Two Immigrants Ram ICE Vehicles Chicago, Arrested

Two undocumented immigrants in the Chicago suburbs used their vehicles to deliberately ram Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during "Operation Midway Blitz," a targeted federal immigration enforcement effort. Miguel Escareno De Loera, from Mexico, struck an ICE vehicle twice in Norridge before crashing, while Widman Osberto Lopez-Funes, from Guatemala, rammed ICE officers in Bensenville before fleeing into his residence and being arrested. Both men are in federal custody, facing removal proceedings and expected criminal charges for assaulting law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) highlighted a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against ICE officers, with vehicles increasingly used as weapons, and attributed some of the violence to anti-ICE rhetoric from Illinois leaders like Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson. DHS officials emphasized the dangers ICE officers face daily and vowed to prosecute any assaults on law enforcement to the fullest extent of the law. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin condemned the attacks as "deranged" and criticized sanctuary policies for encouraging resistance to immigration enforcement.