"This morning, September 19, 2025, federal agents unleashed severe violence on people protesting at the Broadview detention facility, and engaged in actions endangering people on the scene." - National Lawyers Guild, Chicago chapter

https://nlgchicago.org/2025/09/19/nlg-chicago-statement-regarding-agents-response-to-protest-in-broadview/

"The organization said its legal observers witnessed agents using pepper balls and apparent tear gas 'on all protesters and individuals gathered.' The National Lawyers Guild frequently monitors demonstrations to document police use of force and arrests.” - Nader Issa, Chicago Sun-Times

https://chicago.suntimes.com/live/ice-agent-broadview-facility-protest-today

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

You can now swim in the Chicago River... sort of.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/21/chicago-river-swim

"Swimming in the Chicago River is prohibited at any other time of the year."

https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/Race/ChicagoRiverSwim/Page/SwimCourse

There was daily private water quality testing of the main channel over the prior 4 days, with less frequent tests before those.

https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/Race/ChicagoRiverSwim/Page/WaterQualityPlan

Also, there were fundraising requirements for competitors.

https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/Race/ChicagoRiverSwim/Page/FAQs

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

TV coverage of yesterday's press conference called over the memo about 100 troops to protect ICE property got cut off after 30 minutes, before Eréndira Rendón (Vice President of Immigrant Justice from the Resurrection Project) got to speak. Parentheses are mine.

"DHS has admitted to members of the press that they are making enforcement decision based on racial profiling... if you look like me you are in danger. On Sunday in Back of the Yards (a neighborhood now officially known as New City) ICE officers violently arrested 3 US citizens on baseless charges simply for exercising their constitutional right to free speech.
...
Right now in Broadview there are 200 people in a place that is not a detention center. They are being held in inhumane conditions. There are no beds. There are no showers. There is limited food; they order children's meals from Subway to eat. We are not allowed to speak to any of our clients that are held in that facility."

https://www.trpimmigrantjustice.org/trpij

https://cms.illinois.gov/agency/media/video/videos.html

"'I had him in class,' Rupp, now 84, told the Chicago Sun-Times, referring to Prevost’s time at St. Augustine high school seminary near Holland, Michigan, in or around 1973. 'He was a teenager.'

'I only taught him for a few months. ... I think I was teaching Latin at that time. ... He struck me' as 'just a delightful, wonderful young man,' Rupp said.

...

It’s unclear whether Rupp was engaged in sexual misconduct at the time and whether and when Prevost knew of any accusations. Neither the pope nor his press office responded to questions. Rupp denied molesting anyone and said he was wrongfully accused. The Augustinians refuse to confirm whether Rupp was one of Prevost’s instructors."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/10/01/pope-leo-robert-prevost-saint-augustine-seminary-holland-michigan-nelson-daniel-rupp-accused-abuse

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"...a masked federal agent dropped canisters of chemical irritants into the street outside Rico Fresh Market...

In a video taken by a witness and shared with the Sun-Times, cars could be seen blocking the white, unmarked SUV before a masked agent rolled down his window and dropped the canisters. Smoke begins spreading around the vehicle and passersby began to scream.

Someone on the sidewalk then volleyed at least one of the canisters back at the vehicle before it sped off.

David Beale, 39, was on his way to the gym shortly after noon when he noticed a Blackhawk helicopter and Department of Homeland Security vehicle in the area.

Beale told a WBEZ reporter that the federal agents have been targeting the grocery store since the beginning of Operation Midway Blitz, President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign in the Chicago area.

