Human Impact Project

Governor JB Pritzker and Democrats on two congressional committees are calling for investigations into a federal immigration raid in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, where families reported children were zip-tied, separated from parents, and held for hours. Federal agents from Border Patrol, the FBI and ATF arrested 37 people during the Oct. 1 operation at 7500 S. South Shore Drive. Rodrick Johnson, a U.S. citizen, said agents broke down his door and left him zip-tied outside for nearly three hours, while a neighbor said she saw children removed from the building without clothing. Lawmakers have sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding details on the warrants used, the number of citizens detained, and why children were restrained and helicopters deployed.

Jesus Hernandez, a 46-year-old from Mexico who has lived in the United States for 25 years and is a father of three, was arrested by federal agents in Little Village along with his 21-year-old son Brian, who is a U.S. citizen born in the United States. Video showed both men being detained and led away in custody. Family members expressed distress at the separation, with a relative stating that Hernandez is the primary provider for his family.

Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Munoz was arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility on October 3, 2025, while protesting in a designated protest-free zone, and detained for about eight hours without being told why or what he was accused of. He testified on January 22, 2026, before the HART Truth-Telling Commission that then-Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino tackled him to the ground, that he was questioned by FBI agents without an attorney present, and that detainees had to share shoes taken from them during processing because conditions inside were unsanitary. Munoz said he was used as a backdrop for an interview Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave to a social media influencer, calling it propaganda, and said tactics he has observed used recently in Minnesota are likely a preview of what could come to Illinois. He is pursuing legal action over his treatment, which prompted a joint press conference from Oak Park's elected bodies denouncing his arrest.

Cole Sheridan, a 27-year-old hospitality worker, was arrested during an Oct. 3 pro-immigrant protest at the Broadview immigration enforcement facility after Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino accused him of pushing and swinging at him, leading to federal charges of assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer. An investigator said Bovino took two weeks of leave from the Chicago operation due to a groin injury he claimed to have sustained in the encounter. After a friend found video from an Oct. 31 news report showing Sheridan being pushed down—not near Bovino—prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges on Nov. 3, though they could still refile in another form. Sheridan said the ordeal cost him four days of work and a month of anxiety over potential imprisonment.

Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed and threatened with arrest by federal immigration agents at Humboldt Park Health on Friday after she asked whether they had a signed judicial warrant to detain a patient. Fuentes said the agents shoved her twice before restraining her, an exchange partly captured on video showing an agent demanding she leave and threatening arrest before forcibly turning her around and cuffing her. She said she was asserting the patient's constitutional rights and had not touched the agents or trespassed, and noted that federal agents have brought multiple injured people to local hospitals following arrests.

Kyle Frankovich, a protester, was arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility on October 3 while demonstrating in a designated protest zone. Federal agents grabbed and threw him to the ground, zip-tied him, and detained him for approximately eight hours without explanation or charges, making him stand along a guardrail for 40 minutes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem walked past with cameras and photographers. He was later released without documentation or charges, and the following week his fiancée Leigh Kunkle was shot in the face with pepper balls by federal agents during another protest at the same site; the couple's attorney has filed federal claims alleging wrongful detention and violation of rights. On the same day Frankovich was detained, federal agents took multiple other protesters into custody as a crowd grew outside the facility amid newly installed barricades, with Illinois State Police also deployed in riot gear; at least five protesters have since faced federal charges from clashes at the site, where agents have repeatedly used tear gas and pepper balls against demonstrators.

On October 3, 2025, federal agents conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood deployed tear gas near Funston Elementary School, traumatizing hundreds of children and families in the area. Children playing on school grounds, eating at a nearby café, and walking home from school were exposed to the gas, including toddlers as young as 14 months old at Luna y Cielo Play Cafe, where nannies rushed children to a back room as the gas spread. Teachers, including Liza Oliva-Perez, were also tear-gassed while attempting to protect students, and parents like Molly Kucich abandoned errands to reach their children amid the chaos. The incident left children experiencing anxiety, nightmares, and fear of separation from family members, with some now asking teachers and dolls whether ICE will come for them, while others have grown fearful of sirens and worried about the safety of caregivers, including nannies who are citizens or legally authorized to work in the U.S. The operation, dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz," has involved masked armed agents in unmarked vehicles patrolling neighborhoods, with residents reporting multiple incidents including helicopter raids, detention of U.S. citizens, and deployment of pepper munitions against protesters.

A federal grand jury indicted 21-year-old Diego Reyes on charges of assaulting, impeding, intimidating and interfering with an ICE officer using a dangerous weapon, after prosecutors said he rammed his SUV into an agent's vehicle on Oct. 4, 2025, during Operation Midway Blitz in Cicero. DHS had reported that six people were arrested that day for impeding operations, and three undocumented immigrants were taken into custody as a result of the incident. If convicted, Reyes faces up to 20 years in prison; no court date has been set.

