Seven weeks ago, U.S. Homeland Security officials began the illegal immigration crackdown in Chicago nicknamed “Midway Blitz.”
As of Monday, immigration agents and border patrol officers working in Chicago have locked up more than 3,000 allegedly undocumented immigrants, authorities say, noting the individuals were here illegally and many were wanted for serious crimes.
Even as arrests continue, the question is: Where are the 3,000 people? Attorneys and human rights investigators tracking them are asking where they are and, in many cases, who they are.
The whereabouts of many detainees locked up during Operation Midway Blitz remain unknown, according to organizations that have been trying to protect rights and lives.
“It is quite dire,” said attorney Mark Fleming with the National Immigrant Justice Center, an organization that is suing federal authorities in Chicago.
Fleming recently obtained a court order prohibiting warrantless arrests by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But on Monday Fleming told the NBC Chicago investigative team that U.S. government officials won’t — or can’t — tell them where at least 3,000 arrestees are right now.
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And they are not “the worst of the worst,” he said, to involve a phrase used by ICE officials to justify sweeping urban arrests.
“These are folks that have been here for decades, have long standing ties to the community, family members, employment, businesses that are all being torn apart,” Fleming said.
The 3,000 may no longer be in metro Chicago, Fleming said, noting some may have been deported.
“The government is using this strategy of arresting people, sending them to unlawful mandatory detention,” he said. “And then pressuring them into accepting what they refer to as voluntary departure.”
Fleming explained that voluntary departure is a strategy where a detainee “basically gives up your rights and we will we will release you, but we will release you back to your home country.”
Homeland Security officials haven’t provided full lists of arrestee information or deportation, but by the end of Thursday, they are under a court order to tell a Chicago judge how they are handling warrantless arrests.
Further, every Friday, the government is to report to the court how its operations are within the law.
Also, as of Monday evening, we are still awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether the National Guard can constitutionally be deployed to Chicago streets.
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