At 5:30 a.m. Thursday, when it was still dark and chilly, teams of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers embarked on “targeted enforcement” operations, aiming to arrest criminal migrants who are living illegally in the U.S. The officers refer to their targets as “the worst of the worst.”
The NY Post followed one ICE team, where the agents explained how challenging it is to identify and apprehend criminal migrants in a sanctuary city like Chicago, which actively prohibits local law enforcement from assisting ICE. Arresting individuals is often a daunting task, akin to searching for needles in haystacks.
Adding another layer of difficulty, activists, lawmakers, and school officials in Illinois have been guiding migrants, including those accused of serious crimes like sex assault and weapon violations, on how to protect themselves from ICE. Even migrants who are detained act with surprising boldness.
On Thursday, despite 10 teams of around 10 agents each operating, ICE only managed two arrests in Chicago after spending five hours on the ground.
The Post observed the arrest of 24-year-old Venezuelan migrant Diego Antonio Montero, who had crossed into the U.S. illegally in May 2023. He was calmly detained and placed in a caged van, stating in Spanish to the ICE officers that he wasn’t a criminal and was confident he’d be released after seeing a judge.
However, Montero’s criminal record tells a different story. Chicago police had previously arrested him for criminal trespass, battery, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His cases are pending in Cook County Circuit Court, and an arrest warrant was issued for him on April 22, 2024, though it had not been executed.
“Sometimes it’s a very uphill battle,” said Sam Olson, a nearly 25-year veteran of ICE, during the drive to the first arrest target.
“We have their information because they were previously arrested and booked in and fingerprinted somewhere, therefore we know they are here. But it’s not as if we are getting notification if these criminal aliens are arrested. Nobody local will tell us that.”
Montero was also being sought by Homeland Security. After skipping a 2024 immigration hearing, a judge ordered his removal from the U.S.
Last August, ICE agents encountered Montero again and arrested him. He was detained until November 7, 2024, when he was released into the Alternative to Detention Program with a GPS tracker. ICE apprehended him again on Thursday after locating him through the device.
ICE agents, supported by personnel from the Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) following demands from Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan for more arrests, call their early morning operations “knock and talks.”
They typically show up at a target’s residence or apartment at 6 a.m. or later, as they are not permitted to knock earlier than that time.
However, at two homes in the Humboldt neighborhood, ICE agents were met with resistance. In both cases, the residents inside refused to open their doors.
At one location, three people looked down from an upper-floor window, seemingly indifferent to the presence of armed ICE agents in bulletproof vests, repeatedly knocking on the front and side doors with walkie-talkies crackling.
After several minutes of stalemate, ICE agents left and proceeded to their next destination.
ICE officers rarely obtain warrants from federal judges for their “knock and talks” and can only arrest individuals if they open the door.
Olson emphasized that his team is not targeting the wives or girlfriends of criminal migrants. The Post saw ICE agents respectfully explaining their presence to a girlfriend of a man they were trying to arrest.
Organizations like Catholic Charities, La Voz Latina, and local school administrators in Illinois are actively helping migrants understand their rights and how to avoid detection by ICE. They distribute cards with a message reading, “I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.”
The “Welcoming Letter” from the city states, “We have a responsibility to provide access to shelter, food, and medical care to everyone, regardless of immigration status.
“Many of our new arrivals have walked hundreds of miles, navigating great danger through multiple countries, in pursuit of safety and opportunity in the United States. We are committed to assisting each family and individual, providing human services with respect and dignity.”
Chicago police are prohibited from questioning or arresting individuals “solely on suspicion of being undocumented,” according to the city’s Office of Immigrant, Migrant, or Refugee Rights.
“Sanctuary cities like Chicago are making it very difficult,” said Tom Homan, former head of ICE, in an interview with The Post on Friday. “I call everything they’re doing ‘How to Escape ICE.’ But we’re fighting back.”
“We have some plans in the pipeline that are going to increase our chances of making it easier for ICE to make more arrests. As it is, having all these teams out and with help from the ATF and other agencies is like a force multiplier. Our guys are doing a great job and we aren’t going away.”
There are at least 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status, with 77 percent of them having resided here for five years or more, according to recent census data.
“I sympathize with the ICE agents stuck working in Illinois because their backs are really up against the wall,” said Terry Newsome, a long-time activist and host of the “Behind Enemy Lines” podcast.
“They have to aggressively find these individuals who are being coached to fight back and what to do to keep from being arrested. Even [Venezuelan criminal gang] Tren de Aragua are being coached by the radical Illinois Democrats on how to avoid ICE.”
“The citizens of Illinois have to fight against the sanctuary city and state and demand they put the citizens of Illinois before the criminal illegal aliens that have flooded our communities.”
President Trump has promised mass deportations of “millions” of illegal immigrants.
However, celebrities like Selena Gomez and Democratic commentators have unfairly painted ICE as the villains, portraying them as raiding and arresting terrified families. But the reality in Chicago was far different.
“Our mission is targeting the worst of the worst,” said the quiet-spoken Olson, who explained that one of the most difficult aspects of his job is seeing ICE agents wrongly portrayed as callous oppressors.
“We’re people from the community ourselves,” Olson said. “We want the community to be safer for everyone, including our families — and we are only upholding the Constitution and enforcing the laws Congress has mandated while putting our lives on the line daily.”
Olson acknowledged that tracking down criminal migrants requires vast resources, even though these individuals are in the country illegally.
“We have very smart officers doing constant and incredible research before we can even get to the point of going out to find people,” he said. “The amount of hours that go into just one case are unbelievable.”
Although ICE successfully apprehended Montero at their final stop, they had to release two other migrants after briefly cuffing them.
Olson explained that although the individuals had criminal backgrounds, they had also applied for asylum and were out on bond, thus preventing their arrest.
Despite the challenges, Olson remained optimistic as his team returned to the ICE office, five hours after the operation began. He refrained from discussing politics and chose not to comment on the shift from a Trump to Biden administration.
“We’re doing what we are mandated to do and we are confident we’re going to make more and more progress,” Olson said. “I hope people realize someday that this is all about upholding the law and making the country safer — but our job will continue no matter what misconceptions people have about us.”
{Matzav.com}