Stephen Montemayor

Unmarked officers at Calumet Park station aren't immigration agents, Coast Guard officials said. blockclubchi.co/3KT4TLv

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."

The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.

A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:

If you're not in Chicago, it's difficult to understand how federal immigration actions have changed life as we know it in our neighborhoods.

@franciagarciah.bsky.social + I break down how @blockclubchi.bsky.social is trying to meet the moment for our readers on CJR's podcast:

400 Rogers Park Neighbors Rally After ICE Arrests 4, Including Tamale Vendor Neighbors lined Clark Street on Saturday as a show of support after multiple immigration arrests. "We've seen that when we have large numbers of volunteers out here, they target us less," a neighbor s...

“We’ve seen that when we have large numbers of volunteers out here, they target us less,” a neighbor said.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/12/4...

One month into Trump’s immigration blitz, Chicago escalates its fight back.
blockclubchi.co/3Wticoe

Chicago’s @blockclubchi.bsky.social Is Ready for ICE: The independent digital startup has been on the ground covering ICE’s surge and the attacks on journalists. Listen in with host @joshuahersh.bsky.social. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

BREAKING: A federal judge has partially blocked the Trump administration's efforts to mobilize the National Guard in Chicago.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/09/j...

Judge Rules Feds Can't Pepper-Spray, Tear-Gas Journalists After Block Club Chicago And Others Sue Block Club and news organizations sued the federal government for its actions against journalists outside the Broadview ICE detention facility. Four of our journalists have been shot with pepper-spray...

NEWS: Today, a judge banned federal agents from using riot control weapons against reporters in Chicago.

It comes after 4 of our journalists were tear-gassed and shot w/ pepper-spray bullets and our nonprofit newsroom @blockclubchi.bsky.social and others sued.

This judgement protects us all:

Mazur's attorney meanwhile told me that she goes by Luci and uses she/her pronouns. Federal agents and prosecutors meanwhile refer to her as Hubert in court filings and use he/him pronouns when describing her.

Ray Collins & Jocelyne Robledo's case got a lot of attention after ICE labeled them "armed rioters" on X last month. But Luci Mazur's case is also worth examining. An FBI agent cited bodycam footage of her arrest in a sworn affidavit. But prosecutors reviewed footage and dropped charges.

Feds Had 'Less Evidence Than A Ham Sandwich' In Dismissed Armed Protester Case, Lawyer Says In a rare move, a federal grand jury refused to indict a couple arrested while legally carrying firearms in Broadview. Prosecutors also abandoned charges against a third protester arrested on Sept. 27...

Feds Had 'Less Evidence Than A Ham Sandwich' In Dismissed Armed Protester Case, Lawyer Says. Charges Also Dropped Against A Third Broadview Demonstrator. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/08/f...

Trump Says Johnson, Pritzker Should 'Be In Jail' For Not Protecting ICE The social media post comes as the three are at loggerheads over Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to the Chicago area.

BBC OS had me and a few other Chicagoans on air to talk about President Trump saying Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson should “be in jail” for not protecting ICE agents. Listen here: www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...

Background from @blockclubchi.bsky.social: blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/08/t...

Trump Says Johnson, Pritzker Should 'Be In Jail' For Not Protecting ICE The social media post comes as the three are at loggerheads over Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to the Chicago area.

Trump Says Johnson, Pritzker Should 'Be In Jail' For Not Protecting ICE blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/08/t...

Chicago is rallying to support street vendors who have been impacted by ICE: "The backbone of our neighborhoods." blockclubchi.co/4mQPDfv

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says Attorneys with the National Immigrant Justice Center are arguing the recent arrest of an Albany Park family violated a consent decree that limits the conditions under which federal agents can make war...

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/07/i...

Block Club Chicago and other news organizations are suing the federal government over First Amendment violations.

