Chicago's Little Village neighborhood is still reeling a year after Trump launched Operation Midway Blitz
Nearly a year after the Trump administration launched Operation Midway Blitz, their immigration crackdown and mass deportation campaign in Chicago, the neighborhood of Little Village is still reeling.
Little Village, on the city's Southwest Side, felt the effects of the enhanced immigration enforcement deeply. The impacts can be felt just walking down the street – sidewalks that were once busy are not much quieter.
A year ago, as enforcement ramped up, they began neighborhood patrols. They continue to this day.
"My phone starts ringing at six in the morning," said Baltazar Enriquez, Little Village Community Council. "Early in the morning we got up, we began patrolling, we did get a bunch of people hits because people are nervous. Midway Blitz has left a lot of trauma in the neighborhood, and people are still living that trauma."
The fear of being detained remains persistent.
"People are just scared to go out grocery shopping or simply enjoy the summer," he said.
The Trump administration vowed to deport thousands of immigrants, and on Sept. 8, 2025, they began an operation that did just that. The move sparked ongoing protests, many at the ICE detention center in Broadview, Illinois. Demonstrations spilled into the streets as agents deployed tear gas and pepper bullets.
Little Village became an area frequented by federal agents and then-Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintains their immigration agents are acting under applicable laws when investigating and making arrests. Data from the Deportation Data Project analyzed by CBS News counts nearly 4,400 people detained during Operation Midway Blitz, of which 674 had a criminal conviction. Eighty-five percent of people detained did not have any criminal conviction. Just over 1,700 were deported as of Aug. 6, 2026.
"I was brought here when as a kid, when I was 5 year old, 6 year old, so at the end of the day it wasn't my choice," said one resident, who would only speak anonymously for fear of being detained. "People struggle, and they work for the things that they, at the end of the day, they want to accomplish."
He said he and his neighbors are still reeling from Operation Midway Blitz.
"A lot of people not coming in, a lot of people not showing up, a lot of people don't feel safe to come out," he said.
Street vendors and businesses still struggle for customers. Families try to forge a path forward.
"A lot of families here in Little Village that have been separated," said Enriquez. "We have seen an increased number in the food pantries, also in our office, with the diapers, with the baby formula, and families that don't even have enough money for uniforms for the school year because they took the breadmaker."
While Operation Midway Blitz may technically be over, arrests and detentions continue, and families are still fighting for their loved ones to return home.
