BURSTAn ongoing large-scale federal immigration enforcement operation continues to focus on targeting what the Trump administration considers the “worst of the worst” in the greater Chicago area, despite ongoing opposition from elected officials.
NewsNation, The Hill's sister network, got an exclusive look at how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively working to take migrants who entered the U.S. illegally and who have criminal convictions off the streets as part of "Operation Midway Blitz."
On Tuesday, ICE arrested Arturas Pivoras, who first entered the U.S. in 2001. Pivoras appeared before an immigration judge who, in August, revoked his bond, ordered him back into custody and gave him 30 days to appeal. Officials said he never did.
The authorities added that the 41-year-old Lithuanian national was convicted of aggravated assault on a police officer, burglary, criminal trespass and drug possession. That made him a priority for ICE, officials told NewsNation during an exclusive ride-along this week. Pivoras was arrested without incident after his wife convinced him to surrender to federal officers.
“This is definitely a success,” Marcos Charles, the acting executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations team, told NewsNation. “Any time we have a cooperative individual, we have to wait on them a little bit longer, but it’s cooperative. It’s safe for our officers, it’s safe for the individual, (and) that’s a win.”
NewsNation was given exclusive access to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Chicago this week. (NewsNation photo).
In Pivoras’ case, the fact that he chose to surrender to ICE peacefully is considered a win for federal agencies.
The migrant was wearing an ankle monitor, which alerted authorities to his location. But because he lived in a building with a doorman who did not permit ICE officers to enter the building, the process of taking Pivoras into custody was drawn out. But rather than having to force their way in, the officers spoke with his wife, who convinced her husband to give himself up.
ICE officials told NewsNation they plan to remain in Chicago indefinitely and "until the job is done."
“They’re all characterized as bad guys,” Charles said of those the agency is targeting for arrest. “If there’s somebody we can grab right away, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re after all of those people. It’s not like we’re targeting one group of bad guys. We’re targeting all bad guys.”
ICE isn’t alone in Operation Midway Blitz
Although ICE often draws much of the media attention in federal immigration enforcement operations, the Chicago operation is leaning into more of a whole-of-government approach.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, along with the U.S. Border Patrol’s elite tactical unit, BORTAC, are all working together in a mission led by Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino. On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was part of a BORTAC enforcement operation that targeted a home in suburban Elgin, where two undocumented immigrants with previous criminal convictions were taken into custody.
DHS officials announced that Christian Lopez-Cervantes, a Mexican national who had been charged with felony assault, domestic violence and felony illegal re-entry, was arrested on Tuesday.
The administration also announced the arrests of other criminal targets who had previously been charged with weapons offenses or had been convicted of murder. Others had either been arrested on allegations of domestic violence or criminally charged, the agency said.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem addresses the media during a visit to the Port of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Two other people, identified as U.S residents, were detained by CBP during the Elgin operation. However, they were released after DHS officials said they were briefly held for their safety and that federal officers, the agency said.
Officials said two people were not arrested, which some local media outlets had reported had taken place. DHS officials said that holding people found at locations where enforcement operations take place is part of the agency's protocol.
One of those released by CBP, Joe Botello, told the Chicago Tribune that masked and armed agents forcibly entered the home just before 6 a.m. He said officers were calling out the name of another person in Spanish and that officers destroyed a front door and a glass patio door in the process of entering the home.
"I’m just blessed that I’m still alive,” Botello told the newspaper. “I’ve been hearing it and seeing it through social media. But it never crossed my mind that it was going to happen here at the house … where I live.”
Botello said that he was handcuffed and led out of his home before he was released after showing officers his identification as an American citizen.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during a press conference, Sept. 2, 2025, in Chicago.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has criticized the ongoing federal operation, saying that ICE and other agencies have not been transparent about their activity. That includes the fatal shooting of an ICE target last week in suburban Franklin Park.
Pritzker has called for more answers after ICE officials said the suspect attempted to hit officers with his car during a traffic stop and dragged an immigration officer. An FBI spokesperson would not confirm or deny to NewsNation whether they are leading an investigation into the incident.
Other officials, including Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) have said that they have been able to collect much information about "Operation Midway Blitz" from federal officials.
Underwood's office announced Monday that the lawmaker has been informed that 250 arrests have been made by federal officers since the Chicago-based operation began last week. The lawmaker said that those being arrested have been transferred to detention centers in Indiana and Wisconsin, but that family members are experiencing difficulty reaching those being detained.
But she fears that incidents like those that have been taking place in both the Windy City and the surrounding suburbs will continue to stoke fear.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. Like all Illinoisans, I’ve been concerned and alarmed by reporting about ICE’s conduct and operations in our state under Donald Trump,” Underwood, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, said in a statement released by her office.
An Underwood spokesperson told NewsNation on Wednesday that the lawmaker had not received information on the Elgin arrests.
A Pritzker spokesperson accused Noem on social media of "coming to Chicago "for a few hours to capture content (and) fled before taking questions from the press or public."
Still, federal officials said they will not be deterred by the opposition they are facing from Pritzker and other Democrats.
“President Trump has been clear: If politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will,” Noem wrote on social platform X, adding that “violent offenders” have been taken off the street.
“Our work is only beginning," she added.