[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 201 (Tuesday, December 2, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8430-S8431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OPERATION MIDWAY BLITZ

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to address another issue on a 
different topic. For more than 3 months, Chicago has endured President 
Trump's Operation Midway Blitz. It is a cruel campaign that swept up 
innocent citizens, legal American residents, and immigrants who pose 
absolutely no threat to public safety.
  Remember why the President wanted to send troops and more resources 
to the Department of Homeland Security into the city of Chicago? 
Because he was going after ``the worst of the worst.'' He was going 
after terrorists, murderers, rapists, the criminally insane who somehow 
got into this country, and he was going to make it safer by going after 
them. What has actually happened? The Trump administration justified 
their actions by saying that they were going after ``the worst of the 
worst,'' but what happened was just the opposite.
  Federal agents, under President Trump, have used excessive force in 
Chicago while patrolling our streets, including deploying pepper balls 
and tear gas into crowds, using zip ties to contain women and children, 
and physically tackling peaceful protesters to the ground. If you think 
I am making this up, virtually everything I just said is verified by 
video.
  In a hearing challenging the treatment of press and protesters by 
Federal immigration agents, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said the 
``use of force shocks the conscience'' and ``this conduct shows no sign 
of stopping,'' said the Federal judge. In contrast to this judge's 
observation, Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino boasted in his deposition, 
almost mockingly, that ``all uses of force have been more than 
exemplary.'' I will just tell you, Mr. Bovino, look at the videotape.
  To rein in the lawlessness, Judge Ellis issued a preliminary 
injunction restricting the agents' use of chemical agents against 
protesters. Outside of a Lutheran church in Albany Park several weeks 
ago, after an 11 o'clock service broke up, the parishioners were 
leaving the church. The ICE agents were waiting on the sidewalk and 
dropped a tear gas canister in front of the church. Whistles were going 
off and eventually ICE agents left. But do you think would-be 
terrorists were at that Lutheran service? I don't think so. It was 
harassment in that neighborhood.
  Judge Ellis issued a finding, a 233-page opinion, explaining her 
ruling on examining specific instances of Federal immigration agents' 
use of excessive force. While the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has 
temporarily paused that injunction, which she issued while it considers 
the government's appeal, the court noted that Judge Ellis ``has 
developed voluminous . . . robust factual findings'' of wrongdoing by 
these agents.
  And though some courts have acted as a critical guard against the 
President's lawlessness, those rulings don't change the fact that the 
Trump administration's militarized raids are dangerous political 
theater meant to spread fear and advance an anti-immigrant agenda.
  After wreaking havoc in Illinois and now Charlotte, reports indicate 
the city of New Orleans is Greg Bovino's next target. I ask my 
Republican colleagues: What if this Midway Blitz comes to your State, 
your hometown? What is stopping the President from

[[Page S8431]]

sowing fear there, conducting lawless raids in your cities? It is up to 
all of us to denounce this kind of conduct.
  Just incidentally, they did a survey of 600 of the people who have 
been arrested in Chicago in the Midway Blitz, going after ``the worst 
of the worst'' criminals. What percentage of those 600 do you think 
actually had any kind of criminal record that was serious? It was 2 
percent, 16 of them--16 people out of 600.
  Millions of dollars being spent to terrorize innocent people and 
wreck these communities and their economies, and it turns out the 
return rate was 2 percent. Sixteen would-be criminals were brought to 
justice at the expense of our community.

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