New video revealed at hearings on Chicago's Operation Midway Blitz

The deepest review yet of Operation Midway Blitz is almost over, as an Illinois panel investigating the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown in Chicago is set to hold the last of its public hearings this week.

Gov. JB Pritzker created the Illinois Accountability Commission last fall to collect evidence from Operation Midway Blitz. He wanted formal documentation and a public record that could be used to pursue accountability in the future.

The panel entered its final stretch this week, with a pair of public hearings on Monday and Tuesday, before the commission formally presents its findings and recommendations to the governor on Thursday.

The commission said since October, its members have interviewed more than 60 eyewitnesses and reviewed nearly 100 hours of body-worn camera footage from federal agents who were involved in events occurring in and around Chicago.

Commission officials said President Trump's team declined to appear at a series of hearings it has held since December to testify about tactics federal agents used.

"The Illinois Accountability Commission exists to do what no other body has yet done – gather evidence of federal misconduct, examine it rigorously, and present it to you for you to judge for yourself what happened in America's heartland," said commission vice chair Patricia Brown Holmes.

At Monday's hearing, the commission released new videos that tell a clearer picture of what went on.

The commission is focusing on at least 16 incidents involving federal agents between September and October, in Chicago and in suburban Elgin, Franklin Park, Melrose Park, and Evanston.

The panel wants to hold the Trump administration to account for what they call the chaos and military occupation of Chicago by Homeland Security teams. 

Among video footage released by the panel on Monday was an incident in the Lakeview neighborhood one week before Halloween, when Border Patrol agents came to spot check a home renovation project.

In video footage released by the Illinois Accountability Commission, a man can be heard telling the agents, "ICE, get off my property. This is private property." 

A community protest emerged outside the home, which led to Border Patrol agents deploying tear gas.

"Throw it for fun?" one agent is heard saying on body camera video.

"Can I pop a gas?" another agent said.

When it was all said and done, one man was detained. He was released three weeks later.

Among those speaking to the commission on Monday was Denise Lorence, whose daughter, Katie Abraham, was killed in a drunk driving crash in Urbana in January of last year by an immigrant without permanent legal status.

The Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly invoked Abraham's name to justify their aggressive tactics during Operation Midway Blitz.

"The Trump administration preyed on her name and used it in a vile way," Lorence said. "They're using her name only for their political gain, and it's wrong, and I've had enough."

Abraham's father, Joe, had permitted the Department of Homeland Security to use her name in Midway Blitz promotions, but her mother said she was never asked about it.

"How would you feel if a major decision about your child was made without your input? How would you feel?" she said.

While Trump administration officials repeatedly claimed they were targeting "the worst of the worst" during their immigration crackdown, the commission noted the vast majority of those arrested had no criminal record.

"Four out of every five people arrested during Midway Blitz had no criminal record, and that share only grew as the operation continued. Let's be clear, the federal government can enforce immigration laws, but not through a violent dragnet," said the commission's lead counsel, Ahmed Baset.  

CBS News Chicago reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, did not respond to requests for comment on the Illinois Accountability Commission's hearings and what was uncovered.

The Trump Administration began Operation Midway Blitz in September 2025. In the months that followed, thousands of federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection flooded the city, often in tactical gear and deploying heavy force against protesters, journalists, observers, and ordinary civilians as they carried out raids in neighborhoods, near schools, and outside courtrooms. 

Complaints about the overuse of force culminated in a federal judge issuing a permanent injunction against the immigration agents, prohibiting them from using tear gas and other riot control weapons, requiring them to issue warnings before force and riot control measures were used, and ordering them to both wear and use body-worn cameras.

The incidents also prompted Illinois legislators to pass a new law with additional protections for state residents against "unjust" federal immigration enforcement actions. Signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in December, the law banned civil immigration arrests at courthouses, and allows anyone falsely arrested around court a path to sue for up to $10,000 in damages.

The law also set up new guidelines and protections for residents at hospitals, universities, and daycares, and allows people to file civil lawsuits against law enforcement officers who violate Illinois or U.S. constitutional rights.