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How many undocumented immigrants were arrested in Chicago in 2023 and 2024?
Executive Summary
The short answer is: available public records cited here do not provide a complete count of undocumented immigrants arrested in Chicago in 2023 and 2024. Federal Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) press releases document discrete enforcement actions that add up to small, specific tallies—17, 33 and 44 arrests in individual 2023 operations—but those releases do not claim to represent the total number of arrests for the city or year [1] [2] [3]. Independent data analyses and news reporting show trends in Illinois enforcement and monitoring but likewise do not supply a definitive citywide annual total for 2023 or 2024; therefore a precise verified figure cannot be produced from the provided material [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. What the ERO press releases actually claim—and what they don’t say
The ERO Chicago Field Office issued several archived releases describing targeted operations that produced specific arrest counts: 17 noncitizens during a March 2023 nationwide operation, 33 during an August 2023 sweep, and 44 during a local operation in late October–November 2023. Each release emphasizes that the operations targeted removable noncitizens with serious convictions or final orders of removal and lists offense types such as sexual assault, drug distribution and driving under the influence [1] [2] [3]. None of these releases present themselves as comprehensive annual tallies for Chicago; they describe discrete enforcement actions and explicitly limit scope to operation windows or local sweeps, which precludes using them to calculate total arrests for 2023 or 2024.
2. Independent data and journalistic analyses point to trends but not city totals
Reporting and third‑party datasets provide broader context about enforcement trends in Illinois and the Chicago field office—such as a reported rise in ICE arrests in Illinois in 2025 and a large increase in electronic monitoring caseloads overseen by ICE’s Chicago office—but these sources do not supply a clear, verified count for Chicago arrests in 2023 or 2024 [4] [5] [6]. The Chicago Sun‑Times analysis, for example, highlights a 556% increase over five years in people under ICE electronic monitoring through the Chicago office, but that metric is distinct from arrests and covers a different timespan and operational activity [5]. The Deportation Data Project and similar trackers document statewide shifts yet lack precise city-level breakdowns for those calendar years in the material provided [4] [6].
3. Why an exact citywide number is not verifiable from these documents
The ERO releases focus on priority enforcement categories and short operations; public reporting mentions courthouse arrests and rising enforcement presence but does not compile a consolidated annual total for Chicago. The ICE online dashboard has been noted as not fully current in some reporting, and third‑party compilations often aggregate to state or federal levels rather than Chicago municipal totals [4] [6] [7]. Given that the provided sources either report operation‑specific counts or statewide trends, there is insufficient evidence among them to corroborate any single number purporting to be the total undocumented‑immigrant arrests in Chicago for 2023 or 2024.
4. Where authoritative totals would come from—and what to expect there
A verifiable city or field‑office total would require access to ICE’s official enforcement statistics disaggregated by field office and calendar year or a comprehensive dataset from researchers such as TRAC, the Deportation Data Project, or local government records, including Cook County and Chicago law enforcement cross‑referenced with ICE referrals. The provided materials point researchers toward those sources but do not themselves deliver the consolidated counts [4] [6] [7]. Absent a publicly released annual tally from ICE ERO Chicago or an equivalent transparent compilation, any figure presented as a “total” would be an estimate rather than a confirmed count.
5. Multiple viewpoints and potential reporting agendas you should weigh
Federal ERO statements emphasize public‑safety priorities and highlight arrests of individuals with criminal convictions, which frames enforcement as targeting threats [2] [3] [1]. Journalistic investigations and advocacy‑oriented datasets draw attention to trends—rises in monitoring or statewide arrests—and may focus on civil‑liberties concerns or policy impacts, especially around courthouse arrests or electronic monitoring [5] [7]. Readers should note these differing emphases: ERO releases present selective operational successes; independent reporting situates those actions within broader patterns but stops short of providing a comprehensive, city‑level arrest total for 2023 or 2024 based on the documents supplied.