Ortíz Helps Pass Measure Stopping Trump’s Detention Centers in Neighborhoods

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Fighting to end the abusive and disruptive presence of Donald Trump’s deportation agents across Illinois communities, state Rep. Aarón Ortíz, D-Chicago, backed a plan Wednesday to prohibit immigration detention centers within 1,500 ft. of specified areas including homes, parks, schools and daycare centers. 

“Operation Midway Blitz continues to leave its mark on our community, and the presence of legally-dubious immigration detention centers near our schools, public parks and daycare centers looms over our children, their families and their future,” Ortíz said. “Our legislation continues our shared commitment to protecting Illinoisans from lawless immigration raids and ensuring a brighter future for everyone who calls Illinois home. Our backyards will not be the testing ground for whatever new, cruel and destructive immigration policy Trump wants to enact. This bill gives us one more tool to prevent that chaos.”

Since the launch of Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz in September 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have terrorized communities in Chicagoland and across the state of Illinois through excessive and deadly force. Additionally, reports show a massive increase in deaths in ICE detention facilities, with more than 30 people dying in custody.

ICE’s presence has been especially disruptive for neighbors, as armed masked agents patrol residential streets and often sit within a short distance of places of worship, schools, daycare centers  and small businesses. In Broadview, which houses an ICE immigration detention facility, this has resulted in significant challenges for local residents. 

Ortíz is protecting communities across Illinois from these federal incursions by supporting House Bill 5024, which would create new restrictions on immigration detention facilities in neighborhoods, restricting such operations within 1,500 feet of a home or apartment complex, as well as any school, day care center, public park, or house of worship. 

For more information, visit ILGA.gov.