CHICAGO — The Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement surge brought Congressional Democrats to Chicago on Friday, then forced an abrupt exit by some local officials from a public hearing on the topic.
Reports of federal immigration agents making arrests and tear-gassing neighbors on the North Side led some elected officials to leave the hearing at the Cook County Building to check out the latest development in operations Midway Blitz and At Large in person.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Illinois, said that at least four people living in her district were “disappeared” as Friday’s hearing unfolded. While the arrests continued away from Friday’s “shadow hearing,” Ramirez told Block Club that the visit offered a valuable perspective for her colleagues who haven’t yet seen federal agents descend on their communities as they have in Chicago.
“Nothing beats watching, seeing, walking through these streets — whether it’s in Little Village or Albany Park or Humboldt Park — to actually feel and see and take that back to the work that we have to do,” Ramirez said.
Among those who left to deal with raids that were happening at the same time were Cook County Board Commissioner Jessica Vásquez, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) and State Rep. Lilian Jiménez, Ramirez said during the hearing. State Sen. Graciela Guzman also left the hearing to respond to the raids, Rodriguez-Sanchez told Block Club.
Friday’s gathering was the fourth in a series of “shadow hearings” — or unofficial public hearings — by a group of members of Congress touring the country to discuss the tactics deployed by immigration agents and the trauma left behind. Previous hearings were held in Washington, D.C., and this was the first one held in Chicago, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington.
“My people are being hunted down, in Chicago, by ICE and CBP and other agencies,” said Juliet De Jesus Alejandre, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association’s executive director, during the hearing.
For more than a month, Chicagoans have tried to keep up with ICE sightings across the city, sharing information with each other, including through rapid response groups. Across the city neighbors — including City Council members — are using bright orange whistles to warn others when federal immigration officials are nearby.
“Everyday community members, also known as rapid responders, are now the last line of defense against unbridled, violent kidnappings of both our beloved immigrant families and neighbors and, also, U.S.-born Black and Brown Chicagoans,” De Jesus Alejandre said.
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Illinois, directed his ire at Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino — the public face of the ongoing operations in Chicago — saying that Bovino and other federal agents have been operating without warrants and are violating residents’ Constitutional rights.
“We saw a little man [Bovino] lead an attack on a hard-working, studious, industrious community as he sprayed tear gas on people in our community. We reject these practices,” García said.
Over the past month, federal agents in and around Chicago have shot at least two people, killing one; repeatedly tear-gassed protesters and first responders; shot rubber bullets at protesters; detained U.S. citizens, including children; handcuffed a Chicago alderperson in a hospital; smoke-bombed and tear-gassed people in Logan Square, Albany Park and East Side; fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter and detained a journalist.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, also presented recruitment ads from the Department of Homeland Security that she said were examples of how members of the Trump administration, like Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, are pushing an “extremist” anti-immigrant ideology via federal agents’ actions.
A Department of Homeland Security recruitment advertisement posted to Instagram on Aug. 5, 2025. Credit: Screen Capture
“I want my colleges to remember this, because when we get the gavel back, we’ve got to know they’re already there. We’ve got to address white supremacy within our agencies that are attacking our immigrant neighbors,” Tlaib said.
Arrests without due process or access to legal counsel shows that people are being “disappeared and kidnapped” by the Trump administration, Tlaib said.
“I can’t believe I can’t find my residents. Literally for days,” Tlaib said.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, holds printouts of recruitment advertisements the Department of Homeland Security has posted to social media during an Oct. 24, 2025 hearing about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies at the Cook County board room. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, suggested that immigration officials were violating the law at ICE’s Broadview processing facility, citing feedback from constituents who’ve had loved ones detained there. He read an email from one person who wrote, “My dad was sent to Mexico, but he told me he signed his voluntary leave because the conditions were so inhumane inside the Broadview facility.”
The conditions included up to 60 people kept inside one cell, which has forced them to sleep standing up, Krishnamoorthi said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson was among a group of local and state officials who also participated in Friday’s hearing. He implored state leaders to declare a state of emergency to allow virtual learning for students whose families are affected by federal agents’ actions.
“There are people who are afraid to go to school, who are afraid to go to work” Johnson said.
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