After Bovino Appears In Court In Chicago, Durbin Again Denounces “Operation Midway Blitz” As Wreaking Havoc On Illinois Communities
“Video footage shows the agents’ recklessness, their seeming disregard for the court order, and their ongoing violations of due process,” Durbin said of federal agents acting under “Operation Midway Blitz”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered a speech on the Senate floor to again denounce the Trump Administration’s cruel so-called “Operation Midway Blitz” in the Chicago area, which has sown fear among communities in the city. In his remarks, Durbin made clear that the increased presence and enforcement actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents in Chicago are not about public safety, but instead are part of the President’s political theater.
“For the last two months, the people of Illinois have been living under President Trump’s so-called ‘Operation Midway Blitz.’ I’ve watched it up close. I’ve seen its victims. I’ve seen its methods, and I want to tell you that this ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ is trampling over the residents of Illinois’ constitutional rights and civil liberties,” Durbin began. “This reckless campaign is not aimed at [improving] public safety. It’s a calculated show of political theater and force designed to spread fear and terror in our communities.”
“And what I see, time-and-time again, are good people whose only desire is to raise their children, go to work, and contribute to their communities. These same people are now afraid to leave their homes and walk to school, church, a grocery store, out of fear of being caught up in one of these cruel raids,” Durbin said.
Durbin emphasized that, despite the President’s claims that his Administration is only targeting the “worst of the worst,” more than 70 percent of the people detained by DHS across the country have no criminal record.
“American citizens, workers and parents with clean records, peaceful protestors, community members carrying whistles, even children. Federal agents are sweeping up anyone they encounter, including bystanders who pause to record their activities,” Durbin said. “These actions violate due process, full stop. A democracy cannot survive a law enforcement strategy of ‘arrest now, ask questions later.’ And the reach of these actions has only grown more brazen.”
Durbin shared egregious stories of federal agents rounding up people outside of schools, causing community members to take up blowing whistles when federal agents enter a neighborhood.
“Federal agents have confronted people outside childcare centers and schools. Some Head Start programs have moved online to protect families. And children have been zip-tied and yanked away from their families. And, in many cases, peaceful protestors have been met with tear gas,” Durbin continued. “At Funston Elementary School near Logan Square, an entire playground had to be evacuated. Residents who locked arms to protect their neighbors were gassed in their own streets.”
After federal agents so blatantly violated due process and acted disproportionately aggressive toward protestors, U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month that prohibited agents from using tear gas indiscriminately on peaceful protestors, journalists, and anyone else not posing an immediate threat to law enforcement. However, federal agents have continued to wreak havoc on Chicago neighborhoods by deploying tear gas and forcefully arresting residents.
“Just this weekend, chemical canisters were thrown at a crowd of residents that gathered in the Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. For what reason? A children’s Halloween block party,” Durbin said. “They threw in tear gas cannisters.”
“The concerned onlookers and their children watched as Border Patrol agents tackled a landscaper to the ground and arrested him on a resident’s front lawn. Agents then deployed multiple tear gas canisters at the neighbors without warning and even arrested one unsuspecting resident in his late 60s who had just returned from a morning run,” Durbin continued. “Video footage shows the agents’ recklessness, their seeming disregard for the court order, and their ongoing violations of due process.”
“Our Armed Forces are banned from using tear gas on the battlefield. But ICE and CBP have no problem using it on Main Street in Chicago, Illinois,” Durbin said.
Last week, Judge Ellis ordered Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino to appear before her in federal court. During his court appearance today, Judge Ellis reprimanded Bovino for the indiscriminate use of tear gas against Chicagoans, which she had limited in an earlier temporary restraining order. She further instructed Bovino to return to federal court each weekday to provide a daily report about “Operation Midway Blitz” to ensure that DHS agents are not violating the court order. Judge Ellis also required Bovino to begin wearing a bodycam and undergo training for the equipment by this Friday.
“Recent footage even shows Gregory Bovino—the Border Patrol Commander-at-large, who has been tasked with leading Operation Midway Blitz—deploying a tear gas canister on a crowd of peaceful protestors in Little Village with no advance warnings, despite a court order. DHS was quick to publish statements on social media regarding the incident, stating that a ‘mob of rioters’ provoked the attack. The video shows that is a lie,” Durbin said.
“Judge Ellis called Bovino to court this morning to answer for federal agents’ continued indiscriminate use of tear gas on the streets of Chicago, pepper spray, and other excessive force. She opened the hearing by reading her previous order out loud. Given recent events, she wondered whether her order wasn’t clear, immigration agents didn’t bother to read it, or if they read and understood it but decided to ignore it,” Durbin continued.
“Judge Ellis said, ‘kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not elicit an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer. They just don’t,’” Durbin said. “At the hearing, she instructed Bovino to appear before the court to provide daily reports moving forward. Bovino also agreed to undergo training for body cameras and begin wearing one as soon as Friday.”
Durbin reiterated his commitment to holding the Trump Administration accountable for its actions, and he emphasized that he and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) will continue to conduct oversight over the Trump Administration.
“In light of these alarming abuses, I am working to fulfill my role under the Constitution as a member of Congress with the authority to conduct oversight over the Executive Branch. The Trump Administration claims to be the most transparent in American history, but when Senator Duckworth and I recently arrived at the Broadview ICE processing center to perform oversight, we were barred from viewing it. If this was truly a lawful operation targeted on public safety threats, the rapists, murderers, terrorists, criminally insane, they wouldn’t stop us from seeing who was being held,” Durbin said. “What do they not want us, and the American people, to see?”
Durbin concluded his remarks by again criticizing the Trump Administration’s attacks on Chicago under the guise of “Operation Midway Blitz.”
“The Trump Administration has turned federal agencies into tools of political intimidation. They have targeted cities and states run by Democrats who didn’t vote for the President in the last election. Operation Midway Blitz is a desecration of all the basic liberties guaranteed by the Constitution,” Durbin said. “But Chicagoans and Illinoisans are not backing down.”
“The people of Chicago and Illinois deserve so much better. They deserve a federal government that honors one of its highest duties: to defend the rights and freedoms of all people. I will continue to do everything I can to try and ensure our government once again lives up to that promise, and I hope my colleagues will join me,” Durbin concluded.
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
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