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# ICE fear is pushing Chicago immigrants into night shifts. It's costing them pay and sleep.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/chicago-immigrants-ice-fear-night-shifts-lost-pay/
- Published: 2026-10-22T17:30:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T17:30:43.000Z
- Description: Nearly a year after Operation Midway Blitz, ICE made 1,560 Cook County arrests in 2026 through early August, a Sun-Times/WBEZ analysis found.
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Politics

Gustavo Dominguez loads trucks at a warehouse. Patricia Dávila, his wife, cleans hotel rooms. Nearly a year after the federal immigration crackdown called Operation Midway Blitz wound down, the Chicago couple still plan their days around the chance of running into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to [a report published Wednesday, Oct. 21, by the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ](https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2026/10/21/fearing-ice-some-chicago-immigrants-shift-work-daily-life-to-nighttime-hours?ref=workersrights.news).

The report, by Sun-Times reporter Alma Campos, found immigrants moving work, shopping and errands into nighttime and pre-dawn hours to avoid ICE, at the cost of lost shifts, sleep and doctor visits. A Sun-Times/WBEZ analysis of government records obtained by the Deportation Data Project counted 1,560 ICE arrests in Cook County from the start of 2026 through the first week of August.

We found no new, named ICE operation in the Chicago area this October. The arrests never fully stopped, and the fear is doing the rest.

## The Blitz faded. The arrests didn't.

The Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area on Sept. 8, 2025, [the Associated Press reported](https://www.click2houston.com/news/politics/2025/09/19/more-than-400-arrests-made-in-chicago-area-operation-so-far-top-immigration-official-says/?ref=workersrights.news). Within two weeks, DHS claimed almost 550 arrests. The fall brought a fatal shooting by an ICE officer in Franklin Park and a Border Patrol shooting in Brighton Park, according to [a Sun-Times timeline](https://chicago.suntimes.com/bearing-the-blitz/2026/09/08/how-operation-midway-blitz-played-out?ref=workersrights.news). Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino [left Chicago on Nov. 13, 2025](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/border-patrol-commander-gregory-bovino-leaves-chicago?ref=workersrights.news), though sources told CBS Chicago the operation was "not over."

ICE later told Illinois' congressional delegation that it made 4,570 arrests in Illinois between Sept. 5, 2025, and Feb. 17, 2026, and that about 81% of those people had no criminal convictions, [the Sun-Times reported](https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/04/17/ice-operation-midway-blitz-response-illinois-congressional-delegation-letter?ref=workersrights.news).

After the cameras left, ICE arrests in Illinois dropped in mid-November 2025 and started climbing again in April 2026, Borderless Magazine [reported on Oct. 16](https://borderlessmag.org/2026/10/16/ice-enforcement-in-chicago-is-changing-experts-say-heres-what-to-know/?ref=workersrights.news), citing [Deportation Data Project](https://deportationdata.org/?ref=workersrights.news) figures. The project, run by UC Berkeley and UCLA researchers, gets ICE records through public records lawsuits. Borderless also reported that local groups have confirmed more than 80 ICE arrests across Chicago each month since June, more than double the March count. Advocates told the magazine that agents now favor quieter arrests at courthouses and traffic stops. In June, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said agents would take an approach that is "less public-facing," in remarks [obtained by CBS Chicago](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-accountability-commission-chicago-ice-arrests-new-tactics/?ref=workersrights.news).

## Groceries at 5 a.m.

The Sun-Times/WBEZ report describes workers rearranging their lives around that risk. During the early weeks of the Blitz, Dominguez paid for Uber rides to work, and the couple have saved about two months of rent in case one of them is detained, the outlets reported. Dávila has work authorization; Dominguez does not have legal status.

A childcare worker without legal status, identified by a pseudonym, now takes only occasional evening babysitting jobs, according to the report. Guillermo Flores, a licensed street vendor for about 16 years, told the outlets he now buys supplies around 5 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. and sometimes stays home entirely after hearing of ICE activity nearby.

The damage reaches past the paycheck. Dr. Hugo Solari, a psychiatrist at Cook County Health, described patients losing sleep, struggling with anxiety and postponing preventive care, the outlets reported. "It doesn't have to happen to you for it to traumatize you," Rosemary Magaña, a therapist and program director at the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health, told the Sun-Times and WBEZ.

