Immigration news in Chicago

An Aztec dance group will be among the highlights of the Dia de los Muertos Festival on Nov. 1 in Oak Park. “I think the community is ready to celebrate again," said organizer Alma Martinez. "The community is asking to get together to honor our ancestors.” (Daveed Holmes, Aperture Photography)

Oak Park Dia de los Muertos Festival returns a year after being canceled by immigration enforcement fears

By Myrna Petlicki

October 26, 2026 at 2:07 p.m.

Public ofrendas are returning to Oak Park for a Dia de los Muertos Festival that...

People wait to cross North Michigan Avenue at East Randolph Street in Chicago on Oct. 23, 2026. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)

Trump proposes eliminating race, ethnicity questions from 2030 census, alarming health, civil rights advocates

By Robert McCoppin

October 24, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

A proposal to eliminate races about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from the U.S. census...

Homeland Security Investigations officers leave a home after arresting a suspect accused of illegally registering to vote during a federal operation in Commerce, Calif., Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Immigrants seeking US citizenship targeted in Trump administration’s illegal voting crackdown

By Olga R. Rodriguez

October 23, 2026 at 7:33 a.m.

Most of the immigrants targeted by federal authorities in California this week for alleged voter...

FILE – A Morehouse College student lines up before the school commencement, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Trump administration proposes a $70,000 fee for international students to work in the US

By Annie Ma

October 7, 2026 at 10:24 a.m.

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a $70,000 fee for international students seeking...

Nelson County, Ky., jailer Justin Hall shows an electric shock glove that is used at his facility, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Bardstown, Ky. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)

Army study found shock gloves purchased by ICE cause pain, compliance and fear

By Ryan J. Foley

October 6, 2026 at 12:17 p.m.

The shock gloves immigration agents could soon use to control detainees and protesters worked so...

Marimar Martinez, center, listens while her attorney Chris Parente, left, speaks, Oct. 5, 2026, at his Chicago office about filing of a federal lawsuit over her shooting by a Border Patrol agent during Operation Midway Blitz last year. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Lawyers for Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol agent call for criminal charges

By Jason Meisner

October 5, 2026 at 2:47 p.m.

Attorneys for Marimar Martinez, shot by a Border Patrol agent during Operation Midway Blitz last...

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

New Supreme Court term begins with cases on climate change, immigration and gun rights

By Lindsay Whitehurst

October 5, 2026 at 6:13 a.m.

The Supreme Court’s new term begins Monday with cases on climate change, religious rights and...

In this image provided by Matt Odom, Laura Leigh Taylor, a farmer in Georgia who says she regrets voting for President Donald Trump in 2024, is pictured Sept. 29, 2026. (Matt Odom via AP)

President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown divides rural voters as midterms approach, AP-KFF poll finds

By Linley Sanders

October 5, 2026 at 6:11 a.m.

More than a year into President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, a poll finds that...

Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo, File)

An immigrant deported by the US and held in an African prison for more than a year has been released

By Gerald Imray

October 4, 2026 at 3:59 p.m.

A Laotian citizen deported by the United States to Eswatini under the Trump administration’s immigration...

Marimar Martínez shows a scar on her arm from a bullet wound as she describes the day she got shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during an Illinois Accountability Commission hearing at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in the Loop on April 28, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

Marimar Martinez to file federal lawsuit over shooting by Border Patrol agent

By Jason Meisner

October 2, 2026 at 5:40 p.m.

Lawyers for Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent...

Daniel Rosen, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Washington, as Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, look on. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump administration says it has no plans for ICE officers at polls. Activists are preparing anyway.

By Rebecca Santana

October 2, 2026 at 8:18 a.m.

With early voting already underway, a question worrying some voters is what role — if...

Demonstrators gather in response to the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan man who was shot in his vehicle by an ICE officer the previous day in Austin, Texas, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez)

Venezuelan delivery driver shot by ICE in Texas has surgery to remove bullet

By Associated Press

October 2, 2026 at 6:25 a.m.

A Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Texas had...

This image made from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) body camera footage shows an ICE officer stopping Wilber Rafael Garces Perez on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)

New ICE guidance bans high-speed car chases and sets tighter rules for traffic stops, a memo shows

By Ryan J. Foley

October 1, 2026 at 5:56 p.m.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been ordered not to engage in high-speed car...