At least 10 cars, 10 people and six bikes lined up to stop the vehicle from moving down the street, Beale said."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10/03/federal-agent-chemical-irritants-rico-fresh-logan-square

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"The video appears to contradict the government’s allegation that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning on Kedzie Avenue near 39th Street, her attorney, Christopher Parente, said at a detention hearing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
...
Parente said Martinez has 'seven holes' in her from the shooting and that agents were in such a hurry to take her into custody at the hospital that they had to return later when Martinez began bleeding from her wounds.
...
An FBI statement says that about 10 vehicles were involved in the chase that Martinez and Ruiz were allegedly part of in the 3900 block of South Kedzie. The statement also describes the 'ramming' of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle repeatedly in the 3700 block of Kedzie, allegedly by the driver of a black Chevy Tahoe with Illinois license plate EM 62829. That driver is still at large, the FBI said."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10/06/marimar-martinez-anthony-ian-santos-ruiz-border-patrol-shooting-brighton-park

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Not only does this story confirm that Illinois State Police are guarding the Broadview ICE processing site (it is not a detention center), but it also says that new barricades have been erected around the temporary fence which ICE was ordered to remove by a U.S. District Judge on Thursday. Per the headline, they may be violating an Illinois law, the Access to Religious Ministry Act, though that mentions the sheriff sets access times. I haven't seen the Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart, mentioned.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/11/broadview-detention-immigration-enforcement-ice-religious-leaders-communion-fence-protests

The Chicago marathon still happened.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/12/chicago-marathon-ice

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-marathon/2025/10/12/jacob-kiplimo-wins-2025-chicago-marathon-conner-mantz-breaks-american-record

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"A temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge last week requires agents to issue two warnings before using riot control weapons such as tear gas, chemical sprays, plastic bullets and flash bangs. The order also bars firing at protesters, reporters and clergy members and limits using force such as tackling — unless the person represents an immediate threat.

But witnesses said they heard no warnings, and none can be heard on videos of the incident showing the scene leading up to the gas being thrown in the middle of a residential street."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/12/ice-chicago-albany-park-tear-gas

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Last week, Greer was one of four cemetery workers, all U.S. citizens, arrested during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that crossed over onto the private Christian cemetery property. They were ultimately released without charges, but that was after they were hit with pepper balls and pepper spray unleashed by agents and then detained for hours, Greer recalled.
...
Darren Eichler, one of the other cemetery workers in attendance Monday, declined further comment after the news conference. But in a text message to the Tribune, Eichler described the encounter through a poem.

'Amidst a trembling exchange of power, one where my hands could not rise in defense, and the law, in theory, should have risen for me, a burning rain began to fall,' he wrote. 'Oil-born, it clung to my skin, slick and stinging, baptizing me in disbelief.

'Then came the chorus — a hail of peppered fire, each shot a punctuation of pain, each breath thick with the taste of vinegar and fear.'”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/ice-forest-park-cemetery-workers/

"H flu, also called haemophilus influenzae, is uncommon — each year about 200 cases are recorded in Illinois and roughly 150 are documented in Indiana, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the name, H flu is a bacteria, not a virus like the flu. It can lead to pneumonia and meningitis.
...
In 2024, the vaccination rate for kids in Lake County, Indiana, where Liam was from, was 80%, according to data from the Indiana Department of Public Health.

The vaccination rate for H flu at Chicago Public Schools slightly dropped during and after the pandemic — which disrupted vaccinations for several diseases — but remains high for the current school year at 93%. Herd immunity for H flu is reached at a 90% vaccination rate.

Herd immunity helps protect children who can’t get vaccines for medical reasons or don’t make as many anti-bodies to fight an illness despite having the vaccine, public health experts say."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/health/2025/10/14/h-flu-vaccine-bacteria-infection-indiana-comer-chicago

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Federal agents chased a car through a residential neighborhood on the Southeast Side of Chicago Tuesday, and then intentionally crashed into the car in a risky maneuver restricted by some police departments nationwide.
...
After the crash, dozens of people gathered at the crash scene in protest, leading to a chaotic confrontation with federal officers.
...
The feds then used tear gas and other chemical irritants on the crowd.
...
Destiny Salazar, 20, said she saw someone in the crowd throw an object at agents...

When she looked back, she saw her 15-year-old cousin and 19-year-old boyfriend 'slammed to the ground' and handcuffed by masked federal agents.
...
The boy, who is Hispanic and African American, was held in a garage for five hours 'without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney,' the statement said. He is a U.S. citizen, as is his entire immediate family, the release said."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/14/crash-involving-immigration-agents-in-east-side-leads-to-tear-gas-detentions

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited Broadview’s ICE facility on Oct. 3 — two days before the ICE official wrote his email praising the Illinois State Police.

