On Chicago’s Morning Answer, Dan Proft spoke with Sam Olson, Director of ICE’s Chicago Field Office, to address recent reporting from CBS Chicago and ProPublica that has fueled criticism of federal immigration enforcement efforts in the city. Olson said those reports drastically understate both the scope of Operation Midway Blitz and the level of public-safety risk posed by many of the individuals ICE has apprehended in recent months.
Over the weekend, CBS Chicago highlighted a claim that only 16 of more than 600 immigration detainees in Chicago had criminal histories. ProPublica separately questioned a Border Patrol operation in a South Shore apartment building, asserting that none of the detainees had been charged with gang activity. Olson called these portrayals incomplete and misleading. He noted that ICE has arrested more than 4,000 individuals in the region since Midway Blitz began—far more than the subset chosen by CBS—and that “criminal history” extends beyond what appears in U.S. court records. “There are individuals with foreign criminal records, known gang affiliations, and national-security indicators,” he said, adding that ICE is obligated by law to act on immigration court removal orders, even for those without domestic convictions.
Olson said Illinois’ sanctuary laws significantly complicate enforcement. State and county jails do not notify ICE when they release individuals who are in the country illegally, including those with violent criminal pasts. As a result, ICE must conduct at-large operations rather than targeted transfers from local custody. “If we could take all of our resources and focus on the people coming out of Cook County Jail or the Illinois prison system, we would,” Olson said. “But the state doesn’t allow it.”
The ICE director also pointed to recent arrests that illustrate the risks. Just this week, agents detained an individual in Chicago with convictions for retail theft, child abduction, and luring a minor. Olson said cases like this are common, and that ICE is working on publicly posting information on the “worst of the worst” at ice.gov to counter claims from activists and the local press.
Proft also raised the issue of widespread CDL fraud seen in other states—schemes that have already contributed to deadly highway crashes involving drivers who were in the country illegally. Olson said similar problems exist in Illinois and noted that ICE has arrested dozens of undocumented commercial drivers during highway enforcement actions in Indiana. He said he would welcome cooperation from Mayor Brandon Johnson or Gov. JB Pritzker to investigate CDL fraud in Illinois, but “there just hasn’t been much communication.”
The conversation also touched on a new wave of AI-generated videos circulating online that depict fake ICE raids in restaurants, homes, and retail stores. Olson said these viral clips—which often show fabricated scenes of officers violently separating families—pose real dangers for agents in the field. ICE has now established a team to identify and debunk these videos. “This inflames the public and puts our officers at risk,” Olson said. “These aren’t real events, but they create real hostility.”
Olson stressed that ICE remains intent on targeting the highest-risk offenders, but he warned that the lack of cooperation from local government—combined with misinformation in the media—creates an increasingly volatile environment. “We’ve been transparent about enforcing federal law,” he said. “But when people are told a false story about who we arrest and why, it makes this work much more dangerous for everyone involved.”