Pritzker forms commission to document ‘harassment, intimidation’ during immigration raids

Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order Thursday creating a commission to document actions of federal agents involved in immigration enforcement during a crackdown in the region.

The Illinois Accountability Commission’s members include judges, prosecutors and law enforcement professionals charged with “capturing and creating a public record” of the conduct of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents, Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago.

During the government’s Operation Midway Blitz, Chicago and the suburbs have experienced “countless acts of harassment, intimidation, brutality, and abuse of power perpetrated against law-abiding civilians across our communities,” Pritzker contended.

“Trump’s masked agents have detained innocent American citizens and legal residents. They have used unmarked cars, a Black Hawk helicopter, automatic weapons and battering rams to raid an apartment building, filled almost entirely with families and children. They’ve thrown tear gas and smoke grenades at peaceful crowds.”

The commission is required to file a report by Jan. 31, 2026. Members are expected to hold hearings and collect testimony from witnesses, advocates, local officials, journalists and faith leaders.

“The federal government is pushing the boundaries of their authority to terrorize our communities while disregarding all legal and moral accountability in the process. We will not meet intimidation with fear — we will meet it with truth,” Pritzker said.

He appointed retired federal Judge Rubén Castillo, who served as chief judge for the Northern District of Illinois, as the panel’s chair.

“This commission is about civil rights. This commission is about the Constitution,” Castillo said.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said the government is targeting violent criminals, and accused Pritzker and other Democrats of impeding law enforcement.

“Gov. Pritzker and his sanctuary policies protect criminal illegal alien rapists over American citizens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Wednesday in a statement.