Illinois

Statewide: Witnessing the blitz

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Sean Crawford

Published September 11, 2026 at 9:29 AM CDT

Former U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino signals to immigration agents as he leaves the Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Oct. 28, 2025.

It has been a year since Operation Midway Blitz launched in Chicago. The Trump Administration's stepped-up immigration enforcement campaign resulted in arrests, protests and violence. Through it all, reporters were on the scene to document what was happening.

On this episode, we hear a documentary "Witness to the Blitz" featuring four WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times journalists who had a ground-level view of the action.

Also:

*New research on ICE operations show the cost to local economies. We have a report.

* Kristen Schorsch details how Operation Midway Blitz didn't affect just immigrants, It also took a toll on people helping them.

* Peter Medlin speaks with the Illinois Federation of Teachers' Kurt Hilgendorf about the union's proposal for giving the millions the state will receive in a Meta settlement to schools.

“The Battle of Nauvoo” by C.C.A. Christensen (1831-1912), c.1878, Brigham Young University Museum of Art

* This Week in Illinois History remembers thee Battle of Nauvoo.

* We have details on a search for the burial site of the first Black man to cast a ballot in Illinois.