CHICAGO — The sight of armed, camouflaged and masked Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous downtown Chicago landmarks has amplified concerns about the Trump administration’s growing federal intervention across U.S. cities.
As Illinois leaders warned Monday of a National Guard deployment, residents in the nation’s third-largest city met a brazen weekend escalation of immigration enforcement tactics with anger, fear and fresh claims of discrimination.
“It looks un-American,” said Chicago Alderman Brandon Reilly, who represents downtown on the City Council. He deemed the Sunday display a “photo opp” for President Donald Trump, echoing other leaders.
Memphis, Tennessee, and Portland, Oregon, also braced for a federal law enforcement surge. Meanwhile, Louisiana’s governor asked for a National Guard deployment to New Orleans and other cities.
Trump has called the expansion of federal immigration agents and National Guard troops into American cities necessary, blasting Democrats for crime and lax immigration policies. Following a crime crackdown in the District of Columbia and immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, he’s referred to Portland as “war-ravaged” and threatened apocalyptic force in Chicago.
“Whether it takes place here in the city or the suburbs, it’s all the same to us,” Border Patrol agent Gregory Bovino said in Chicago.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has issued a memo that also directs component agencies within the Justice Department, including the FBI, to help protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, including in Chicago and Portland.
Here’s a snapshot of where things stand with federal law enforcement activity in Chicago, Portland, Memphis and New Orleans.
Chicago raises alarm about racial profiling
Many Chicagoans were already uneasy after an immigration crackdown began earlier this month. Agents have targeted immigrant-heavy and largely Latino areas.
Trump has waffled on sending the military, but Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday it appeared the federal government would deploy 100 troops. Pritzker said the Illinois National Guard received word that the Department of Homeland Security sent a memo to the Defense Department requesting troops to protect ICE personnel and facilities.
An immigration processing center outside Chicago has been the site of frequent protests and aggressive tactics by federal agents.
The enforcement recently escalated, with agents using boats on the Chicago River and marching Sunday on Michigan Avenue and in upscale neighborhoods.
Activists and elected leaders are concerned about discriminatory stops, particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on roving patrols in LA. The court cleared the way for immigration agents to stop people based on race, language, job or location.
“ICE is running around the Loop, harassing people for not being white,” Pritzker said, describing the city’s core business district.
Activists said a Latino family of four was led away by federal agents Sunday near the popular “Cloud Gate” sculpture, commonly called “The Bean.” Construction workers and bicyclists were also targeted.
“The downtown operation of being racially profiled and kidnapped by immigration in broad daylight represents a major escalation by the Trump administration,” said Veronica Castro with Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Bovino told The Associated Press that agents will go after “anyone who is here illegally,” an approach that fell under immigration authority, known as Title 8. He told the Chicago Sun-Times that a person’s appearance goes into the calculation.
“It would be agent experience, intelligence that indicates there’s illegal aliens in a particular place or location,” he told the newspaper. “Then, obviously, the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look.”
