Even amid partial DHS shutdown, Illinois remains on edge over ICE coming back

February 28, 2026

CHICAGO (Capitol News Illinois) — Even with the Department of Homeland Security partially shut down and aggressive immigration campaigns apparently on hold, state and Chicago leaders are looking for ways to ensure safer policing, accountability and transparency in immigration enforcement.

The White House and Democratic leaders missed a Feb. 14 deadline to fund DHS, as Democrats sought revisions to immigration enforcement after the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good last month in Minneapolis. Democrats published a list of 10 demands to “rein in” ICE, including requiring agents to wear identification, obtain judicial warrants to enter private property and stop wearing masks.

Although they are at the center of discussions, ICE and Customs and Border Protection will be least affected by the partial shutdown because those agencies still have access to $75 billion in funding that was approved by Congress and President Trump last year in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill Act.

At the Statehouse, meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker has continued to emphasize the state’s role on the frontlines of dealing with the federal government’s aggression when it comes to immigration enforcement.

In his State of the State address Feb. 18, the governor called Illinois “the canary in the coal mine for what we saw happen in Minnesota,” and he called on Illinoisans to counter Trump’s immigration crackdown with love, kindness and empathy. He pointed to the people who protested and protected immigrants targeted in Operation Midway Blitz.

“Masked, unaccountable federal agents — with little training — occupied our streets, brutalized our people, tear gassed kids and cops, kidnapped parents in front of their children, detained and arrested and at times attempted to deport US citizens, and killed innocent Americans in the streets,” he said.

Read more: Moore: After sounding the alarm, Pritzker says Illinois answered the call

His speech came after an aggressive, two-month immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis left Pretti and Good dead and led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people, including citizens and children, according to the federal government.

At the state level, Illinois senators are pushing for a bill, titled the Prohibited Hiring of Federal Immigration Officers Act, that would prohibit law enforcement agencies in Illinois from hiring individuals who served as federal immigration officers for the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement between Jan. 20, 2025, and Jan 20, 2029.

A statewide accountability commission continues to meet to document alleged wrongdoings by immigration agents ahead of an April report to the governor’s office. And the city continues to consider ways to strengthen its Welcoming City Ordinance, even as the federal government tries to pressure compliance by threatening to withhold funding to jurisdictions that don’t cooperate on immigration enforcement.

ICE hiring bill

State Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, is carrying the bill to ban the state from hiring Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents serving during the current Trump administration, which is still awaiting a substantial committee assignment.

“Our officers here in Illinois are trained in de-escalation. They’re trained in mental health training,” Fine, a candidate for Congress, said in an interview “The officers that we’re seeing, I say officers in a very loose way, coming from ICE, are completely different.”

Open interactive chart in new tab

Officers in Illinois must complete a 16-week, 640-hour basic law enforcement course before they are authorized to work. This includes receiving at least 70% on weekly tests and the final state certification exam and passing a comprehensive examination administered by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

ICE officers used to have to complete a five-month training but now, under the Trump administration, the required training has been shortened to 47 days.

Illinois Republicans have expressed concerns about the bill, describing it as an attack on law enforcement.

“This bill is nothing more than a political stunt to undermine the duties of federal officers who risk their lives to protect American citizens,” Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said in a statement.

But after two citizens were killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis, Fine emphasizes the need for action.

“The results speak for themselves,” Fine said. “I mean, the violence in the street, the havoc that they’re wreaking, the trauma that they’re causing, it’s just unacceptable.”

In December, Pritzker signed legislation allowing Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who arrest them in or near courthouses or if they believe their constitutional rights were violated.

ICE arrests in Illinois

In Illinois, more than 4,000 people were arrested by ICE in 2025, according to data from DHS, and more than 1,500 of those arrests were a part of Operation Midway Blitz.

Despite Trump’s claims that federal immigration enforcement would focus on the “worst of the worst,” the majority of ICE arrests in Illinois did not have a criminal charge or conviction, according to government data.

Open interactive chart in new tab

Of those with criminal arrests or convictions, less than 2% of those arrested in 2025 had homicide or sexual assault charges or convictions, according to data from DHS.

The Chicago Sun-Times, meanwhile, has reported that up to 1,000 agents — or four times the number who were here in the fall — could return in March.

The Illinois Accountability Commission  has been investigating actions by federal immigration agents. In its third meeting on Feb. 24, it heard stories about the health, education and community impact of Operation Midway Blitz.

Read more: A city blanketed in fear: Accountability Commission hears shocking testimony about ICE

“Midway Blitz was not a crackdown or a sweep or a sting,” elementary school Principal Seth Lavin testified. “You can’t call an operation ‘targeted’ or ‘a sting’ when it blankets a city in fear.”

The commission urged the public to continue submitting information and providing feedback on the commission’s initial report in order to make the final version more robust. That final version is due by April 30. It is collecting the info at https://ilac.illinois.gov/interest-form.html.

Welcoming City Ordinance

In Chicago, in a joint meeting on Jan. 27, the Chicago Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Committee on Police and Fire voted 19-3 to revise an ordinance and allow the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to investigate complaints about the Chicago Police Department’s alleged cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The revision is awaiting approval by the city council before it goes into effect.

The Welcoming City Ordinance, which was passed in July 2012 under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, is intended to protect undocumented residents by restricting employee cooperation with ICE, preventing inquiries into immigration status and limiting holding of people on ICE detainer requests.

“This is an opportunity to continue to do the work from within for more than two years to restore trust between residents and police officers,” Ald. Jesse Fuentes of the 26th Ward said. “This administrative adjustment allows us to do just that.”

Since June, residents and elected officials have questioned Chicago police officers for their actions during a series of mass deportation efforts by the Trump administration. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said CPD has complied with the Welcoming City Ordinance.

Interim Chief Administrator LaKenya White said 40 complaints had been filed about CPD’s interactions with ICE since federal agents arrived in the city last year. White also said the Civilian Office of Police Accountability did not have the ability under the Welcoming City Ordinance to investigate complaints about potential violations.

According to Fuentes, the proposal fixes that “administrative error” and expands COPA’s investigative abilities.

The proposal also received support from Johnson and Snelling, who, in a letter to members of City Council, said the proposal “furthers transparency around CPD’s response to incidents stemming from civil immigration enforcement.”

‘ICE on Notice’

On Jan. 31, Johnson signed an executive order called “ICE on Notice” to “create a framework for public accountability in the event federal agents violate local or state law while operating in Chicago.”

The order requires CPD personnel to report violations of state or local law by federal agents. They also must:

• Document unlawful actions by federal enforcement agents.
• Ensure body camera footage of incidents is preserved.
• Attempt to identify the federal supervisory officer on scene and the officer’s name and badge number.
• Complete and file a report on these incidents.
• Immediately call for emergency medical services for anyone injured.

“Nobody is above the law,” Johnson said in a statement. “The lawlessness of Trump’s militarized immigration agents puts the lives and well-being of every Chicagoan in immediate danger. … Chicago will not sit idly by while Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents.”

By Sam Freeman
Medill Illinois News Bureau
news@capitolnewsillinois.com

Sam Freeman is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.