Arrest warrant, fate: Behind the scenes of Trump's dawn deportation operation.
An immigration raid targeted hundreds of people in Chicago on Sunday, involving multiple agencies and broadcast live on Dr. Phil.
The beatings began before dawn. Across Chicago, dozens of officers lit up in the pre-dawn darkness. At a home in the Hermosa neighborhood, they knocked on the door, shouting "Come here" and "Please open the door." No one answered. The same thing happened in several other locations, but by late morning the team's fortunes had changed. A 28-year-old Mexican man they were looking for had just returned home in a silver pickup truck after picking up some tamales. As unmarked cars surrounded him, officers stopped him and took him into custody for possible deportation.
A former deportee with a criminal record that included assault, he was one of 260 people targeted in Sunday's immigration sweep, the first of its kind under the Trump administration.
The arrest was one of dozens in a day that marked an escalation in President Donald Trump's efforts to control immigration into the United States. The operation was notable for its scale, as a multi-agency effort, and took on a showlike air, with the media in tow and television personality Dr. Phil McGraw — better known as Dr. Phil — joining Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, to broadcast the action live.
Trump has taken sweeping action on immigration after vowing to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. He declared a national emergency at the southern border, ordering thousands of additional troops to help with law enforcement. Through executive orders, he has cut off access to asylum while indefinitely freezing the U.S. refugee resettlement program and other humanitarian pathways, halting the arrival of tens of thousands of displaced people.
ICE said in an X-rated article on Sunday that it had made 956 arrests in the United States, citing one-day statistics. The Chicago raids came amid growing resistance at home and abroad. Colombia has blocked the arrival of U.S. military planes carrying deportees, prompting Trump to retaliate by imposing emergency tariffs of 25% and sanctions on the Latin American nation. In the United States, sanctuary cities like Chicago have said they will limit their cooperation with ICE and will abide by local laws.
"We have to secure our border. We need to get rid of violent criminals, but we also need to protect the people, at least residents of Illinois and across the country, who are just doing what we hope immigrants will do," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal law enforcement agencies hold a pre-enforcement briefing in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., Sunday, January 26, 2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., Sunday, January 26, 2025. An ICE agent waits for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in a car during a Targeted Enforcement Operation in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., Sunday, January 26, 2025. Putra waits in his vehicle in the early hours of Sunday morning.
ICE has long conducted similar arrest operations, targeting criminals and people accused of posing a threat to public or national security. Sunday's operations, however, were notable for the number of officers involved and the involvement of multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Assistant Attorney General Emil Bove was also in Chicago Sunday morning, where he met with agents and Homan before the raids began.
As the day progressed, agents on the ground faced familiar challenges. Many immigrants know that ICE agents do not have a warrant and cannot enter a home without one. Social media alerts and verbal warnings also encourage migrants to stay out of sight.
"It usually only takes the first arrest for the calls to start," said Matthew Putra, ICE's field director in St. Louis. Paul, Minnesota, describing how Facebook posts and tweets often alert communities. "Nobody was moving, nobody opened a door, the lights were off."
Putra said ICE expects the number of criminal arrest warrants to increase as federal prosecutors begin accepting more cases. Most of those warrants are likely for illegal reentry, he said. As of Sunday, officers had seven arrest warrants in hand.
"This is completely uncharted territory for us," Putra said of the expanded warrant efforts. "It's been about five days. We'll see how it goes."
During a stop around noon Sunday, a passerby stopped on a busy street to record officers' cellphone calls from an apartment building as they searched for a Polish citizen on their arrest list. Despite the hesitation, Putra said ICE was determined to complete its mission. "We've always done this work," Putra said. :)
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