Federal authorities continued the Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement campaign in the Western suburbs Tuesday, including a raid in Elgin attended by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem herself.

A video was posted on the “Secretary Kristi Noem” X account showing several men being arrested by agents at a house in the 900 block of Chippewa. Some of the agents were wearing camouflage-print uniforms and vests, along with helmets.

In the post, Noem said she was “on the ground in Chicago” Tuesday. The video shows the back of a woman being helped into the back of an emergency vehicle, but it is not clear if it was Noem.

According to members of a CASA DuPage volunteer People’s Patrol, people started calling them around 5:30 a.m. to report the raid. One of them, who declined to give her name, said agents pointed rifles at them and told them to leave.

[ ICE silent on reported Joliet enforcement ]

The house is in the Lords Park Manor neighborhood on the far east side of Elgin.

A neighbor said he did not know who lived there, but that the residents appeared to be Hispanic.

Ismael Cordova-Clough, an Elgin activist, posted on Facebook that agents knocked down the front door and that four people were arrested. He also posted, later in the morning, that federal agents had arrested people at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles.

State Rep. Anna Moeller of Elgin wrote, on Facebook, that she had heard of several arrests Tuesday morning in Elgin.

“The manner in which these operations were conducted – using armored vehicles, flash grenades, helicopters and drones – were meant to instill fear and terror. I urge all residents to exercise caution during this time. Families and communities should not be forced to live in fear of their government,” Moeller wrote.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood said in a news release Monday that she had recently met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and was told that from Sept. 6, when Operation Midway Blitz began, federal agents had picked up at least 250 people in the Chicago area. They are being detained at sites in Wisconsin and Indiana.

About 15 people were arrested Monday in West Chicago.

Elgin police said they were not notified in advance of the arrests.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250916/news/homeland-security-chief-at-elgin-immigration-arrest-tuesday/