Her motorcade had two options when it came time to leave. It could take Beach Street, where no protesters waited for her. Or it could take Harvard Street, which was full of them. Noem chose Harvard Street.

That’s according to another declaration submitted to Perry by Illinois State Police Maj. Donald Orseno.
...
'Once the roadway was clear, the secretary’s motorcade advanced through the area,' Orseno wrote. 'No pepper balls, gas or other chemical or irritant agents were deployed.
…
Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills cited Noem’s visit to the facility in his own declaration to Perry. Mills told the judge that Noem made law enforcement’s job 'harder' that day.

'Her presence and actions seemed to be intended to provoke the crowd,' Mills wrote. 'I did not see any legitimate law enforcement purpose for what she was doing.'"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/10/17/ice-operation-midway-blitz-donald-trump-chicago-national-guard-lawsuit-use-of-force

"A federal judge has modified a temporary restraining order, now requiring body cameras on ICE agents carrying out immigration enforcement.

The original ruling was issued last week by U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis and prohibited using force, riot control weapons or threats against journalists and protesters. The ruling also required federal agents to issue warnings before deploying riot control weapons.

The modified ruling says federal agents 'currently equipped and trained with body-worn cameras' shall activate them when participating in enforcement activity.
...
During the same hearing, Ellis requested that Russell Hott, who was director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Chicago field office, appear in her courtroom Monday to explain what is happening regarding reports of improper enforcement.

However, Ellis confirmed Friday that Hott would no longer be leading the Chicago field office, and someone else would appear in court on Monday."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/17/judge-modifies-ruling-to-include-body-cameras-for-ice-agents

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

So, if this tax passed not only would I not want to run a Mastodon instance (with open membership) in Chicago, but the mouthpiece for privately-held X and international-undersea-cable-building-Facebook would be trying to claim they're the press to get out of it?

"The mayor last week proposed taxing social media companies to help close a $1.15 billion shortfall, dinging at a rate of 50 cents per user after the first 100,000 users, similar to tax structures that have been floated — but not approved — in Minnesota and Washington state.
...
Bos said the mayor’s proposal is 'also unlawful,' citing a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision that blocked a Minnesota state tax on newspapers for paper and ink purchases beyond a $100,000 yearly threshold. Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote for the court that the tax 'singled out the press for special treatment' without justification."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2025/10/21/brandon-johnson-social-media-tax-chicago-budget

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, the feds rolled into the Southwest Side neighborhood that’s the heart of Chicago’s Mexican community in a caravan of SUVs, prompting residents to post photos and videos on social media and blow whistles outside to warn neighbors of the presence.
..
Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, said federal immigration agents seemed to have arrived in the neighborhood with 'no plan,' trying to enter the discount mall before turning around when they realized it was closed. That’s when they were confronted by residents who quickly mobilized, he said.
..
When he arrived, Enriquez tried and failed to de-escalate tensions between federal agents and protesters, he said. Enriquez said Bovino was the first person to launch a tear-gas canister.
'I told him not to throw it because all he was going to do was rile people up, but he just smirked at me and threw it anyway,' Enriquez said."
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/23/feds-make-arrests-deploy-tear-gas-during-face-off-with-protesters-near-little-village-discount-mall

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Gov. Pritzker is forming an Illinois Accountability Commission to document the abuses of federal power. Report in due in January. No subpoena power.

"We intend to create a detailed record of the truth. And once this all ends, people of good faith will review what this commission has gathered and demand accountability..." - Pritzker

"We're tasked with creating a clear record of what happened during Operation Midway Blitz as well as other activities that... have been occurring throughout our state. We'll examine not just the actions taken but their impact on the people and communities of Illinois. As you've heard our goal is not political its constitutional. It's about protecting the basic rights of every person in our state and reminding everyone that due process, dignity, and equal protection are non-negotiable values." - Patricia Brown Holmes, vice-chair

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/23/illinois-accountability-commission-immigration-raids/

https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-executive-order-to-establish-the-illinois-accountability-commission

https://cms.illinois.gov/agency/media/video/videos.html

https://ilac.illinois.gov/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

People are calling for remote learning to keep children and their parents safe from immigration raids at schools. This should already have been a continuing option to keep them safe from COVID-19, but it was not. Mayor Johnson was a Chicago Teachers Union member before being elected. Gov. Pritzker prioritizes education outcomes over safety.

