We collated reports from various rapid response groups, showing that between May 11 and June 15, agents detained at least 80 people across the Chicago area: 38 in Chicago proper and 42 in the suburbs.
Federal agents were most busy in the midweek, with detainments spiking on Wednesdays.
New: We've been tracking reports of ICE activity across Chicagoland for five weeks. In that time, rapid responders have seen an escalation as feds have abducted dozens, caused at least two car crashes, threatened community members with weapons and flouted state courthouse protections.
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Videos show federal agents pointing weapons at bystanders and trying to access state property as rapid response groups have reported at least 80 detainments across Chicagoland in the last five weeks.
Amid this onslaught, rapid responders are continuing to do what they can to protect neighbors and document the federal government's attacks on our communities.
"I just remember feeling completely exhausted and defeated," one rapid responder said. "And then I remember that's exactly what they want."
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Immigration court has also become more difficult for people to navigate, as the Trump administration has fired immigration judges-including those more likely to grant asylum relief-and preliminary hearings in front of the remaining judges have at times swelled to include hundreds of people at once.
As we reported last month, courts & state facilities remain a target for ICE. By mid-May, the Cook County Public Defender's Office recorded at least a dozen people detained in court-related incidents since late February.
A month later, they're now reporting over two dozen court-related detainments
And federal lawmakers continue to funnel billions toward the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts, most recently the roughly $70B in funding for the Department of Homeland Security that Congress approved last week.
Hunger and labor strikes have meanwhile erupted inside immigration detention centers across the country, including at the Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey. New Jersey police forces have arrested dozens of protestors, echoing the actions of Illinois police at the ICE facility in Broadview.
Agents returned to the Kane County Judicial Center on Monday, June 15. The same skull-masked agent who was seen brandishing a baton at onlookers to the May 31 detainment, was on Monday videotaped breaking a person's car window while agents conducted another arrest.
We also observed multiple incidents of agents' violent behavior: In one week in June, agents caused two car collisions in Chicago.
Agents also waved batons and pointed tasers at onlookers, and in May, an agent raised what appeared to be a handgun at a home in Joliet occupied by a small child.
On May 31, ICE agents detained two people outside the Kane County Sheriff's Office in St. Charles, IL, which shares grounds with the Kane County Judicial Center. Video we obtained shows an agent tried to enter the sheriff's office that day before finding the door locked.