On October 3, 2025, federal agents conducted widespread immigration enforcement operations dubbed 'Operation Midway Blitz' across multiple Chicago neighborhoods including West Town, Lakeview, Bucktown-Wicker Park, and Logan Square, detaining multiple people at various locations. Individuals detained included a man waiting outside a health center for his pregnant wife (reported to have work authorization and a pending court date), a construction worker arrested at a residence, a gardener taken into custody, and a comedy club night manager. Schools in the Bucktown-Wicker Park area were placed on soft lockdown, and confrontations between residents and federal agents at multiple locations resulted in tear gas and pepper ball deployment. Nearly a year later, 15 U.S. citizens and legal residents, including an Oak Park Township trustee and a Harvard data scientist who were zip-tied for hours at the Broadview processing center without charges, filed administrative complaints against the Department of Homeland Security alleging excessive force and wrongful detainment, a first step toward a federal tort lawsuit.

Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old single father with deferred action status, was deported to Mexico after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment on October 3. His 15-year-old U.S. citizen son Damian, who has ADHD, autism, and other health conditions, was left without his sole caregiver. Damian subsequently experienced severe emotional distress including depression, anxiety, inability to focus in school, and withdrawal from activities.

Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old with deferred action status, was deported to Mexico on October 3 after attending a routine ICE check-in appointment, after 36 years in the U.S. He had been the sole caregiver for his 15-year-old U.S. citizen son Damian, a 10th grader with autism, ADHD, neurofibromatosis Type 1, epilepsy, and one kidney, since Damian's mother chose not to be involved in his life. Damian learned of his father's deportation from an aunt when he returned home from school and said he initially didn't believe it, retreating to his room and losing his appetite. Since then, Damian, who doesn't drive and has limited cooking skills, has had to navigate daily life largely on his own, experiencing emotional distress, depression, and academic decline.

On October 3, 2025, 26th Ward Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was shoved and handcuffed by masked ICE agents at Humboldt Park Health Hospital while advocating for a detained constituent during Operation Midway Blitz. Fuentes filed a federal tort claims lawsuit in October 2025, and formally sued the federal government in May 2026 after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond within the required timeframe. The lawsuit alleges battery, assault, false arrest, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming Fuentes suffered shoulder pain, anxiety, nightmares, and emotional distress from the encounter.

Subramanyam Vedam, a legal permanent resident born in India, was released from a Pennsylvania maximum security prison after 43 years when prosecutors abandoned his murder case. He was immediately placed in ICE custody at the Moshannon Processing Center and is being held while fighting deportation, with a judge denying him bail.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted multiple enforcement operations in Chicago, deploying tear gas and smoke bombs during raids. In one incident at Funston Elementary School, tear gas released in a nearby parking lot during a grocery store raid spread into the school building, exposing students including first-graders to the chemical agent. A separate operation at 51st and Damen on October 3rd resulted in video footage showing federal agents threatening a community member and throwing a smoke bomb onto a vehicle, with one person detained. ICE has conducted multiple enforcement operations in Chicago during this period, including residential raids and the detention of individuals.

Five asylum seekers from Colombia, Guatemala, China, and Nicaragua were arrested by DHS agents immediately after exiting immigration court hearings at the San Francisco Immigration Court on October 2, 2025. All had pending asylum applications and were previously released under supervision with no criminal history. The federal court granted a temporary restraining order requiring their immediate release and prohibiting re-detention without a hearing.

A Benton, Arkansas man was arrested in May after police mistakenly believed a bottle of his cologne contained liquid opium. The arrest led to the discovery that his visa had expired, and he was subsequently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for about 30 days at a facility in Louisiana. He has since been released but remains unable to work as his immigration case remains unresolved. His wife said the ordeal has caused significant emotional and financial strain on the family, including their daughter.

Video captured in Oasis, California shows a federal agent kneeling on a man after throwing him to the ground and tasing him. According to the person who shared the footage, the man had already surrendered and was not resisting when the agent used force against him.

Federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a home in Humboldt Park at approximately 6 a.m. Thursday, breaking down the front door. The woman of the house, a migrant from Venezuela, reported that her husband and two other men in the home were detained by ICE. The family has been in the United States for three years and is in the process of seeking asylum.

Two employees of SUNY Upstate Medical University from Cuba were detained by ICE on Wednesday while attending immigration hearings to finalize their legal status. The employees worked in the environmental services department and had been in the country since 2022 and 2024 respectively. Union officials stated the employees were following proper legal procedures and should not be punished for seeking to regularize their immigration status.

Leilani Payne was pepper-sprayed at point-blank range by a Federal Protection Service officer on October 2, 2025, while protesting outside the Portland ICE facility. She was 19 at the time of the incident. Video footage captured the officer spraying her in the face, and witnesses reported her screaming in agony and struggling to breathe. A nearby Portland Police officer was so concerned for her well-being that he called for an ambulance. Payne, now 20, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Protection Service seeking at least $350,000 in damages. The DHS stated that protesters had been given lawful verbal commands to back away and refused to comply.