"In Wicker Park, Ald. Daniel La Spata cycled around Rudy Lozano Elementary School, searching for vehicles with license plates tied to immigration agents.

La Spata pointed out a corner where he said agents grabbed a person Friday morning. He rolled to a stop near a group of about two dozen volunteers who showed up to watch out for agents and show support during Lozano student pick-up.

'There’s a number of schools in the ward where we’ve seen attendance drop-offs because families feel scared to show up,' he said. 'You should never have to feel like that.'”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/johnson-pritzker-remote-learning-ice-arrests/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"'These weren’t activists, these weren’t paid protesters, these were literally my neighbors coming out of their homes at 10 o’clock in the morning because they saw lawless agents acting in violent ways,' Kolp said. 'There are only so many ways we can hold these folks accountable. If the courts can’t do it, Congress can’t do it, then it’s up to the community to do it.'"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/26/northwest-side-ice-arrests-tear-gas

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"His death was declared a homicide. But the Chicago Police Department made no arrest despite investigating twice, once in the days after his death and again in the face of the Sun-Times investigation, instead blaming Koschman for his own death.

Nearly a decade after her son died and years after the second Mayor Daley left office, Vanecko pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, apologizing in court to Nanci Koschman. Vanecko got 60 days in jail.
...
'They sure worked hard not to let the truth come out. They made a mockery of David’s accident. They put words in his mouth. They changed words. They lost files. They destroyed files. They took home files. They changed files. Is that our legal system?'

Nanci Koschman died Monday. She was 77 and had suffered from a variety of ailments, according to her family. Services are pending.

'She never got back to normal,' said her sister Susan Schulist Pazderski, her only sibling."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/koschman/2025/10/29/nanci-koschman-david-mayor-daley-richard-rj-vanecko-chicago-police-department

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

#Clearview
#MobileFortify

"The contract began Sept. 5, days before ICE launched its aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago area known as 'Midway Blitz.' As agents fan out across the city and suburbs, there’s no federal law governing the use of facial recognition technology and apparently little to no restrictions.
...
The Cook County legal settlement barring most businesses, entities and state law enforcement agencies from using Clearview stemmed from a lawsuit filed in May 2020 by the ACLU of Illinois and other advocacy organizations.
...
In September, nine Democrat senators wrote to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to question him about an app known as Mobile Fortify, which they said 'reportedly allows agents to point a smartphone at an individual’s face or fingerprints and identify the individual based on a biometric match against several federal databases.'

Videos of masked agents scanning people with cellphones have begun cropping up on social media."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/10/31/ice-trump-facial-recognition-clearview-police-oversight

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overseen the removal of almost two tons of oil-based asphalt that the agency says spilled from Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co., a Forest View business operating along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

While the company has been ordered by the EPA to modify its safety practices to avoid future spills into the water, the agency hasn’t issued any penalty or even a notice of violation almost nine months after the problem was detected.
...
There were no warnings after the spill about the risk of consuming contaminated fish from state government health officials.

Illinois public health officials already warn about the dangers of eating fish largely because of a long-banned class of chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that are tied to cancer and other health threats. State officials also warn about mercury and a class of chemicals known as PFAS in the canal and the Chicago River."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2025/10/31/environmental-oily-asphalt-spill-epa-chicago-sanitary-ship-canal-mwrd

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Burr Oak was established by executives of Supreme Life Insurance, a Black-owned company at 35th Street and South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Bronzeville. The insurance company was established in 1921 because white-owned insurers wouldn’t issue policies to Black people. Burr Oak was created because Chicago area cemeteries practiced the same exclusion.
...
In 2009, a Cook County sheriff’s investigation found that cemetery employees were reselling graves by illegally digging up old remains to make room for new ones and burying caskets on top of existing graves.

The employees were convicted, and the cemetery manager got a 12-year prison sentence.

