Judge delays decision on special prosecutor for 'Operation Midway Blitz’

The legal battle over how federal immigration agents can be investigated and charged by local prosecutors — namely Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke — won’t be resolved for a little while longer.

A Cook County judge on Monday pushed off her scheduled ruling on whether to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee such cases. Judge Erica Reddick noted that since she heard initial arguments over the special prosecutor petition last month, there had been a few related developments.

“Spoiler alert: There will not be a ruling today,” Reddick said.

First, a state panel appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker published a report April 30 memorializing dozens of clashes between federal agents and both undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens during the Trump administration’s Chicago-focused “Operation Midway Blitz” mass deportation campaign.

That same day, Illinois State Police opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas González by an immigration officer in Franklin Park.

When the investigation into the September shooting is complete, the ISP plans to turn it over it to the state’s attorney’s office, which a Burke spokesperson confirmed will “play a supportive role in their investigation.”

Lawyers for the coalition of more than 400 petitioners, including elected officials and community leaders, behind the push for a special prosecutor want the dual developments to be included in the records the judge is weighing.

Reddick is not set to rule May 21.

This week marks two months since the coalition filed its petition for a special prosecutor, ramping up an already contentious public pressure campaign for Burke’s office to investigate and charge federal immigration agents.

The state’s attorney has maintained her office has limited legal authority to do so without a request from law enforcement, which she has not yet received. She’s also repeatedly pointed to federal agents’ relative immunity from state prosecution under the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause and Illinois Supreme Court precedent.

In a statement after the hearing, a spokesperson for Burke’s office reiterated that the state’s attorney “has repeatedly condemned the tactics used by the Trump administration and during Operation Midway Blitz.”

Critics of the state’s attorney have accused her of being slow to act so as not to risk relationships within the Trump administration and funding for key priorities like gun violence, which they say is tantamount to the kind of conflict of interest that should trigger a special prosecutor appointment.

But Burke maintains that her concern is not seeing cases overturned on appeal, thus undermining efforts to investigate and prosecute federal agents’ alleged abuses.

“As we have argued in court, the CCSAO (Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office) must follow the law and the facts to protect the integrity of our prosecutions and ensure that any resulting conviction will stand,” Burke spokesperson Elyssa Cherney said. “The petition seeking a special prosecutor is frivolous, contains baseless allegations and gross misrepresentations of the law.”

State Rep. Norma Hernandez, however, said Monday that it looks very different from the outside, especially in immigrant-heavy communities like those she represents in the West suburbs.

“Our community should not have to organize this hard simply for our voices to be heard,” said Hernandez, a Democrat from Melrose Park. “The negligence and inaction of Cook County State Attorney Eileen Burke has only deepened that pain. When prosecutors refuse to act or investigate with urgency, they send a dangerous message to families: That justice depends on who you are and what community you come from.”