Ali Bradley covers developments on the southern border with a focus on human and drug smuggling, immigration enforcement efforts, and the failure to control the influx of migrants. Check out Bradley on the Border on YouTube now!
(NewsNation) — Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood is buzzing with life. It’s a much different scene than in January, when the people living in this predominantly Hispanic community shut themselves in, fearing the possibility of widespread immigration operations.
At one point, Chicago was being considered as ground zero for the Trump administration’s focus on immigration enforcement. “Border czar” Tom Homan reportedly was thinking about making an example out of the sanctuary city.
But at least anecdotally, Chicago has not seen the crackdown people once feared.
Chicago’s ‘sanctuary city’ status under investigation by feds
Resident Ramon Salgado said people were on edge for maybe a week. “After that, there were like, ‘Nobody’s messing with us,’ and people are just going about their daily lives,” he said.
The U.S Department of Homeland Security has made more than 30,000 arrests in President Donald Trump’s first 50 days in office, with nearly half of those arrested being convicted criminals. DHS did not provide information about how many arrests have been made in Chicago.
Ald. Ray Lopez, an outspoken critic of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, supports the Trump administration’s efforts to target migrants with criminal histories. He said he’s seen Chicago infiltrated by dangerous criminals and gang members.
Johnson recently told Congress that Chicago police will turn over undocumented migrants if federal authorities present a warrant, but Lopez notes the mayor has long struck a more defiant tone in his own city.
“The facts speak for themselves,” Lopez said. “They are not working with Immigration. He’s not met with Tom Homan. He refuses to engage Donald Trump or (Homeland Security) Secretary Noem to discuss what we can do to move forward together.”
Locals in Pilsen say they approve when dangerous individuals are locked up, but they don’t support broader sweeps that affect law-abiding migrants who may be seeking asylum.
Signs posted around Pilsen offer advice to people about their rights if they are approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Homan has said ICE is focused on the so-called worst of the worst, rather than migrants who are not committing serious crimes.
ICE cracks down on gangs
In recent weeks, immigration authorities have intensified their efforts to arrest migrants with ties to gangs. Hundreds of individuals have been rounded up across the U.S.
A recent ICE operation in Northern Virginia led to more than 200 arrests of alleged MS-13 and 18th Street gang members. Among those taken into custody was a Salvadoran gang member wanted back home for aggravated extortion; a Jamaican national with a second-degree murder conviction and a Mexican national previously convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
In Houston, ICE led a weeklong operation that resulted in the arrest of 646 people, including seven documented gang members. Many of the individuals arrested were charged with or convicted of violent felonies, sex offenses, drug trafficking and aggravated assault.
With the Laken Riley Act, ICE agents have more authority to detain even non-violent offenders. One major operation just wrapped up in Florida, where ICE special agents — working alongside other federal officers — arrested 14 individuals.
Meantime, detention capacity is increasing, and authorities say enforcement efforts will only intensify in the coming weeks.
The Laken Riley Act was passed after the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student from Georgia. She was killed by a migrant who had been released into the U.S., despite having a prior criminal history.
