(WAND) — The Illinois Accountability Commission has released its final report in its investigation of Operation Midway Blitz.
The commission was established in October 2025 by executive order from Governor JB Pritzker to investigate the conduct of federal immigration agents during the immigration enforcement campaign in the Chicagoland area.
According to the commission, Illinois is the first state in the country to investigate federal law enforcement misconduct and produce a thorough report of its findings.
The commission said key findings of the report include:
- Federal immigration agents engaged in dangerous high-speed pursuits, extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts, amounting to unconstitutional uses of force.
- Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House routinely lied to the public about the motivations and outcomes of Operation Midway Blitz and concealed and distorted key facts about events involving federal immigration agents.
- Federal immigration agents conducted discriminatory stops and unlawful warrantless arrests, creating widespread fear throughout the Chicago metropolitan area and beyond.
- CBP and ICE paramilitary tactics like face masks, military fatigues and body armor, unmarked vehicles, and military-style weapons, along with surveillance of protestors and observers, created an environment of occupation that terrorized immigrants and attempted to silence people engaged in First Amendment protected activity.
- Inhumane conditions and lack of due process were used by federal immigration agents to convince people in detention into leaving the country, even if they had a legal pathway to residency or relief from deportation.
- High-level White House, DHS and other federal officials enabled and encouraged misconduct by ICE and CBP agents during Operation Midway Blitz by urging agents to 'go hard,' defending and mischaracterizing incidents of use of force, shielding agents from accountability, lifting safeguards, and implementing harmful policies.
- Operation Midway Blitz negatively undermined community trust in state and local law enforcement, strained many businesses and economic districts in the Chicago area, and hurt the mental health and well-being of Illinois children and families.
"The Illinois Accountability Commission's final hearing marks a defining moment. Not an ending, but a reckoning," Illinois Department of Human Rights Director Jim Bennett said. "This report is a testament to our citizens who came forward and refused to let federal agents' abusive and extreme actions go unanswered. The state of Illinois had made it clear that no one is above the law, including the federal government, and that documentation of these crimes creates a foundation as we pursue justice. These weren't abstract violations. They happened to real people, and this record exists because of their courage. We will continue this work until there is full accountability."
Based on the report, the commission made policy recommendations including creating commonsense immigration policy and enforcement guardrails, banning identity shielding techniques by ICE and CBP agents, and ensuring due process and safety protections for people detained by immigration enforcement.
The full report can be found here.
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