Full Breakdown
Chicago Police Join ICE Task Force to Probe Minnesota Anti-ICE Activists
By Drooid · · How we work
Investigation Overview
In the spring of 2023, a joint task force of Chicago-area law-enforcement officers and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted an undercover operation targeting a Minneapolis mutual-aid network. The operation centered on an April 2 gathering of self-identified anarchists discussing their experiences during a three-month immigration surge that resulted in two U.S. citizen deaths. Documents released by the activists’ defense team reveal that the task force used in-person and electronic surveillance to identify participants and link them to anti-ICE protests in Illinois and other states.
Operational Details
The task force comprised 14 officers: six local police officers from Chicago, Aurora, Downers Grove, Cook County and Kane County, and eight HSI agents based in Chicago. Surveillance methods included two undercover agents, unspecified electronic monitoring, audio recordings, license-plate-reader data, and footage from Chicago’s extensive CCTV network. Local officers joined the unit on a full- or part-time basis for two-year terms, subject to supervisory approval.
Legal Context
Illinois state law bars local police from participating in immigration-enforcement actions, but the defense team argues that HSI’s criminal investigations fall outside that restriction because they serve broader ICE law-enforcement functions. Chicago Police Department policy, established in 2017, requires substantial approval for surveilling protests, though it is unclear how those rules apply when officers operate within federal task forces.
Reactions and Implications
Residents of Chicago and surrounding suburbs have pressed elected officials for answers since the earlier Operation Midway Blitz in Illinois last autumn. The episode highlights tensions between state immigration-policy limits and federal investigative authority, raising questions about the scope of local police involvement in federal immigration-related probes.