was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement agent...

Waukegan High School students' walkout and march on Friday prompted lots of praise and criticism on social media and elsewhere. (City of Waukegan)

Waukegan school board members praise students’ walkout, march: ‘They are speaking up for all of us’

By Steve Sadin

February 11, 2026 at 2:43 p.m.

Hours after more than 500 students walked out of both campuses of Waukegan High School...

Valeria Reyes waves the Mexican flag while spinning around on the shoulders of Eleazar Herrera during a school walkout protesting the actions of ICE agents on Feb. 11, 2026, in Broadview. Over 300 students from Proviso East High School, Proviso West High School and Proviso Math and Science Academy walked out of school and marched to South 25th Avenue near Roosevelt Road to protest the actions of federal officers and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

In a flurry of walkouts, Chicago-area students continue protest of ICE: ‘This is what our world has come to’

By Molly Morrow

February 11, 2026 at 4:51 p.m.

Several hundred high school students from Proviso Township walked out of their classrooms Wednesday morning...

Marimar Martinez attends a press conference with her lawyers on Feb. 11, 2026, in Chicago’s Loop after the release of body camera videos and text messages from the Border Patrol officer who shot her last year in the Brighton Park neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Marimar Martínez lawyers say officials ‘created a culture of violence’ among agents

By Jason Meisner

February 11, 2026 at 6:14 p.m.

Lawyers for Marimar Martínez, the Chicago woman shot by a Border Patrol agent in October,...

Federal agents use tear gas and smoke on community members and activists while they protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue on Oct. 4, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Another Operation Midway Blitz protest case evaporates in federal court

By Caroline Kubzansky

February 11, 2026 at 1:36 p.m.

A judge has dismissed yet another set of Operation Midway Blitz-related charges, this time against...

In this screengrab made from body camera footage provided by the Othello, Wash., Police Department, police officers arrest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervisor Koby Williams in July 2022 during an underage sex sting operation. (Othello Police Department via AP)

Several ICE agents were arrested in recent months, showing risk of misconduct

By Ryan J. Foley

February 11, 2026 at 11:40 a.m.

Investigators said one immigration enforcement official got away with physically assaulting his girlfriend for years....

Raoul Adwan at his coffee shop, Thrd Coffee, in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago on Feb. 5, 2026. He and his employees chose to stay open on January 30th and donate 20% of their proceeds to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Solidarity against ICE is not one-size-fits-all for immigrant-owned cafes and restaurants in Chicago

By Zareen Syed

February 11, 2026 at 9:18 a.m.

Leading up to the national shutdown, many businesses took to social media to decry the...

Bodycam video shows Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum driving in evidence made public from the federal investigation into Marimar Martínez, who was shot five times and wounded by Exum on Oct. 4, 2025, following a traffic crash at 39th Street and South Kedzie Avenue. Assault charges against Martínez were dismissed on Nov. 20, 2025. (U.S. attorney's office)

Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino praised agent after shooting Marimar Martínez in Chicago, evidence shows

By Jason Meisner

February 10, 2026 at 11:06 p.m.

A trove of evidence was released Tuesday in the controversial shooting of Marimar Martinez by...

People hold a variety of signs at the intersection of Cossitt Avenue and La Grange Road Saturday, Oct. 18, during a No Kings rally in La Grange. The La Grange Village Board unanimously approved a Welcoming Ordinance Feb. 9, limiting federal agents' access to village property. (Steve Metsch/Pioneer Press)

La Grange Village Board unanimously approves welcoming ordinance

By Hank Beckman

February 10, 2026 at 4:40 p.m.

La Grange's Welcoming Community ordinance prohibits federal agents from using village property in conducting immigration...

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at the Choose Chicago gathering at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on Feb. 10, 2026. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)

Mayor Brandon Johnson says he won’t have say in charging ICE agents after prosecutor pushback

By Alice Yin

February 10, 2026 at 5:28 p.m.

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday said he will not refer alleged cases of misconduct by...

A United States Border Patrol agent gestures to a car while conducting immigration enforcement operations, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

ICE chief defends his officers’ actions before Congress after the deaths of 2 protesters

By Rebecca Santana

February 10, 2026 at 3:41 p.m.

Todd Lyons, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended his agency’s officers before Congress...