Federal agents descended on Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood on Tuesday as part of the Department of Homeland Security's "Operation Midway Blitz," a surge of immigration enforcement in the city.
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), along with Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agents arrested three men they say are suspected gang members.
ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas spoke with the head of the ICE operation targeting criminal offenders who are in the U.S. illegally.
"We're talking anywhere from the most egregious child sex offender to homicide, burglary, assault, domestic violence, it runs the gamut. It's everybody that's committed crime, but the ones we're going to primarily focus on, the ones that we want to get off the streets are going to be our heinous criminals," Marco Charles, acting director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, told ABC News.
ATF Assistant Special agent in Charge Jonathan Maniff said they are investigating possible gun trafficking by the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.
"This investigation started through our crime gun intelligence center with our 15 partner agencies that include ICE. And during this operation, we identified 30 TdA suspected gang members that were selling firearms in the Chicagoland area," Maniff said.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, "DHS is launching Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in Illinois by a criminal illegal alien who should have never been in our country." The operation, which was announced Monday, is part of a 30-day federal immigration enforcement surge in the Chicago area.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said during a press conference on Tuesday that the operation is putting fear in the hearts of the city's residents.
"People are frankly afraid in our communities. They're afraid to come out of their homes, they're afraid to go shopping, they are afraid to take their own children to school because they have mixed-status households," Pritzker said.