{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-duckworth-submit-criminal-referral-to-doj-regarding-trump-officials-unconstitutional-immigration-enforcement-activity", "Durbin, Duckworth Submit Criminal Referral To DOJ Regarding Trump Officials\u2019 Unconstitutional Immigration Enforcement Activity", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "The Senators notify DOJ they are gathering and preserving additional evidence of violations of Section 242 amid \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d and other unlawful immigration raids across the country\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today referred the unlawful actions of Trump Administration officials and federal law enforcement agents responsible for immigration enforcement in Illinois to Attorney General Pam Bondi for investigation.\n\nThe Trump Administration repeatedly appears to have violated the constitutional rights of individuals in Illinois during \u201cOperation Midway Blitz,\u201d and the officials responsible for these violations are acting with impunity. Under 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 242, it is a federal crime for any person acting \u201cunder color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom\u201d to \u201cwillfully subject[] any person . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.\u201d Anyone who willfully violates another person\u2019s Fourth Amendment rights by engaging in warrantless arrests or use of excessive force under color of law may be held liable under Section 242. If this Administration fails to pursue charges, the statute of limitations will permit the next Administration to prosecute officials who acted unlawfully.\n\nThe Senators wrote, \u201cWe write to alert the Department of Justice to potential violations of law by federal immigration agents and senior Administration officials during implementation of President Trump\u2019s mass deportation campaign\u2014and specifically the so-called \u2018Operation Midway Blitz\u2019 in Illinois. This enforcement campaign\u2014defined by use of excessive force and warrantless arrests\u2014has reached multiple states and is intentionally creating fear and havoc in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Minneapolis. As indicated by agency leadership, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in operations in more than 27 cities and looking to expand their interior operations.\u201d\n\nThe Senators continued, \u201cDuring \u2018Operation Midway Blitz\u2019, federal immigration agents have violated the Fourth Amendment by conducting warrantless arrests and use of excessive force as they violently confront individuals, including U.S. citizens, during immigration enforcement operations. They have shoved Chicagoans, including U.S. citizens, into unmarked vehicles, tased them, punched them, launched pepper balls at them, and tear gassed and shot them.\u201d\n\nIn the letter, the Senators cite various ways federal agents appear to have violated individuals\u2019 Fourth Amendment rights. Federal agents have repeatedly and unjustifiably arrested individuals without warrants, including incidents in which agents have broken car windows as they executed such arrests. In the first six months of this Administration\u2019s immigration crackdown, there have been at least 50 documented instances of immigration agents breaking car windows, compared to eight public accounts of agents breaking windows in the previous decade. Immigration agents also have engaged in use of excessive force. Federal immigration agents have unnecessarily tackled, punched, and slammed people to the ground with such force that targeted individuals have reported broken bones and needing medical care. Video footage, eyewitness accounts, and multiple reports confirm these incidents of use of excessive force.\n\nFederal immigration agents have unnecessarily deployed tear gas and fired pepper balls to intimidate and disperse journalists and peaceful protesters, including clergy and other community members. These chemical agents have sickened people\u2014including children, pregnant women, and the elderly\u2014and have created hazards for motorists. Federal immigration agents also have unjustifiably used tasers to disable individuals during \u201cOperation Midway Blitz.\u201d In one instance, a fearful U.S. citizen tried to prevent an immigration agent from forcibly opening his car door; in response, the agent tased him in the face, requiring him to seek medical treatment at a hospital.\n\nSenior Trump Administration officials appear to have sanctioned and even approved the persistent use of warrantless arrests and use of excessive force by federal agents involved in immigration enforcement operations in Illinois. In an October 30 deposition, Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Border Patrol agent responsible for Midway Blitz enforcement operations, praised federal immigration agents\u2019 use of force, stating: \u201cThe use of force that I\u2019ve seen has been exemplary\u2014the least amount of force necessary to accomplish the mission.\u201d He also stated: \u201cIf someone strays into a pepper ball, then that\u2019s on them. Don\u2019t protest and don\u2019t trespass.\u201d After departing Illinois in November, Bovino returned to Chicago earlier this week.\n\nIn the letter, the Senators cite legal challenges where courts have attempted to rein in these unlawful enforcement activities. A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois, for example, issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits federal agents from using pepper balls, chemical agents, or other projectiles at the Broadview Processing Facility or anywhere in the Chicagoland area, absent an imminent threat to federal agents, and also prohibits \u201chands-on physical force,\u201d such as shoving someone to the ground, tackling or body slamming, restraint techniques such as chokeholds and neck restraints, and the indiscriminate use of chemical agents and projectiles. The judge issued the preliminary injunction, along with a lengthy opinion, after federal agents refused to comply with an initial and expanded temporary injunction in the same case. Incidents in the days that followed the preliminary injunction demonstrate that agents continued to defy the court\u2019s order.\n\nThe Senators wrote, \u201cAs you have previously noted, \u2018No one is above the law.\u2019 We agree, and that\u2019s why we urge the Department of Justice to set aside partisan politics and immediately investigate the potential violations of Section 242 outlined above.\u201d\n\nThe Senators concluded, \u201cSenator Durbin has directed Senate Judiciary Committee minority staff to continue gathering evidence of potential violations of Section 242 and other federal laws, and we will provide this evidence to the Department in due course. Federal law enforcement officers participating in \u2018Operation Midway Blitz\u2019 and other unnecessarily aggressive immigration enforcement activities throughout the United States, as well as their leadership directing them to engage in these inappropriate enforcement actions, should be on notice that we are closely monitoring such activities and that they can be held accountable for violating individuals\u2019 constitutional rights.\u201d\n\nA copy of the letter is available here.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-duckworth-submit-criminal-referral-to-doj-regarding-trump-officials-unconstitutional-immigration-enforcement-activity"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2230350878089666, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}