The cemetery is now under new ownership. And the Friends of Burr Oak was formed to help improve the site and act as a liaison between the cemetery’s operators and the families of those buried there."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/black-history/2025/11/01/burr-oak-cemetery-national-register-historic-places-emmett-till-king-von-dinah-washington

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership organized the Mass — which fell on All Saints Day... — with hopes to gain entry to the ICE facility to offer detainees communion. Organizers said they followed Department of Homeland Security protocol and formally requested access more than one week ahead of the Mass and emailed and hand-delivered a second letter on Thursday. The request was denied, according to a statement from the village of Broadview. No reason was given.
...
Joined by hundreds of people, the group previously attempted to provide communion to those inside the detention center on Oct. 11 and were denied. DHS eventually cited the need for a one-week notice.

Persch... started visiting the ICE facility in Broadview with the late Sister Pat Murphy in 2006 to pray for the immigrants inside, their families and the ICE officers. Their visits inside the building later became a weekly practice..."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/01/religious-leaders-request-to-give-communion-to-detainees-at-broadview-facility-is-denied-again

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"At the intersection of Grand Avenue and Emerson Street, near where the shooting took place, the small crowd set out to pay homage to Villegas González for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday to remember loved ones who have died.
...
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials have said an agent shot and killed Villegas González, 38, on Sept. 12 after he attempted to flee arrest during a traffic stop, dragging and allegedly seriously injuring the agent with his vehicle. Democratic lawmakers have called for investigations into the shooting, including after body cam footage released by local police showed the agent describing his injuries as 'nothing major.'

The state of Idaho, meanwhile, took custody of Villegas González’s two children, an absence his family in Mexico said they feel immensely."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/01/franklin-park-day-of-dead-celebration/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"The Sun-Times and WBEZ have documented how the federal immigration processing center, which is meant to hold people for a few hours at a time, is instead keeping them for multiple days.

Government lawyers have recently acknowledged in court that Broadview is 'not equipped to be an overnight facility.' The new lawsuit, brought by the MacArthur Justice Center and the Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU, alleges the feds 'are now warehousing people at Broadview for days on end.'

They claim 'the temperatures are extreme and uncomfortable. Most nights are freezing cold, yet only some receive a thin foil blanket, sweater, or sweatpants to try to retain warmth.'

'The physical conditions are filthy,' lawyers wrote in the lawsuit, “with poor sanitation, clogged toilets, and blood, human fluids, and insects in the sinks and the floor.”
...
Meanwhile, people being detained there are prevented from speaking with their lawyers, according to the lawsuit.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/04/claims-of-unsanitary-black-hole-conditions-at-broadviews-ice-facility-to-be-heard-by-federal-judge

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Video captured two agents pulling the woman out of Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center at 2550 W. Addison St. around 7 a.m.
...
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez said McLaughlin was lying at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Ramirez said she watched the security footage from inside the day care center that showed agents going inside multiple rooms, while children were present, and questioned staff for documentation.

'The woman that they’re referring to in the statement is a teacher at Rayito de Sol,' said Ramirez. 'That is who they targeted. She was on her way to work. That is how she was targeted.'

The center closed for the day as the arrest left shock among parents and fear among teachers.

Sarah Wirth, a parent whose son goes to the daycare center, said the center focuses on teaching kids Spanish and most teachers are South American and must have documentation to work there."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/05/daycare-teacher-taken-by-ice-north-side-immigration

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"In three separate Chicago courtrooms, there were significant legal developments Wednesday involving the federal campaign to deport immigrants..."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/05/federal-judge-issues-temporary-restraining-order-governing-conditions-at-broadview-ice-facility

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

“But, she said, 'the [Trump administration] would have people believe instead that the Chicagoland area is in a vice hold of violence, ransacked by rioters and attacked by agitators.'

That 'simply is untrue,' she told the courtroom. She said it’s undermined by the Justice Department’s own evidence. Its arguments, she said, 'lack credibility.'

