Pastor David Black of First Presbyterian Church knelt to pray outside of a processing facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in suburban Broadview when agents dragged him out of the street. The Woodlawn reverend was blocking the path of vans carrying people bound for deportation, a move he later described as an act of moral resistance against a “destructive” federal immigration crackdown.

“Trump’s threats against Chicago and ongoing campaign against the people who live here, especially the most vulnerable people who live here, is abhorrent,” Black told the Herald. “I have been very grateful by the ways that Chicagoans are mobilizing in this moment.”

Black was one of dozens of faith leaders and community members protesting outside of the Broadview facility in late August. The protests, which have happened every week since, were triggered by President Donald Trump’s threats to ramp up deportations and send in the National Guard. 

Dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, the large-scale immigration enforcement action officially began last week, when hundreds of federal agents descended on the city from a north suburban naval base. Scattered reports of immigration arrests on the South and West Sides have trickled in, as have false alarms. As of press time, Sept. 14, ICE has detained at least 10 people, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

DHS officials framed the campaign as a crackdown on what it described as “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” The department’s statement said the operation was launched in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash caused by an undocumented immigrant in Illinois. DHS also published a list of nearly a dozen undocumented men it said were released back onto Illinois streets (instead of detained for deportation) because of state and city laws.

A July Tribune investigation showed, however, that a majority of ICE bookings in the Chicagoland area under Trump had no criminal conviction. Among those detained in this operation, according to the Tribune, was an Archer Heights flower vendor with no apparent criminal record, who has been deported to Mexico. 

A mid-South Side attorney who works closely with immigrant families said the operation seemed motivated by sowing panic rather than providing public safety.

“People are terrified,” said the attorney, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. “People are skipping school and medical care. It really is clear that the cruelty is the point.” 

The attorney noted an inflammatory social post Trump made last weekend, which features a seemingly AI-generated meme depicting the Chicago skyline and Trump as a general from the Vietnam War film “Apocalypse Now,” with the caption ‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning.” 

“It’s horrifying,” the attorney said.

The attorney urged people without legal status to “keep your head down and know your rights,” reminding people not to open doors to strangers and to be wary that federal immigration agents are allowed to misrepresent themselves.

As attorneys like the one the Herald spoke with work to help immigrants file for asylum and work permits, elected officials are condemning the operation. Gov. JB Pritzker called the move a political stunt aimed at fearmongering. 

“Once again, this isn’t about fighting crime,” he said. “That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks. Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisians.”

Two weeks ago, Mayor Brandon Johnson issued an executive order barring the police from collaborating with federal agents on civil immigration enforcement. Following the fatal shooting of a man during a confrontation with ICE in Franklin Park this past weekend, Johnson reiterated his stance that Operation Midway Blitz is reckless and violates constitutionally enshrined rights.

“We’ve said from the beginning that the presence of federal immigration agents on city streets will make life more dangerous for our neighbors, and for all. The seemingly unconstitutional actions yesterday incited dangerous conditions that put our communities at risk and ended in the loss of life,” he wrote on X Saturday.

In Broadview, Black said the protests are proof of that, creating a counter-narrative to the one being pushed in Washington. 

“This administration will use anything they can to make a case for what they will do either way,” he said. “What Chicago can do right now is create a different narrative — that we, as a city, are unified and ready and capable of standing in the way of Trump’s threats and his plans.”

Over the past few weeks, protests at the Broadview center have gained steam. As a result of more news coverage and larger crowds, Black speculated, ICE agents appear to have shifted tactics, transporting detainees earlier in the day, before protesters arrive. Black credited the public attention the protests were getting to years of groundwork laid by community groups, including those who have gathered at Broadview every Friday for more than a decade to pray the rosary.

Black said this new wave of demonstrations was drawing in clergy and congregants from across Chicago, including many from Hyde Park and Woodlawn. 

Organizers plan to continue gathering at Broadview each Friday for the next 45 days (when the operation has been said to wrap up), Black said, with the possibility of changing dates if ICE shifts departure times. He hopes more residents will join the protests in solidarity or by supporting rapid response groups in the city.

“The more we can stand in the way in these next 45 days, the more people we will keep safe across Chicagoland,” he said. “If ICE can’t operate, then our communities are safer.”