Following weeks of increased immigration raids in the Chicago area, Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order Thursday creating a commission to track immigration enforcement actions and make recommendations for state policy changes. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in September. DHS officials say more than 1,000 people have been arrested since.  

The operation has been plagued by controversy, and Illinois elected officials have criticized officers’ actions throughout. On Sept. 12, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed by agents after allegedly hurting agents by attempting to flee a traffic stop. But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) involved did not have their body cameras on, leading to questions about the incident.    

An overnight raid of a South Shore building on Sept. 30 raised more concerns, with citizens, including children, saying they had been detained by officers.   

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis has ordered federal agents in Chicago to wear body cameras amid hearings into DHS’s actions in Chicago.   

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Pritzker accused DHS and President Donald Trump of breaking the law and violating people’s rights during these raids.  

He said that’s why he’s creating the Illinois Accountability Commission, which will be tasked with creating a public record of actions taken by federal agents.  

“We have a duty to ensure that the truth is preserved so the public can know what their elected and appointed officials have done, and so the courts and Congress can eventually hold people accountable,” Pritzker said. “It is imperative that none of the impropriety, brutality and harassment perpetrated upon our people goes unnoticed.”   

Rubén Castillo, who served as a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for 25 years, will chair the commission.  

Patricia Brown Holmes, managing partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila and former associate judge in the Cook County Circuit Court, will serve as vice chair.  

The commission’s membership will include Aurora Austriaco, commissioner for the Illinois Courts Commission, Susan Gzesh, an instructional professor at University of Chicago, Linda Xóchitl Tortolero, president and CEO of Latino Policy Forum, and Cindy Sam, former commander at the Chicago Police Department.  

The commission is instructed to gather video, documentation, testimony and any other information on agents' actions, including the impact of those actions on Illinois residents.  

Members will then examine this information and produce an initial status report with findings and policy recommendations no later than Jan. 31, 2026. A supplementary report can be produced no later than April 30, 2026.  

The commission is also instructed to report any instances of agents breaking the law to the proper investigating authority.  

“We're creating a record here, and that record will survive long after this commission has issued a report,” Pritzker said. “That record will help future leaders to decide how they are going to hold people accountable.”  

The commission will not have subpoena power, and Pritzker said that means not everyone called to testify will do so.  

Castillo said the commission already has a wide range of publicly available videos of raids, with many activists and residents recording immigration raids even before the operation began in September. He encouraged people to continue recording interactions with agents and asked residents to share any information or testimony they have.  

“If misconduct is allowed to continue, or if misconduct is being encouraged from the top, that's just a fundamental problem,” Castillo said. “And a lot of what we've seen so far encourages misconduct, covering other faces, the attire, the equipment.”  

The executive order comes a day after former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the creation of the "ICE Accountability Project." 

Lightfoot told Fox 32 the project will feature a centralized database to track identifying traits of masked ICE agents, including physical traits, clothes they wear and cars they drive. Lightfoot also said the goal of the project is to bring legal action to agents who violate the law.  

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias also announced the creation of a hotline for people to report instances of license plate swapping or tampering on Wednesday. The announcement followed a social media video of a federal agent telling someone recording their vehicles that agents “change the plates out every day.” 

Swapping license plates is punishable by fines or jail time in Illinois. Giannoulias said his office will investigate all reports made to the hotline at 312-814-1730 or [email protected].