That’s partly because of U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who she said 'admitted that he lied about whether a rock hit him before he deployed tear gas in Little Village.'
...
Ellis’ new order forbids agents from using 'riot control weapons' against protesters or observers who pose no immediate threat, and without two warnings. It also adds a restriction on 'chokeholds, carotid restraints, neck restraints, or any other restraint technique that applies prolonged pressure to the neck that may restrict blood flow or air passage.'”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/06/judge-sara-ellis-operation-midway-blitz-tear-gas-deportation-campaign

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

There's a GoFundMe campaign linked from this article for Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, and it's already at 104,276 USD of the 125k goal.

"She has children of her own and we are raising money to support any legal fees that may arise from this situation, costs to help her get back on her feet once she's released, covering this time while she out of work and support for her children."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/06/parents-advocates-day-care-teacher-ice-arrest

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"The employee, who is Indian and a U.S. citizen, was stopped and questioned by agents while working on the Busse Highway resurfacing project.

Three agents, wearing masks, questioned him about his immigration status - and also asked him if he had traveled to New York and if he was 'aware' of the mayor-elect in New York City, the governor’s office said.

'I am appalled they would stop and question a state employee working hard on the job to help improve our state’s roads and infrastructure,' Pritzker said in a statement. 'Our state employees should be able to go to work and do their jobs without masked agents targeting them for no legitimate reason.'

...federal immigration agents also led a caravan Thursday morning across Chicago’s Southwest Side, making several stops to question residents on their immigration status. The caravan was led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/07/indian-idot-employee-stopped-by-ice-agents-questioned-if-he-was-aware-of-nyc-mayor-elect-zohran-mamdani

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"During the call, which took place with a Block Club reporter present, the anonymous representative told a group of faith leaders and activists that 'There is no more prayer in front of building or inside the building because this is the state and it’s not [of a] religious background.'

'I’m dumbfounded,' the police chief told Block Club. 'Every time I talk with [federal officials], it feels like their rules keep changing. We don’t really know what’s happening, I’m sorry I can’t say more. We just want to keep people safe and let them peacefully protest without getting hurt.'

Protesters expressed concern that the direction from federal officials could be in violation of the First Amendment, which guarantees both freedom of religion and assembly. The move also comes days after the AP reported that Pope Leo XIV urged authorities to allow pastoral workers to be able to access detained migrants."

https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/feds-tell-faith-leaders-no-more-prayer-outside-broadview-facility/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"A Berwyn family was driving with their 1-year-old child Saturday when they were pepper-sprayed by federal agents, a video taken by the family shows. (Instagram, embedded in the article below)

At a news conference Sunday in Ald. Michael Rodriguez’s (12th) office, Rafael Veraza said his family were on their way to buy groceries at a Cicero Sam’s Club when they heard whistles and sirens.

Veraza attempted to leave the Sam’s Club parking lot when a federal agent drove alongside the line of cars exiting, spraying chemical irritants through open windows and striking occupants — including Veraza’s 1-year-old daughter, Ariana.

'I didn’t have to go through this, and my daughter didn’t have to go through this,' Veraza said. 'We aren’t protesters, we weren’t going after them, we weren’t attacking them.'"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/09/1-year-old-pepper-sprayed-by-federal-agent-in-cicero

The video is also on the Chicago Tribune's YouTube account. Don't read the ignorant comments, though.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vfChp4E_bzk

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

According to Space Weather, there's a G4 geomagnetic storm and aurorae are being sighted as far south as Texas. I managed to see it briefly here, looking pink or magenta, despite all the Chicagoland airglow around us.

https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=12&month=11&year=2025

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Now we find out all the misery that Durbin's failure allowed.