## Why the pressure isn't letting up

Chicago's quiet grind fits a national push. CNN reported, citing two unnamed sources, that ICE leadership told agents on Oct. 6 to make 1,000 more arrests a day; DHS denied having quotas. [We covered that report, and what to do if agents come to your job](https://www.workersrights.news/what-to-do-if-ice-comes-to-your-work/), along with [a similar squeeze in California's Central Valley](https://www.workersrights.news/central-valley-ice-arrests-fresno-facility-overwhelmed/).

The people paying for this load trucks, clean hotel rooms, watch children and sell food on the street. When they lose hours, their families lose rent money and their employers lose staff. Their kids pay too: children are playing outside less, the report found.

## If you or someone you know is at risk

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights runs a [Family Support Hotline](https://www.icirr.org/fsn?ref=workersrights.news) at 1-855-435-7693 (1-855-HELP-MY-FAMILY). It takes reports of ICE activity, helps families find a detained relative and a lawyer, and handles referrals including workplace discrimination, in a dozen languages.

The Illinois attorney general's [Know Your Rights guide](https://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Page-Attachments/ImmigrantsKnowYourRightsEnglish.pdf?ref=workersrights.news) explains that you can stay silent, that you do not have to open your door to agents without a warrant signed by a judge, and that you can ask for a lawyer before signing anything. Save it and the hotline number in your phone. For the stress the Sun-Times/WBEZ report describes, the [Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health](https://www.ourcimh.org/?ref=workersrights.news) offers virtual support groups for immigrants in the Chicago area, regardless of status.

### Sources

- [Fearing ICE, some Chicago immigrants shift work, daily life to nighttime hours](https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2026/10/21/fearing-ice-some-chicago-immigrants-shift-work-daily-life-to-nighttime-hours?ref=workersrights.news), Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ
- [More than 400 arrests made in Chicago area operation so far, top immigration official says](https://www.click2houston.com/news/politics/2025/09/19/more-than-400-arrests-made-in-chicago-area-operation-so-far-top-immigration-official-says/?ref=workersrights.news), Associated Press
- [A look back at how Operation Midway Blitz played out](https://chicago.suntimes.com/bearing-the-blitz/2026/09/08/how-operation-midway-blitz-played-out?ref=workersrights.news), Chicago Sun-Times
- [Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino leaves Chicago; Homeland Security closes command center at Naval Station Great Lakes](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/border-patrol-commander-gregory-bovino-leaves-chicago?ref=workersrights.news), CBS News Chicago
- [ICE says 81% arrested in Operation Midway Blitz had no convictions, falsely asserts no citizens arrested](https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/04/17/ice-operation-midway-blitz-response-illinois-congressional-delegation-letter?ref=workersrights.news), Chicago Sun-Times
- [ICE Enforcement in Chicago Is Changing, Experts Say. Here's What To Know](https://borderlessmag.org/2026/10/16/ice-enforcement-in-chicago-is-changing-experts-say-heres-what-to-know/?ref=workersrights.news), Borderless Magazine
- [Illinois Accountability Commission chair says fresh wave of ICE arrests has begun, with new tactics in play](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-accountability-commission-chicago-ice-arrests-new-tactics/?ref=workersrights.news), CBS News Chicago
- [Deportation Data Project](https://deportationdata.org/?ref=workersrights.news), Deportation Data Project
- [ICE was told to make 1,000 more arrests a day. Here's what to do if agents come to your work.](https://www.workersrights.news/what-to-do-if-ice-comes-to-your-work/), WorkersRights.News
- [ICE patrols pummel Central Valley communities weeks before the midterms](https://www.workersrights.news/central-valley-ice-arrests-fresno-facility-overwhelmed/), WorkersRights.News
- [Family Support Network and Hotline](https://www.icirr.org/fsn?ref=workersrights.news), Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
- [Know Your Rights (immigrants)](https://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Page-Attachments/ImmigrantsKnowYourRightsEnglish.pdf?ref=workersrights.news), Illinois Attorney General
- [Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health](https://www.ourcimh.org/?ref=workersrights.news), Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health