A year since Operation Midway Blitz: How Illinois lawmakers responded # A year since Operation Midway Blitz: How Illinois lawmakers responded ##### Illinois Democrats passed immigrant protections, ICE restrictions following federal operation By Mike Miletich Published: Sep.
wandtv.com · Mike Miletich · September 8, 2026
A year since Operation Midway Blitz: How Illinois lawmakers responded
# A year since Operation Midway Blitz: How Illinois lawmakers responded
##### Illinois Democrats passed immigrant protections, ICE restrictions following federal operation
By Mike Miletich
Published: Sep. 8, 2026 at 6:21 PM CDT| Updated: 1 hour ago
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – Tuesday marks one year since the Trump administration launched Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicagoland area. Illinois lawmakers debated and passed several plans in response to the ICE raids.
“Operation Midway Blitz was Trump’s attempt to break Illinois’ resolve and make us feel powerless before his might,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “He failed. If anything from the past year has given me optimism for the fight ahead, it is the way my fellow Illinoisans showed up for each other during this attack.”
Federal agents stormed through immigrant communities, leading to thousands of arrests and separation of families. Illinois Democrats responded by passing and signed a bill into law to ensure community spaces like hospitals, courthouses, universities and daycare centers provide protections for all residents regardless of immigration status.
The law also required a 1,000 foot safety zone around courthouses, including sidewalks, parkways and nearby streets.
“Every single vote that was taken here was a Democrat that voted for this,” said Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago). “So, I have a question for my Republican colleagues. What more needs to happen so you can wake up to see what’s happening to our communities, that they’re terrorizing our communities?”
People can file civil lawsuits against law enforcement who violate their constitutional rights while engaging in civil immigration enforcement. That includes civil damages for false imprisonment, $10,000 in statutory damages and potential contempt of court charges.
Republicans said this was a step in the wrong direction.
“We gotta get to reality here,” said Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet). “There’s gotta be a gut check and reality check. We cannot handcuff our police while letting the bad guys get a 1,000 foot head start.”
A separate law restricts where the federal government can put ICE facilities. The law states detention and processing centers cannot be within 1,500 feet of any home, apartment complex, school, daycare center, public park or church.
“This is about common sense,” said Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside). “This is about dignity for our communities, and this is about standing up for our neighbors who deserve better.”
Republicans said this is another example of Democrats picking fights with the Trump administration instead of working with the federal government to resolve issues.
The US Department of Homeland Security began Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Illinois native Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run crash in Urbana. Katie’s father has called on Illinois lawmakers to pass stricter immigration policies.
Sen. Chapin Rose filed a plan to amend the Trust Act and remove restrictions that currently limit communication, information sharing and coordination between local and federal authorities.
“This would apply when federal law enforcement comes with a valid enforceable federal warrant. That’s critical,” Rose said. “This is not a question of, ‘Hey, we just picked up some guy off the street.’ This is a valid enforceable federal warrant. It’s a big deal.”
Joe Abraham said public safety should come first, and law enforcement agencies should be able to work together to stop dangerous criminals before more innocent lives are lost.
“No one is asking from a federal perspective that local and state law enforcement come before ICE agents,” Abraham said. “No one is asking that. All they’re asking is work with us a little bit to coordinate so we’re not out in the communities.”
- WAND - 904 W. South Side Drive - Decatur, IL 62521 - (217) 424-2500