"Jeremy Dedic, a co-owner at Cubbington’s Cabinet in North Center, said the new rule could close his store and the businesses he sources products from, since it would practically make it impossible to produce safe consumable products, including those that include non-intoxicating cannabinoids."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2025/11/12/hemp-ban-federal-spending-bill-illinois-business-reopen-government

"Green noted this disruption has crucial implications. Because of provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, states will have to begin paying for part of SNAP benefits beginning in 2028, with this percentage determined by payment error rates. Error rates hovered around 11 percent nationally in 2024.
...
'We’re really worried about spikes in this, in addition to states who are actively already trying to push through all these really significant policy changes from HR.1,' she added. 'If every case you have in November is an error, you can’t even catch up in the rest of the year to lower your error rate.'"

https://thehill.com/homenews/5603047-snap-benefit-restoration-shutdown/

The Daily Southtown printed the shortened YouTube URL for this sub-six-minute documentary on a deaf and hard of hearing program at a high school named for Freedom 7 and Apollo 14 astronaut Alan B. Shepard. There's actually an additional parameter on the Web version, so it's not just a case of taking that and putting it on paper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D757KCJJL7E

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/12/shepard-palos-winning-documentary/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Garry McCarthy, a former Chicago police superintendent, says he isn’t opposed to the Border Patrol’s mission but is 'not a fan of their methods,' including car chases.

Agents in Midway Blitz have been involved in eight chases that resulted in eight crashes, WBEZ and the Sun-Times found. McCarthy says each of those is a 'red flag.'

He says it’s not unusual for vehicle pursuits to end with car crashes.

'Sometimes, people get killed,' McCarthy says. 'And, if you’re chasing somebody for a minor violation or for an administrative immigration warrant, it’s probably not something that’s authorized based upon the national standards of policing. But they’re not adhering to the national standards of policing because they’re not police.'

McCarthy says Border Patrol agents have acted more recklessly than their counterpart agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

'They’re out of control,' he says of the Border Patrol agents."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/11/14/ice-bovino-border-patrol-homeland-security-chicago-police-department?tpcc=cst_cm

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

DHS is pulling numbers out of thin air to try to justify their draconian crackdown.

"'You don’t drive violence down in our city by indiscriminately throwing tear gas at community members and at our Chicago Police Department,' says Garien Gatewood, Chicago’s Deputy Mayor of Community Safety.

Gatewood said he saw no drastic change in crime as a result of federal immigration enforcement over the past several weeks. 'We were already doing the work to drive violence down.'

The figures for several violent crime categories are down so far this year compared to last year, according to a WBEZ analysis of publicly reported crime data from the City of Chicago. But the drop in those figures during the period that federal agents began targeted immigration enforcement in Chicago closely resembles, and in some cases is less than, the declines witnessed this year before the start of the deportation blitz."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2025/11/14/chicago-crime-trump-operation-midway-blitz-dhs-murder-immigration?tpcc=cst_cm

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"DHS officials first mentioned their plans to vacate the command center roughly two weeks ago and have been moving out of the property this week, the source said.
...
The departure is the latest sign that the feds appear to have shifted their focus from Chicago.
...
On Saturday, federal officials confirmed that a surge of immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, had begun as agents were seen making arrests in multiple locations.

Local officials, including Mayor Vi Lyles, criticized such actions, saying in a statement that they 'are causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty.'"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/15/dhs-vacates-naval-station-great-lakes-command-center-source

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Friday’s gathering was intended to provide religious counseling to detainees at the facility, though an official there again denied clergy members access to detainees. ...when demonstrators attempted to move closer to the facility — so those housed inside could hear their prayers and know they weren’t forgotten — several were arrested.

...video of Woolf’s arrest (link to Bluesky post provided in the article below) minutes after the protesters were pushed out of the street shows the situation was calm before an officer grabs him by the wrist from the crowd."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/16/clergy-arrests-broadview-ice

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"According to the village’s release, Broadview received a bomb threat against its municipal building over the phone Sept. 4. A month and a half later, the village further stated, a death threat was made against Thompson on Oct. 13. The FBI has been notified of the threat against Thompson, the village said.
...
Threats further escalated over the weekend after a group of 'out-of-town protesters, non-Broadview residents, attempted to storm Village Hall and explicitly threatened to ‘shut down'' Monday’s board meeting, the village’s release said, citing the Broadview Police Department.
...
Meanwhile, as of Monday afternoon, the Texas National Guard had departed Illinois, ending a futile 41-day deployment in support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation mission, according to a memorandum obtained by the Tribune. The departure marks yet another sign that Operation Midway Blitz is winding down."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/broadview-emergency-immigration-blitz-chicago/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19