Chicago Crime and Policing

The article details a sharp clash between Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Department of Homeland Security over Operation Midway Blitz, a large ICE/Border Patrol surge that began around early September. Johnson, citing University of Chicago Crime Lab data and NPR analysis, says Chicago had its safest summer since 1965 with 123 murders from June through August 2025 and argues violent crime rose again "once ICE and the Border Patrol showed up," especially where they were most active. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin counters that Johnson is "demonizing" law enforcement amid what she calls a 1,300% increase in assaults on agents, touts more than 4,500 arrests of noncitizens with criminal records during the operation, and urges him to "turn down the rhetoric" and cooperate to prevent further killings by "gang members, murderers, drug traffickers, and rapists." The dispute is playing out publicly on X, with Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino pointing to "double‑digit decreases" in Chicago violent crime tied to arrests of "violent illegal aliens," while Johnson and Rep. Jesús García highlight fatal shootings by agents such as that of Mexican national Silverio Gonzalez and call for federal investigations. The confrontation underscores a broader national fault line over whether aggressive federal immigration raids in big "sanctuary" cities reduce or inflame crime and how much latitude DHS should have when local leaders argue they have driven down violence on their own.