In the early hours of September 30, 2025, the quiet of Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood was shattered by the thunder of Black Hawk helicopters and the glare of floodlights. Federal agents, numbering in the hundreds, descended upon a five-story apartment complex as part of Operation Midway Blitz, a sweeping federal immigration enforcement initiative launched earlier that month by the Trump administration. The operation, which targeted alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, quickly spiraled into a scene of chaos and fear, leaving families separated, children traumatized, and an entire community grappling with the aftermath.
According to USA Today, the raid involved more than 300 federal agents arriving in unmarked trucks and helicopters. Armed officers surrounded the building, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described as “known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates.” Over 800 arrests have been made across the region since the start of Operation Midway Blitz, but at the South Shore site, only two of the 37 people detained were believed to be gang members. The rest, as reported by CNN, included individuals with prior criminal records for charges such as aggravated battery and drug possession—most hailing from Venezuela, Mexico, Nigeria, and Colombia.
The raid began around 2 a.m., with neighbors jolted awake by loud bangs and the whir of helicopters. Darrell Ballard, who lives next door, told CNN, “I’ve been on military bases for a good portion of my life. The activity I saw—it was an invasion.” Residents described being forced from their apartments at gunpoint, some without shoes or clothing, and herded outside into the night. Pertissue Fisher, a tenant, recounted, “It was scary. I had never had a gun in my face. They asked my name and date of birth. I told them I didn’t have any warrants, but they cuffed me anyway.”
Eyewitness accounts paint a harrowing picture. Eboni Watson, a neighbor, described the distress she witnessed as children were zip-tied and taken outside. “The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught,” she told WLS-TV via CNN. “They had the kids zip tied to each other. I was out there crying when I saw the little girl come around the corner.” Photographs captured by CNN reveal broken windows, debris-strewn hallways, and personal belongings scattered throughout the building—a stark testament to the raid’s disruptive force.
Among those detained were four U.S. citizen children, who were taken into federal custody “for their own safety,” according to DHS. The children were later placed with guardians or in state care, but the trauma of the night lingered. One of the children was reportedly found with a suspected Tren de Aragua member. Residents say their homes were left “in shambles,” with families scrambling to pick up the pieces—both literally and emotionally.
The aggressive tactics used during the raid drew swift condemnation from local and state officials. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, in a statement on October 4, 2025, decried the operation: “Federal agents reporting to Secretary Noem have spent weeks snatching up families, scaring law-abiding residents, violating due process rights, and even detaining U.S. citizens. They fail to focus on violent criminals and instead create panic in our communities.” Pritzker went further, directing the state’s Department of Child and Family Services and the Department of Human Services to investigate the treatment of children during the raid. “Military-style tactics should never be used on children in a functioning democracy,” he said. “As more details emerge, I am appalled by the reports of excessive use of force against children as well as the many innocent bystanders who were punished simply for residing in that building.”
State agencies have begun reaching out to families and children impacted by the raid, gathering information that could lead to holding federal agents accountable for suspected abuse or neglect. “Imagine being a child awakened in the middle of the night by a Black Hawk helicopter landing in your neighborhood. Imagine an armed stranger forcibly removing you from your bed, zip-tying your hands, separating you from your family, and detaining you in a dark van for hours,” Pritzker said in his statement. “This didn’t happen in a country with an authoritarian regime—it happened here in Chicago.”
Federal authorities, meanwhile, defended their actions. DHS maintained that “federal law enforcement officers will not stand by and allow criminal activity to flourish in our American neighborhoods.” The agency emphasized that the operation was part of a broader effort to remove individuals with criminal histories or alleged ties to organized crime. Officials said they are still reviewing information from the raid due to its size and complexity.
Yet, as BOSSIP and CNN report, the majority of those swept up in recent immigration enforcement actions across the country have no criminal record. ICE’s own statistics indicate that more than 70% of people currently held in detention nationwide have no criminal convictions. In Chicago, critics argue that the focus on so-called sanctuary cities and the use of militarized tactics have disproportionately impacted law-abiding immigrants and families seeking safety.
Witnesses and residents have continued to speak out. Rodrick Johnson, a U.S. citizen who lives in the raided building, told Common Dreams that agents broke down his door, put him in zip ties, and detained him outside for three hours before releasing him. “I asked them why they were holding me if I was an American citizen,” Johnson said, adding that he requested a lawyer who never arrived. Pertissue Fisher corroborated his account, stating that agents forcibly removed all residents regardless of legal status. “They treated us like we were nothing and piled us up in the back on the other side, leaving us no room to move anywhere,” she said.
Community activists and local leaders have condemned the raid as a violent and traumatic event, with some social media users alleging that ICE agents separated detainees by race and targeted Black and Latinx residents. Veronica Castro, another resident, told CBS News that hundreds of masked agents knocked down doors in the middle of the night, some holding unclothed babies.
The raid has sparked a national debate over immigration enforcement tactics. On October 4, 2025, CNN featured a panel discussion hosted by Abby Phillip, where podcast host Van Lathan criticized the sweeping arrests and the zip-tying of children by ICE officers. He challenged the notion that such tactics are necessary, especially when children are involved. The panel delved into the broader question of how searches and arrests should be conducted in a way that respects human rights and community trust.
U.S. Representative Robin Kelly, whose district includes the raided apartment building, echoed these concerns. “Last night, ICE stormed the South Shore with armed raids that terrorized our community and shook our neighborhood,” she posted on social media. “These reckless tactics don’t make us safer—they sow fear and distrust. Chicago deserves better.”
As the dust settles, state agencies continue their investigations, and families work to recover from the trauma. The South Shore raid has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over immigration, law enforcement, and the rights of the most vulnerable. For many, the events of that night are a stark reminder of the human cost of policy decisions made far from the neighborhoods they affect most.
