Max Herman/Borderless MagazineBroadview ICE facility, economic impacts of ICE enforcement, protections in sensitive locations in Illinois and more stories Borderless will cover in 2026.
President Donald Trump’s first year back in office has seen a fundamental reshaping of America’s immigration landscape. From military-style immigration raids to environmental rollbacks, Borderless staff spent the last year documenting the impact of sweeping policy changes.
In 2026, our team will continue to cover Trump’s deportation efforts, immigration court and more on the immigration beat.
Deportation Actions in Chicago
Throughout 2025, the Trump administration made Chicago a focus of its deportation efforts. Early on, federal agents carried out raids in neighborhoods, which reached a fever pitch with the launch of Operation Midway Blitz in September 2025.
That fall, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents killed a father in suburban Franklin Park, shot a woman multiple times in Brighton Park, and deployed tear gas at demonstrators who showed up during arrests.
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Federal judges have criticized agents for their excessive use of force on protestors, lack of warrants and questioned their credibility on narratives of events during immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered the release of more than 600 immigrants whose arrests may have violated a consent decree limiting warrantless immigration arrests, but a federal appeals court subsequently paused the release. Approximately 450 remain in custody, according to reports. Amid the ongoing court cases, CBP top official Greg Bovino said federal agents would return to continue their deportation efforts.
City, State Responses to Federal Immigration Enforcement
At the end of 2025, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law HB1312, an omnibus immigration bill that enacted additional safeguards on immigration enforcement. The bill prohibits civil immigration arrests in and around state courthouses, limits data sharing between hospitals and law enforcement agents, enacts protections for university students based on their real or perceived immigration status, and prohibits daycares from sharing information about a child’s immigration status unless required by law.
The new bill responds to the expansion of federal immigration enforcement in locations that were previously protected under the Biden-era “sensitive locations” policy, which limited immigration actions at churches, schools and hospitals. Over the past year, immigration agents have been documented conducting enforcement actions in Chicago-area daycares as well as hospitals, such as the handcuffing of Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) in October.
As federal agents expand their immigration enforcement efforts, Borderless will follow the city and state’s efforts to protect immigrant communities and assess whether new legislation proves effective.
Broadview ICE Facility
In 2021, Pritzker signed the Illinois Way Forward Act, effectively closing all immigration detention centers in the state. However, as the Trump administration has funneled millions of dollars into detaining immigrants with and without legal status, the Broadview ICE facility has become a de facto detention center, despite its intended use as a processing center for immigrants being transferred out of state.
The facility has been shrouded in secrecy, as Broadview staff have refused entry to members of Congress and clergy on multiple occasions.
However, immigrants detained at Broadview have decried conditions there, saying it’s overcrowded, they’re being denied food, and that they cannot access legal representation while detained there, according to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of detainees.
Borderless will monitor conditions for those detained there and how everyday people are protesting ICE actions at the facility.
Immigration Court
Trump’s first term in the White House brought “get-tough” changes to immigration courts. Now, a year into his term, old protections for immigrants have been ripped up, restrictive rules have been rolled out, and judicial officers are being fired.
The White House strategy has been to sweep more immigrants into the courts and then speed them through the system, while spinning a broader and less forgiving enforcement aimed at the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
Some of the changes sought by the government have included:
- Wiping out free legal counsel for an estimated 26,000 unaccompanied minors;
- Allowing immigration court judges to decide whether immigrants are eligible for asylum without holding a hearing; and
- Closing three ombudsman offices that monitor the immigration courts, detention facilities and law enforcement’s treatment of immigrants.
The result has been an immense backlog of immigration cases in Chicago and nationwide. Borderless will continue to monitor ongoing changes and the impact on an already stretched system.
Economic Impacts
More and more Chicagoans are choosing to stay home for fear of being targeted or detained by federal immigration agents. As a result, local businesses in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods have been struggling, seeing a decrease in foot traffic and losing staff who have been detained or fear ICE raids.
In 2026, Borderless will keep an eye on the long-term impacts of widespread immigration enforcement on Chicago’s immigrant neighborhoods and business owners who form the backbone of the city’s businesses.
Chicago’s Resistance
Throughout 2025, Chicagoans stood up to resist federal immigration raids. From Know Your Rights seminars to following agents’ cars to alert neighbors, activists and residents stepped up to support neighbors. With a surge of federal agents expected to return in the spring, Borderless will continue to elevate communities’ grassroots resistance efforts and how immigrant communities continue to navigate Trump’s continued crackdown.
Your stories matter as we continue covering how immigration policy shapes Chicago and beyond. Feel free to reach out with a tip to Borderless Magazine at [email protected].
