The Rundown | Chicago News

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker made a plea to federal immigration agents to leave children alone over Halloween. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in Gary, Indiana today and denied any American citizens are getting caught up in immigration enforcement operations despite numerous confirmed reports of such incidents. Graduation rates in Illinois have reached a 15-year high while other measures...

Former sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson has been found guilty of one count of second degree murder in the killing of Sonya Massey. Gov. JB Pritzker has declared what he’s calling an “agricultural trade crisis” in Illinois – and he’s signed an executive order he says will mitigate it. Chicago Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard got the first hat trick of his NHL career on Tuesday. Plus, we hear from WBEZ...

A federal judge is ordering Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, a leader of the Trump administration’s Chicago deportation blitz, to appear in her courtroom every evening over the next week. The murder case of a white former sheriff’s deputy accused of killing Springfield-area resident Sonya Massey is now before a jury. Chicago has been dethroned as the rattiest city in the country. The Museum...

A former downstate sheriff’s deputy charged with murdering Springfield-area resident Sonya Massey last year took the witness stand. Hundreds of Illinois political candidates lined up early this morning to get their names on next year’s primary ballot. Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams says the team is having trouble capitalizing on key moments. Plus, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce...

Federal immigration enforcement disrupted schools across Chicago’s North and near Northwest Side today with at least eight schools cancelling activities or keeping students inside after reports of agents in the area. A new investigation from the Sun-Times shows more than a dozen Chicago city council members got campaign contributions from a political action committee whose leaders include landlord...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order he says will demand justice as deportation efforts continue in the Chicago area. Federal immigration agents faced off with protesters outside a discount mall in Little Village. Illinois gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is mourning the death of one of his sons and multiple family members in a helicopter crash in Montana. Plus, how do you keep...

Opening statements began today in the murder trial of a former sheriff’s deputy charged with killing Springfield-resident Sonya Massey last year. Lawyers for Gangster Disciple co-founder Larry Hoover are seeking clemency from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. The Chicago Fire are back in the Major League Soccer playoffs tonight for the first time in eight years. Plus, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sat do...

Workers from the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in Chicago have started receiving furlough notices amid the government shutdown. Chicago budget hearings are underway and part of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal to close the deficit includes taxing large corporations with a $21 fee per employee each month. Plus, a former top U.S. Homeland Security official is keeping an eye on Pr...

The City of Chicago and eight other local governments are suing the Trump Administration over restrictions placed on federal emergency grants. Places of worship continue to be on high alert as federal immigration enforcement escalates in the Chicago area. Jury selection has begun in the first-degree murder trial of a former Illinois sheriff's deputy in the death of Sonya Massey. Plus, we learned l...

Illinois State Police say 11 people were arrested this morning outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in suburban Broadview. Members of the NAACP rallied in Chicago against the Trump administration’s deployment of federal troops in Black communities. Some Illinois universities are seeing drops in international student enrollment. Plus, as federal immigration agents agg...

A federal appeals court in Chicago is refusing to undo a lower court's order blocking President Trump's deployment of National Guard troops within Illinois. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s newly unveiled budget relies on reinstating the city corporate head tax, a new social media tax, and a record, $1 billion dollar TIF surplus to close a massive budget gap. Loyola University and the Sisters of th...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said a federal judge may have to weigh in on aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics in a Chicago neighborhood. Democratic governors from 14 states including Illinois have launched a new public health alliance in response to new public health policy enacted by the Trump administration. Medical professionals tell WBEZ’s In The Loop program that it is not likely...

A car crash involving federal immigration agents late this morning in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood led to agents deploying tear gas after a large crowd gathered in protest of the agents. O’Hare and Midway International have joined a growing list of airports across the country that are refusing to play a Department of Homeland Security video. The Promontory, a South Side music venue and event s...

The mayor in west suburban Broadview has removed a designated “protest safety zone” from outside the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Immigration advocates say networks of volunteers are documenting what’s actually happening on the ground in and around Chicago. A Northwestern University professor is one of three people awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. Plus: After an im...

We have a special episode for you today thanks to our public media partners at OPB based in Portland, Oregon. Enhanced immigration enforcement and court battles over National Guard deployments continued this week. OPB’s Politics Now podcast hosts Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart spoke with WBEZ’s Araceli Gomez Aldana and Lucio Vasquez from the Texas Newsroom about how things are playing out in Port...

Gov. JB Pritzker went on Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night to ridicule the Trump administration’s claim “horrible violence” was savaging the streets of Chicago. At least three demonstrators have been arrested today at a protest outside the ICE facility in suburban Broadview. The Cubs head back to Milwaukee Saturday for a deciding game five. Plus, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt died at 106-years-old. We...

U.S. District Judge April Perry is weighing whether to block the deployment of National Guard units to Illinois. The Village of Broadview says about three dozen National Guard troops are at the local ICE facility. Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Indiana Friday for a second time in recent months as the White House continues to push for redistricting. Plus, a deadly smash-and-grab in do...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker vowed not to back down after President Trump posted on social media that the governor and Mayor Brandon Johnson deserve to be jailed. Demolition of the historic Damen silos resumed. Local artist Tonika Lewis Johnson is among the latest class of MacArthur “Genius” Fellows, which were announced this morning. Plus, if you look closely at a map of Chicago, you can see a hole...

Texas National Guard members arrived early today at a federal military training site south of Joliet. Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Attorney General Pam Bondi tangled bitterly over the Trump administration’s National Guard deployment to Illinois. More than 70 drivers in Cook County have been ticketed in the past week for driving on the shoulder. Plus, officials in Broadview have opened thre...

The state of Illinois is suing President Donald Trump over the deployment of National Guard troops over the objections of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed an executive order establishing “ICE-free zones” after federal agents tear-gassed residents and Chicago cops. Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson has signed an executive order establishing fixed protesting hours outside o...

The city of Chicago has halted the demolition of the historic Damen Silos over concerns about “excessive dust." Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is facing a setback in his bid to avoid prison while appealing his federal corruption convictions. Chicago area transit agencies have found some savings and a looming fiscal cliff isn’t as big as it used to be. Plus, Chicago-born jazz singer...

Chicago advocates say calls from immigrants seeking deportation legal support have skyrocketed since Operation Midway Blitz started last month. Public defenders and legal aid groups are pushing to bar arrests by ICE officers at Cook County courthouses. The federal government has placed a restriction on all private drone activity around the Chicago area. The Trump administration is cancelling $7.6...

Illinois Democrats in Congress are condemning the federal government shutdown and are demanding funding to save health care subsidies that are set to expire leading to soaring insurance costs. A Chicago non-profit that helps patients find abortion care expects to field more calls from Wisconsin after Wisconsin Planned Parenthood paused abortion services today. A new study from Rush University Chil...

President Donald Trump told hundreds of the country’s top military officials today that he spoke to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about using “dangerous cities as training grounds” for the military. A small Mexican grocery store in Cicero is pivoting to grocery deliveries as immigration operations continue in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. A WBEZ analysis of federal data for H-1-B visa...

A top U.S. Border Patrol official tells WBEZ that immigration agents are arresting people based on how they look. Federal criminal charges have been filed against four people detained during protests Saturday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Broadview. And, Latino activists are calling for an end to the targeting of day laborers at Home Depot stores in the...