After Leak, Immigration Raids in Chicago Could Be Delayed

UPDATE Jan 20, 2025 1:00 AM CST

After news leaked that the incoming administration planned to launch immigration raids in Chicago next week, Tom Homan, President-elect Trump's chosen "border czar," said officials are considering whether to move forward. "We're looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak. It's unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at greater risk," Homan told the Washington Post Saturday. The following day, the Hill reports, he clarified to Fox News, "Chicago's not off the table, but we're reconsidering when and how we do it because there was a leak."

Jan 18, 2025 5:05 PM CST

The incoming administration plans to launch immigration raids in Chicago next week, part of President-elect Trump's promise to mount the nation's largest mass deportation ever. Correspondence shows that although the dates aren't finalized, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is gearing up to begin rounding up people living in the US without permission on Tuesday, Trump's first full day in office, the New York Times reports. ICE intends to send about 150 agents to Chicago to carry out "Operation Safeguard." Hundreds of agents were asked to volunteer for the job.

Asked on Fox News whether a major raid would take place in Chicago on Tuesday, Trump's pick to run the deportations, Tom Homan, said: "There's going to be a big raid all across the country. Chicago is just one of many places." ICE officials there put out their own request for agents, per CBS News, which caught ICE bosses in Washington by surprise. Parents who are in the country illegally but have US-born children will be among those deported, Homan has said. He's said deportation efforts will focus on "New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the major cities in this country are still sanctuary cities." (More mass deportations stories.)