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Images Show How ICE Presence in Chicago Is Now Normalized
by Michael Austin on November 11, 2025
A federal officer shops for snacksJamie Kelter Davis / Getty Images
In this photograph taken on Oct. 31, a federal agent takes a break from conducting immigration detainment arrests on the north side of Chicago to shop for snacks and use the restroom at a gas station.
Border Patrol chief joins his agents on a snack-runJoshua Lott - The Washington Post / Getty Images
Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino walks with two masked agents through a grocery store as they buy snacks and supplies in the Gage Park neighborhood of Chicago on Nov. 6, 2025.
Detained individuals are transferred by federal agentsJamie Kelter Davis / Getty Images
Multiple individuals detained by Customs Enforcement officials sit in the back of a van as they are transferred to a temporary holding facility on the far north side of the city of Chicago on Oct. 31, 2025.
Young Chicago man yells at lawl enforcementJamie Kelter Davis / Getty Images
Another sight often seen in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz is that of citizens filming enforcement operations on their cell phones while verbally berating officers. This young man was captured via photograph doing so in the Edison Park neighborhood on Oct. 31, 2025.
Protesters agitate police officers near detention facilityJoe Raedle / Getty Images
A crowd of protesters was seen facing off with police officers in a "Free Speech Zone" outside of an immigrant processing and detention center in Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 17, 2025. Many such demonstrations (some of which have arguably devolved into uncivil riots) since Operation Midway Blitz first began.