Four of our journalists have been shot with pepper-spray bullets and tear-gassed by federal agents. blockclubchi.co/4mRA6vG

Federal agents — with the Homeland Security secretary and a right-wing social media influencer in tow — raided an Austin Walmart on Friday. blockclubchi.co/4mRrtBw

Trump officials discussed sending elite Army division to Portland, text messages show A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Federal agents handcuffed Humboldt Park Ald. Jessie Fuentes as she confronted them Friday at Humboldt Park Hospital.

Agents handcuffed her, forced her out of the hospital and threatened her with arrest, Fuentes told a Block Club reporter. blockclubchi.co/3Wkje5V

South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: 'It Looks Like Hell'

@blockclubchi.bsky.social's Mack Liederman & I went in the already rundown apartment. We saw severe damage — doors kicked in, water damage, blood & clothes on the floor etc
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/02/s...

An immigrant family taken by federal agents Downtown has been separated in detention centers: "They’re locking up children." blockclubchi.co/4pOrdpw

Transcript: Gregory Bovino says arrestees in downtown Chicago chosen partly based on ‘how they look’ WBEZ reporter Chip Mitchell spoke with U.S. Border Patrol commander about a deportation blitz downtown and in the upscale River North neighborhood. Here is the transcript and unedited audio interview.

Gregory Bovino, commander-at-large of the U.S. #BorderPatrol, claims a @wbez.org/@chicago.suntimes.com report about his comments Sunday in downtown #Chicago was "grossly inaccurate" and taken out of context. So we've posted the interview's unedited AUDIO and TRANSCRIPT:
www.wbez.org/immigration/...

Armed Agents Raid South Shore Apartment Building Overnight Tuesday The federal agents arrived in moving trucks and knocked down doors inside the apartment building, detaining as many as 40 people, witnesses said.

“It felt like a war zone,” O’Loughlin said. “It feels like people don’t know the extent of what is happening unless it’s on Michigan Avenue.”

“They tore the whole building apart,” Szymanski said."

Federal Agents Tear Gas, Detain Protesters Outside Broadview ICE Facility Large crowds gathered to protest early Friday and later that evening outside of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview.

Still Happening Now: Federal Agents Tear Gas, Detain Protesters Outside Broadview ICE Facility blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/19/i...

Hi world, I'm working on a story looking back at Hurricane Katrina's impact on Chicago and local relief efforts.

If you are/know someone who was displaced and came here — or if you were involved in relief efforts at the time — feel free to shoot me a DM or email.

maxwell[at]blockclubchi.org

How a rogue laboratory got people convicted for driving high.

A forensics scandal at the University of Illinois Chicago reveals a crisis of oversight in the state’s crime labs.

Injustice Watch reports: blockclubchi.co/4mJg4nD

Traffic in Chicago 🚕 🚚 🚗

What's the *worst* spot for traffic in Chicago? Tell us about your experience and we'll add it to our map: blockclubchi.co/40U2pl5

The Barrel That Launched A Sour Beer Movement Is Now At Chicago's Off Color Brewing The barrel, known as pH1, has been used by at least a half dozen craft brewers, helping pave the way for wild fermentation in the U.S. Off Color founder John Laffler is ready to talk about what he put...

Our goal is always to tell a story and capture unique moments in place and time with our wild fermentation beers. @blockclubchi.bsky.social takes a look at an iconic barrel that embodies all that and more. blockclubchicago.org/2025/06/25/t...

The barrel that launched a sour beer movement is now at Chicago’s Off Color Brewing. blockclubchi.co/4k5rOyY

The Barrel That Launched A Sour Beer Movement Is Now At Chicago's Off Color Brewing The barrel, known as pH1, has been used by at least a half dozen craft brewers, helping pave the way for wild fermentation in the U.S. Off Color founder John Laffler is ready to talk about what he put...

Chicago's @offcolorbrewing.bsky.social is now home to the one barrel widely credited with launching the U.S. sour beer movement in the early 2000s. I report on how the "beer famous" pH1 barrel got here and have the scoop on what John Laffler just put in it.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/06/25/t...