Chicago Police helped ICE spy on political activists, new records show

The deep dive

Ever wonder if local cops are moonlighting for federal agencies to keep tabs on activists? Spoiler: they definitely are. Newly released documents show that last April, a task force made up of 14 law enforcement officers—six from Chicago-area local departments and eight from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)—conducted an undercover operation against a group of Minnesota activists.

The target? An April 2 speaking event in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood where attendees were discussing resistance to Operation Metro Surge. This wasn't just a casual observation session; the team used undercover agents, audio recordings, license-plate readers, and even Chicago’s massive CCTV network to document the event. The goal was to build connections between the local attendees and anti-ICE protests happening elsewhere in the country.

The tech and tactics

The operation is lowkey wild. Undercover agent #9147 transmitted live audio from inside the venue for an hour, while a plainclothes cop from Aurora was dropped off at the door by an officer from Downers Grove. They even logged 219 vehicles parked nearby.

These local cops were part of an HSI task force that local officers can join for two-year stints. While Illinois law usually bans local police from helping with immigration enforcement, the department is claiming this was a-okay because it was framed as a federal racketeering investigation. However, the only "financial" evidence cited in the report was a GoFundMe link for the speaking tour—which honestly feels like a major reach for a racketeering case.

Why it matters

This is giving major "overreach" vibes. The investigation is part of a larger federal case against 15 Twin Cities activists, and critics are calling out this collaboration as political repression. Ed Yohnka from the ACLU of Illinois noted that nobody should be surveilled just for gathering and expressing their views on public policy. With HSI increasingly acting as the lead agency for federal crackdowns on internal dissent, the line between "protecting the public" and "silencing critics" is becoming dangerously thin. If you're a fan of the First Amendment, this is a massive L.