&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump admin launches ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ in Chicago against illegal immigrants, violent crime")
The US Department of Homeland Security launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants in Chicago on Monday after local Democrats spent the weekend protesting President Donald Trump’s threat of a federal law enforcement surge in America’s third-largest city. “DHS is launching Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by criminal illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois,” the department announced on X. Katie Abraham, 20, an Illinois college student, was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run allegedly caused by Guatemalan national Julio Cucul-Bol. The operation will focus on apprehending repeat-offender illegal immigrants in Chicago and across Illinois.
“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew [Democratic] Governor [JB] Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” it added.
President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem stand with the victims of illegal alien crime, while Governor Pritzker stands with criminal illegal aliens, the statement said.
The DHS mission is separate from any federal law enforcement intervention against street crime.
Governor Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, reacted with outrage at the president using a meme to tease the immigration raids.
The “Apocalypse Now”-themed video, titled “Chipocalypse Now,” depicted Trump as a military commander with helicopters, fires and the Chicago skyline looming in the background.
“I love the smell of deportations in the morning… Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” said the social media post, playing off Robert Duvall’s “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” riff in Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War-set masterpiece.
Trump indicated earlier in the day that the ICE raids do not indicate a policing intervention. “We’d love to go into Chicago,” Trump said in a speech touching on religious liberty and other topics. “We’re waiting for a call from Chicago.” Trump added that six people were murdered in Chicago over the weekend. “This would mean that over the past number of weeks, approximately 50 people were killed, and hundreds were shot, many expected to die,” he wrote on Truth Social.
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“Governor Pritzker just stated that he doesn’t want Federal Government HELP! WHY??? What is wrong with this guy, and the 5% in Polls Mayor. I want to help the people of Chicago, not hurt them. Only the Criminals will be hurt!”
WATCH: After DC, Boston, Trump Eyes Federal Takeover Of Chicago
Pritzer fired back: “‘I want to help people, not hurt them,’ says the guy who just threatened an American city with the Department of War.”
Johnson said in a statement. “We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”
In 2020, Trump surged federal officers into major cities, including Chicago, as part of the multi-agency Operation Legend. Then-Attorney General Bill Barr said at a September 2020 press conference that the feds arrested 500 people in five weeks and halved the murder rate in Chicago.
Katie Abraham and her friend Chloe Polzin were at a stoplight in Urbana when Julio Cucul-Bol allegedly struck their vehicle from behind at high speed. Abraham died at the scene, while Polzin succumbed to her injuries a day later. Cucul-Bol was tracked down in Texas and was charged with possessing a false permanent resident card, possessing a false Social Security card, false use of a passport, and making a false statement on a bank application.
