Analysis. This piece pulls together recent reporting from WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, Borderless Magazine and Block Club Chicago, with our own context. The interviews quoted below were done by those newsrooms, not by GoImmigrant.
Operation Midway Blitz officially ended nearly a year ago. ICE did not leave Chicago. The arrests got quieter, and for many immigrant families, life moved into the dark. A WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times report published October 21 describes people doing laundry and grocery shopping at night, street vendors buying supplies before sunrise, and workers taking night shifts, all to lower the chance of running into immigration agents.
What the numbers show
- 1,560 ICE arrests in Cook County from the start of 2026 through the first week of August, according to a Sun-Times/WBEZ analysis of ICE arrest data obtained by the Deportation Data Project.
- More than 80 confirmed arrests a month in Chicago since June 2026, more than double the number confirmed in March, according to local immigrant groups cited by Borderless Magazine.
- More than 3,600 arrests across Illinois from September to November 2025, the height of Midway Blitz, Borderless reported. Illinois arrests fell around mid-November 2025 and began rising again in April 2026, according to the Deportation Data Project.
- More than 50,000 ICE arrests nationwide in August 2026, an all-time monthly high, according to Borderless.
These are counts from different sources and time periods, so they should not be added together. Community groups' counts include only arrests they could confirm.
Quieter, more targeted enforcement
Advocates told Borderless that ICE has moved away from the large, visible street operations of fall 2025. They describe more arrests of individuals at courthouses, including traffic and domestic violence courts, and out of vehicles, and at O'Hare and Midway airports. Evelyn Vargas of Organized Communities Against Deportations told Borderless that agents now rely more on "technology and databases," including license plate data and court hearing information. Advocates say that makes enforcement harder for neighbors to see and document. These are advocates' descriptions; ICE has not published a breakdown of where or how its Chicago-area arrests happen.
In the August Midway airport case, a DHS spokesperson told Block Club Chicago that the couple, who have a pending asylum case, was arrested for overstaying tourist visas, Borderless reported. Their attorney told Borderless they filed for asylum within a year of arriving. We did not contact DHS or ICE for this article.
The cost of living at night
The WBEZ/Sun-Times report shows what that pressure looks like day to day:
- Lost income. A fruit-cart vendor with a vending license told the reporters he sometimes stays home for a day or two after hearing about enforcement nearby, and now buys supplies at 5 a.m. instead of 7. A childcare worker said she now takes only evening babysitting jobs, about twice a month.
- Lost sleep. Baltazar Enriquez of the Little Village Community Council described a mother who works nights and gets two or three hours of rest before getting her children ready for school. "We're becoming gente de la noche," he said, people of the night.
- Delayed health care. Cook County Health psychiatrist Dr. Hugo Solari said some patients ask for telehealth or mailed prescriptions, and others postpone preventive care because they fear leaving home.
- Kids carrying adult jobs. One woman told the reporters she sees young people in stores on video calls with their mothers, shopping for the family. Enlace Chicago told Borderless it has noticed a drop in school attendance, which it says could be linked to children picking up work when parents stay home.
Night is not automatically safer, either. The vendor told the reporters he leaves when it gets dark because he also fears robbery.
Our take
The end of a named operation is not the end of the fear it created. When families reorganize work, school, shopping and medical care around avoiding agents, the effects reach well past the people who are actually arrested: lost wages, worse sleep, skipped checkups, and children taking on adult worries. Public officials who point to fewer dramatic street scenes as proof that things are calmer should look at these routines too. Better public data from ICE on where and how arrests happen would help communities and officials see what is really going on.
Also this week: police parking lots
We reported earlier this month on ICE using Chicago police station parking lots despite a city ban. Block Club Chicago reported October 16 that police district councils have received reports of this in six districts, and that the Mayor's Office agreed to meet with them. A Mayor's Office spokesperson told Block Club the city and police are "actively monitoring and responding" to reported violations.
Where to find help
- Make a plan. Our free family safety plan page walks through emergency contacts, documents and child care plans. A plan can make daily life feel less uncertain.
- Free legal help. See our list of free immigration legal help in Chicago, or call the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) at 312-660-1370.
- To report ICE activity or if someone is detained, call the ICIRR Family Support Hotline at 855-435-7693.
- Emotional support. The Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health serves immigrants and refugees in the Chicago area regardless of status. Its website lists a free virtual Open Support Space every other Wednesday, 6 to 7 p.m. Central, and a monthly Thursday self-care session. You register on its site to get the link. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This article is general information, not legal advice.