Chicago’s crime rates have continued to drop over the past several months after the Trump administration launched Operation Midway Blitz to address shootings, robberies, and other violent crimes in the city.
The operation is a federal immigration enforcement initiative launched by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in early September. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeted illegal immigrants with criminal records in the Windy City. The initiative involved large-scale raids and the use of National Guard troops.
ICE employed several military-style tactics to apprehend illegal immigrants, such as flashbang grenades, helicopters, and tear gas. The agency arrested hundreds of people amid widespread protests from members of the community.
MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/6QGfQ5eE2s
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 12, 2025
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that violent crime has dropped sharply since his administration launched the operation. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the city “has seen Car Theft, Shootings, Robberies, Violent Crime, and everything else, drop dramatically.”
Since the launch of the DHS operation “Midway Blitz” in Chicago only weeks ago, Shootings are down 35%, Robberies are down 41%, and Carjackings are down almost 50% — And this is with just a small initial Federal Force, not the full “surge” we have done in Chicago and Memphis. As we ramp up more assets, these numbers will continue to drop. This has been achieved despite the extraordinary resistance from Chicago and Illinois Radical Democrat “Leadership,” and the constant Violent Leftwing Terrorism against ICE Officers and Federal Agents that Insurrectionist Democrat Officials refuse to stop or prosecute, including constant physical assault and attempted assassination.
Crime in Chicago had already been dropping over recent years. Homicide declined by 33 percent in the first half of 2025. The overall crime rate in June was eight to 12 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels (2018 - 2019).
There was also a 16 percent drop in aggravated assaults between June 2024 and June 2025. However, drug offenses increased by 34 percent in the first half of this year.
Chicago reported 581 murders in 2024, which was 11 percent lower than the rate in 2023.
While the crime rates were already on a downward trajectory before Operation Midway Blitz, it is possible the initiative could have accelerated the trend — especially if it was focused on illegal immigrants who had committed violent crimes previously.
These numbers come against the backdrop of protests in the city, with many taking issue with ICE’s tactics and the deployment of National Guard troops. A Public Policy Polling survey conducted in October found that 66 percent of Chicago’s voters oppose the operation while 77 percent indicated they believed Trump deployed the National Guard for political purposes.