Chicago – September 30, 2025
After Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said federal officials requested troops to be sent to Chicago, officials are urging the public not to escalate tensions.
What’s more, both Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul urged residents to record interactions with federal agents, and to engage in peaceful protests so as not to give the Trump administration justification to continue sending in more agents and federal troops.
“There is no emergency in Chicago. Don’t help (President Donald Trump) create one,” Raoul said. “Exercise your First Amendment rights, but do so peacefully, without violence or destruction.”
Pritzker said that he had received word the Department of Homeland Security had requested 100 military personnel be sent to Illinois to assist with providing security for buildings and agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies amid protests aimed at enforcement actions around the Chicago area currently being undertaken as part of “Operation: Midway Blitz.”
The governor said more than 1,500 individuals have been taken into custody during that operation, but the government has not provided corroborating data on that number.
Protests have occurred across the Chicago area, but have mainly been focused at an ICE processing center in suburban Broadview, leading to clashes between protesters and agents in which chemical agents have been deployed to disperse crowds, drawing intense scrutiny.
