ICE under fire

Tensions over federal raids targeting illegal immigrants have escalated in the last month in Chicago. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused President Donald Trump of sending “masked agents” to grab people off the street, separating children from parents and nabbing innocent residents.

Federal law enforcement in the Windy City has surged since early September, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched Operation Midway Blitz, an initiative targeting “criminal illegal aliens” who sought refuge in the city due to its sanctuary policies. Law enforcement officers have arrested dozens of protesters outside an ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb. An Oct. 4 protest there turned violent when 10 vehicles driven by protesters “boxed in” federal immigration agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS officials said the protesters rammed into the patrolling agents, forcing them to exit their cars. One officer opened fire on a female driver carrying a semi-automatic weapon after she rammed her vehicle into his, the agency said.

The president decried the incident on Truth Social, asserting that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be in jail for failing to protect ICE officers.

Trump sent 200 Texas National Guard troops to the city on Oct. 7 to help protect the ICE facility. But two days later, a federal judge blocked the deployment, saying it violated the 10th and 14th amendments. The Trump administration appealed the decision, but an appeals court kept the block in place. The court clarified that the troops can remain federalized in the state, but cannot be deployed in the streets.

Trump first deployed troops to Washington, D.C., in mid-August. Since then, he has attempted to expand the effort, with mixed success.

Pedro Portal / Miami Herald / Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Venezuelans lose protected status

In the latest installment of an ongoing legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from the Trump administration, allowing it to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. About 350,000 will immediately lose their protected status, and an additional 250,000 could be at risk of deportation in November. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is granted on a case-by-case basis to immigrants of certain nationalities who are unable to return home safely due to a humanitarian catastrophe or ongoing violence in their countries of origin. TPS recipients may work legally in the United States.

The Trump administration has argued that, in many cases, extensions of the program have undermined its temporary nature. So far, his administration has tried to end protections for more than 1 million migrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, and Venezuela. Advocacy groups have filed six lawsuits to prevent the expirations. —A.O.