Homeland Security chief at Elgin immigration arrest Tuesday
Federal authorities continued the Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement campaign in the suburbs Tuesday, including a raid in Elgin attended by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem herself.
A video was posted on the “Secretary Kristi Noem” X account showing several men being arrested by agents at a house in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive. Some of the agents were wearing camouflage-print uniforms and vests, along with helmets.
This week, a brave @ICEgov officer was dragged many yards by a car after a criminal illegal alien resisted arrest. His life was put at risk and he sustained serious injuries.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) September 16, 2025
President Trump has been clear: if politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this… pic.twitter.com/2BSUg4a7U6
“President Trump has been clear: if politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will. I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down,” Noem said in a news release. “Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI, and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning.”
According to members of a CASA DuPage volunteer People’s Patrol, people started calling them around 5:30 a.m. to report the raid. One of them, who declined to give her name, said agents pointed rifles at them and told them to leave.
Ismael Cordova-Clough, an Elgin activist, posted on Facebook that agents knocked down the front door and that four people were arrested. He also posted, later in the morning, that federal agents had arrested people at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles.
State Rep. Anna Moeller of Elgin wrote on Facebook that she had heard of several arrests Tuesday morning in Elgin.
“The manner in which these operations were conducted — using armored vehicles, flash grenades, helicopters and drones — were meant to instill fear and terror. I urge all residents to exercise caution during this time. Families and communities should not be forced to live in fear of their government,” Moeller wrote.
State Sen. Cristina Castro of Elgin also criticized the arrest.
“This morning, Elgin families who were commuting to work and school were met with aggressive immigration action by masked federal agents in unmarked vehicles. This action is meant to intimidate our community — sending a clear message on the morning of Mexican Independence Day that this administration is insistent on dividing a community that is united behind protecting all of its residents,” Castro said in a news release.
“This deliberate fear-mongering is not welcome in Elgin or anywhere in Illinois,” Castro said. “I reject federal intrusions that continue to instill fear in the lives of my constituents — families who are active, contributing and law-abiding members of our communities.”
Gov. JB Pritzker also criticized the efforts.
At an unrelated event Tuesday, Pritzker said the Department of Homeland Security was causing “challenge and mayhem.”
“She (Noem) was here for a few hours, unwilling to answer questions about what they’re doing on the ground, unwilling to tell us what ICE is going to do over the next few weeks,” he said.
ICE is “grabbing people who have brown skin or who speak with an accent or who speak another language, and not people who are guilty of or accused of perpetrating a violent crime,” Pritzker said.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood said in a news release Monday that she had recently met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and was told that from Sept. 6, when Operation Midway Blitz began, federal agents had picked up at least 250 people in the Chicago area. They are being detained at sites in Wisconsin and Indiana.
About 15 people were arrested Monday in West Chicago.
Elgin police said they were not notified in advance of the arrests.
• Daily Herald staff writer Marni Pyke contributed to this report.