Trump sent federal troops to 'save' Chicago. The 'Midway Blitz' raids forced the Windy City to defend itself
CBC
In the middle of the night on Sept. 30, Eboni Watson heard an unusual buzzing sound.
The noise came from 10 drones and three Black Hawk helicopters, Watson says, which dropped armed men on neighbouring rooftops in Chicago's South Shore neighbourhood. On the ground, Watson saw agents deploy out of unmarked cars and rental vans.
“It was bringing people outside because it was such a disturbance. You have people that was thinking UFOs and stuff was landing,” Watson, who livestreamed the situation, told CBC News.
But it wasn't an alien invasion. It was a federal immigration raid involving hundreds of agents.
Eleanor McMullen-Webster was among those arrested.
“When I opened that door, I tell you, I saw that little red light, and that gun was right in my face,” McMullen-Webster told CBC.
Federal agents handcuffed the 64-year-old retiree and her husband, she says, directing them into an apartment where Venezuelan migrants were lined up against a wall.
The raid on the South Shore apartment complex was part of a larger initiative by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to capture the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in Illinois, according to a press release. Codenamed Operation Midway Blitz, the mission was to capture undocumented migrants allowed to “roam free on American streets” due to the state’s sanctuary policies.
That night, authorities arrested 37 immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, though none have been charged.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says two of them are members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational criminal group the U.S. designated a terrorist organization in February, but didn't release names. One of those men denied any association with the organization in an interview with ProPublica.
After being held for more than an hour, McMullen-Webster and her husband were released, without an explanation.
“I felt this small,” said the Chicago resident, still furious at the “disrespectful” way she was treated.
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has faced sharp criticism, including from former president Barack Obama and Pope Leo, who is from Chicago. Both admonished the vilification of migrants.
But the idea of “saving” Chicago has been ongoing for years.
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