(CNN) – The Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement raid in Chicago on Sunday that includes several federal agencies that have been given additional powers to arrest undocumented immigrants in the United States, according to multiple sources.
Officials from multiple DOJ agencies are expected to join the Department of Justice agencies as they target public safety and national security threats. It is a multi-day operation that will spread across the country.
In a statement, ICE confirmed “enhanced targeted operations” in Chicago began on Sunday.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and maintain public safety and national security by Retain dangerous criminal aliens from our communities.
The Chicago operation is part of a broader effort to add manpower to ICE, which has limited resources and agents, as the department tries to increase arrests nationwide and amass a larger force to carry out President Donald Trump's pledge.
Ice Field offices have been told to meet a quota of 75 daily arrests as part of this effort to heighten immigrant fears in the United States, according to two sources. In the most recent fiscal year, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations made 113,431 administrative arrests, according to the agency's report. That would be about 310 arrests per day across all field offices.
The latest guidance for ICE teams will pave the way for the number of daily arrests to exceed last year while putting additional pressure on ICE officers as they try to meet quotas.
The immigration crackdown has included sweeping executive orders restricting legal paths to the United States, expanding the powers of immigration authorities, attempting continued citizenship bans and threatening sanctuary states. The deportations also heightened tensions with at least two allies in South America. Trump announced emergency retaliation tariffs on Colombia after two flights of migrants back home were not allowed to land there.
Late last week, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Hoffman issued a directive to give law enforcement authority to enforce the law at the Department of Justice. Agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
“Mobilizing these law enforcement officials will help fulfill President Trump’s promise to the American people to carry out mass deportations,” Huffman said in a statement announcing his directive.
White House border chief Tom Homan said if other undocumented immigrants are encountered over the course of authorities' operations to detain immigrants with criminal records, they may be arrested and detained — a reference to these “collateral” arrests. Homan is based in Chicago to oversee operations, according to one source.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emile Bove was in Chicago on Sunday to monitor immigration enforcement operations.
“This morning, I had the honor of observing the brave men and women of the Department deploying to Lockstep with DHS to address a national emergency arising from four years of failed immigration policy,” Bove said in a statement.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement to CNN that it does not document immigration status and, according to the city's “welcoming ordinance,” “does not share information with federal immigration authorities.”
“We will not interfere or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties,” the statement says.
Anxiety and fear among immigrants in Chicago
Intense immigration enforcement has led some immigrants in the Chicago area to avoid attending school or going to work, according to a local nonprofit.
The nonprofit told CNN that two elementary-age sisters who live in a Chicago suburb have not been in school since Trump took office last week.
Their parents, who work cleaning houses and doing landscaping-type jobs, didn't go to work either, the nonprofit told CNN.
The nonprofit, which asked CNN not to publish its name nor the names of the migrants due to fear of retaliation, learned about the trapped Venezuelan family and began dropping off groceries on their doorstep.
“It's scary that this is the tip of the iceberg,” said Sam, one of the volunteers dropping off the food.
Sam fears that the number of families pointing to her location is much larger.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson launched the “Know Your Rights” campaign on hundreds of screens across mass transit buses and trains for those who fear deportation or are struggling with a family member in detention.
“Chicago will always be a welcoming city, not only by ordinance, but also with our inclusive and loving spirit,” Johnson said in a press release.
Colorado Red targets gang members
Nearly 50 undocumented people were taken into custody during a Sunday morning raid targeting drug trafficking and Venezuelan cartel members in Colorado, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Drugs, weapons and cash were seized during the raid at what the DEA called a “makeshift nightclub” in Adams County, on Denver's northeast side.
“Dozens connected to the Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang were there,” Dea Rocky Mountain section shared on X.
With the help of local and federal partners, the DEA said, its agents loaded the undocumented individuals onto a bus that pulled away from a closely followed police vehicle, according to a video the agency posted online.
Of the nearly 50 people taken into custody, the DEA said, “many” had TDA affiliations.
CNN has reached out to the DEA for more information.
The Trump administration expands enforcement
Previous administrations, including the Biden administration, have also sought to capture public safety and national security threats when conducting immigration enforcement operations.
Homan argued the guidelines former President Joe Biden created obstacles for officers targeting criminals, while former Biden officials have maintained those guidelines set a clear focus.
There are “no number” of deportations needed to view Trump's immigration agenda as successful, Homan told ABC News in an interview that aired Sunday, saying that “every threat to public safety that has been removed from this country is successful.”
“There is no number. So my success will be based on what Congress gives us. The more money, the better we will do,” Homan said.
Military flights to deport illegal immigrants will continue daily, Homan said, calling the military's role in mass deportations a “force multiplier” that “sends a strong signal” to the rest of the world. He added that he expects a greater volume of deportations over time.
“You can see the numbers steadily increasing, the number of arrests nationwide as we open the hatch,” he said. “Right now, you're thinking about public safety threats, national security threats. That's a smaller population. So we'll do it on a priority basis as President Trump promised. But as that slot opens, there will be more arrests nationwide.”
Chicago has been grappling with an influx of migrants during the Biden administration following the surge along the US southern border and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to move migrants to Democratic-led cities.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told Dana Bash on Sunday that he, too, wants violent criminals out of the country, but expressed concern about how the administration handles operations.
“If this is who they catch, we're all for it,” Pritzker said. But the Democratic governor said, “They're going after people who are sticky with the law, who have jobs, who have families here, who have probably been here for a decade or two.”
“Why are we going after them?,” Pritzker said on “State of the Union.”
Immigrant advocacy groups in Chicago also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the weekend, arguing that the administration targeted the city for being a sanctuary jurisdiction. The term is applied broadly to jurisdictions that have policies in place to limit cooperation with or involvement in federal immigration enforcement actions. How these policies are enforced can vary.
The lawsuit was filed by Organized Communities Against Deportation, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and the Park Park Neighborhood Council.
Plaintiffs allege that the Department's planned operations target the city for its sanctuary status and amount to a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
President Donald Trump and defendant Benjamin Hoffman, acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), declared Chicago “zero” for immigration enforcement; The federal government intends to “set the example of Chicago” and strike down the Sanctuary City Movement, states the court. “The federal government’s decision to target plaintiffs’ communities for their animus toward the Sanctuary City Movement is a clear violation of the First Amendment.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
This story has been updated with new reports.
CNN's Evan Perez, Aaron Belich, Sarah Dewberry, Alejandra Jaramillo, Gloria Pazmino, Eric Levinson, Zoe Sotele and Jillian Six contributed to this report.
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