On Oct. 24, a shadow congressional hearing titled “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Assault on Chicago” brought stories of trauma and disruption under ICE and Customs and Border Protection raids to the forefront.
Held at the Cook County building, 19-year-old college student Genesis O., spoke emotionally about the hardship of supporting her 16-year-old developmentally disabled sister after ICE detained their mother, Lara Murilla, as she worked at 47th and Western in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
“I still need to find a way to put food on the table for my little sister and me,” she said. “I had to find more affordable meals because I don’t have enough money to pay the bills that are already piling up. I miss classes to provide for my little sister and I might not go to classes, but I have to make sure she does. She doesn’t understand why her mother is gone, or what or where she is, and why she can’t see us. She can’t mentally focus because of all the worries. She cries.”
Genesis said she covers her mother’s work shifts, but when they arrive home, her sister relives the trauma of their mother’s absence repeatedly.
The hearing, led by U.S. Rep. Jamila Jayapal (D-Wash.), brought together lawmakers from across the country to gather testimony and document constitutional violations, impacts on labor and personal trauma, caused by aggressive ICE and CBP enforcement in the Chicago metro area.
“This is what happens when the administration with the full blessing of the Supreme Court is using racial profiling to go after anyone they think could be undocumented,” Jayapal said. “Democrats will do everything in our power to hold this lawless administration accountable and to connect the dots for the American people on healthcare, on immigration and our fundamental constitutional rights.”
Simultaneously occurring with the hearing, ICE activity was reported in Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village and Wicker Park.
That same day, the Department of Homeland Security posted a meme on Facebook mimicking a Hollywood movie poster titled “Cicero or Sicario: A Day of Crashes,” featuring Trump, DHS Secretary Noem, Patrol Chief Bovino, and DHS Director Todd Lyons as the “stars.”
Also on Oct. 24, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ordered Border Patrol Chief Bovino to appear in court to address his use of aggressive tactics despite protesters’ legal right to peaceful assembly. Bovino told CBS News, “All uses of force were within CBP policy.”
The administration continues efforts to expedite detentions and deportations, bypassing court hearings, according to an Oct. 25 Marshall Project story reporting the Department of Justice’s Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that judges cannot grant bond to people entering the U.S. without authorization.
Congressional members are not immune to harassment, according to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8th) who was a recent target of a racist attack.
During the hearing, Krishnamoorthi displayed a social media post by Palm Bay, Florida, City Councilman Chandler Langevin calling the congressman a “foreign occupier” and for the mass deportation of Indian Americans, according to Krishnamoorthi’s government website.
Krishnamoorthi went on to detail conditions inside the Broadview Detention Center, according to an Oct. 16 email he received from the child of one of his district residents.
“Here is an email I received about a constituent who was detained inside the facility,” he said. “It said, and I’m going to quote one part, ‘My Dad was sent to Mexico but he told me he signed his voluntary leave because the conditions were so inhumane inside the Broadview facility.”
The congressman said he talked to the man the night before the hearing and was told there were “ … up to 60 people kept in one cell and he was forced to sleep standing up,” noting that tactics employed to coerce persons to give up their rights is illegal and morally wrong.
Krishnamoorthi also reported his denial of entry into the facility to conduct oversight in order to pursue legislation.
Section 527 of the DHS Appropriations Act grants any member of Congress entry for the purposes of oversight any facility operated by DHS used to detain or house “aliens” or to make any “temporary modification” facilities that alters what the member observed compared to what would be observed absent modification.
Attorney Kevin Fee, Legal Director of the ACLU of Illinois, confirmed the Act’s protections and discussed the 2022 Castanon Nava immigration consent decree, extended until February 2026. The decree limits ICE officers’ ability to arrest without warrants or probable cause, according to the National Immigrant Justice Center.
ICE officials suggested the Act no longer applied.
A March, 2025 court filing by the NIJC and ACLU awarded relief to 11 persons from Chicago detained in warrantless arrests; the decision noted the unconstitutionality of warrantless detainment.
“ … people need to remember that they do have rights under this consent decree if they feel it’s been violated. They should contact the reporting structure through NIJC, and we will get it before the court just as soon as we can,” Fee said.
Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, outlined the economic damage caused by Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz. He described how fear and disruption from ICE raids undermine workplace safety, reduce productivity, and destabilize local economies.
“Local economies depend on trust and stability among workers and employers,” Reiter said. “The labor movement fights for the stability families need to thrive provided by fair pay, safe conditions, and dignity on the job.”
He also noted the effects are not only felt by specific communities targeted by ICE but create a ripple effect across the metropolitan area with construction, hospitality, healthcare and logistics being hit hard.
Reiter called out ICE agents for racist and humiliating warrantless inspections, noting their presumption that documents are fake before inspection.
“You know what we call someone like this on the Southwest Side of the city?” he asked the members. “We call him a punk. Donald Trump is a straight-up punk. Chicago is the home of the labor movement and Chicago is not going to stand for the chaos and disruption Donald Trump’s agenda is visiting upon this city.”
Reiter urged lawmakers to pressure House Speaker Mike Johnson to seat Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva and release the Epstein files.
Genesis O. had advice for teenagers going through ICE raids across the country as well telling them not to take anything for granted.
“It can all come to an end really quickly,” Genesis said. “Sadly, we’re in conditions where you just have to be prepared and you have to be strong, you have to be mentally strong, physically as well. I just send strength to everybody out there. A lot of people are going through the same thing as I am. And we’re going to stay strong and get through this all together.”