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Sophie Sherry

@sophiesherry.bsky.social

Reporter @chicago.suntimes.com

439 Followers  |  65 Following  |  1 Posts  |  Joined: 25.03.2025  |  2.1867

Latest posts by sophiesherry.bsky.social on Bluesky

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1/ I’d like to share what’s happened since Sept. 30, the night of the most dramatic raid of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Under the cover of darkness, 37 immigrants were taken from an apartment complex …🧵

16.11.2025 15:17 — 👍 768    🔁 400    💬 10    📌 36
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He worked hard to give me a home. ICE took his: How I lost my father to deportation Deportation has taken away the father I once knew and given me back a person I no longer recognize.

From @vanessalop.bsky.social: He worked hard to give me a home. ICE took his: How I lost my father to deportation

chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2...

10.11.2025 14:53 — 👍 221    🔁 114    💬 4    📌 12
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Chicago police withhold Border Patrol shooting videos, citing probe of chief accused of calling off cops Patrol Chief Jon Hein faced a flood of criticism — from ex-cops, internet trolls and members of his own department — after his officers were ordered not to respond to the Oct. 4 shooting in Brighton P...

Chicago police won’t release videos of the chaotic aftermath of a shooting last month involving a Border Patrol agent that rocked the Brighton Park neighborhood.

The reason: Patrol Chief Jon Hein faces a complaint that he ordered cops not to assist the feds.

tinyurl.com/8ktur6kh

07.11.2025 13:40 — 👍 11    🔁 7    💬 1    📌 1
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Federal judge enters broader order governing feds' use of force during immigration blitz The judge previously forbade federal agents from using tear gas or other “riot control” weapons against people who pose no immediate threat and without two warnings during the deportation campaign. Ho...

Federal agents’ use of force amid the aggressive deportation campaign in Chicago “shocks the conscience,” and the Trump administration “lacks credibility.”

That’s what a judge found Thursday in a crucial new ruling: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

06.11.2025 19:05 — 👍 277    🔁 124    💬 5    📌 8
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Federal judge likely to intervene at Broadview's ICE facility: 'It has really become a prison' Five former detainees on Tuesday described unsanitary conditions inside the Broadview facility. One broke down on the witness stand, telling the judge “it was too much, it was too much.”

'It has really become a prison'

A federal judge says the case has been made for a temporary restraining order governing conditions inside a suburban Chicago ICE facility central to the Trump administration's 'Midway Blitz.'

UPDATED @chicago.suntimes.com story: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

05.11.2025 01:59 — 👍 123    🔁 53    💬 0    📌 4
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Chicago woman dragged out of her car after colliding with ICE demands accountability The arrest of Dayanne Figueroa highlights growing concerns about the use of force against U.S. citizens and due process. She was released after a few hours without charges.

NEWS: Federal agents crashed with woman’s car, pointed guns at her, dragged her out by legs, tossed her in a minivan, held her and (eventually) let her go without charges. This as Chicagoans say the immigration blitz is out of control. (DHS blames her.)
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/03/c...

03.11.2025 13:26 — 👍 5551    🔁 2505    💬 195    📌 238
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ICE has powerful facial recognition app Illinois cops are barred from using — with little apparent oversight The administration has contracts with Clearview AI, a firm banned from doing business with Illinois police agencies. “This is what dystopian nightmares are made of, this kind of continual expansion of...

ICE is using Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition tool that Illinois law enforcement is barred from using.

There’s apparently few guardrails.

A DHS face recognition policy was wiped from the internet in February. Other pages were archived or disappeared

tinyurl.com/yc64wcvh

31.10.2025 13:27 — 👍 30    🔁 25    💬 1    📌 0

U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is on the witness stand in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis. He is wearing his typical Border Patrol uniform.

"Good morning, your honor," he says.

28.10.2025 15:07 — 👍 1118    🔁 338    💬 30    📌 76

NEW: On the eve of Greg Bovino's court-ordered appearance before Judge Sara Ellis, lawyers in the case ask her to fully bar the feds from using tear gas until she rules on a preliminary injunction.

"Something must be done. Defendants are plainly in contempt, and sanctions are warranted."

28.10.2025 00:11 — 👍 1551    🔁 435    💬 37    📌 19
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Federal agents tear gassing the Lake View neighborhood.

24.10.2025 18:34 — 👍 1364    🔁 724    💬 116    📌 127

Included is this screenshot of CBP commander Greg Bovino allegedly “throwing tear gas into a crowd without justification.”

23.10.2025 20:29 — 👍 606    🔁 283    💬 29    📌 21

Big shouts to @bylaurenfitz.bsky.social and @ashleerezin.bsky.social for catching this practice. Now the SoS has launched a hotline to track it.

23.10.2025 01:07 — 👍 11    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 1
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Good morning from Chicago's Dirksen Federal Courthouse, where Judge Sara Ellis is expected to question officials from CBP and ICE about the treatment of protesters.

CBP Deputy Incident Cmdr. Kyle Harvick and ICE Deputy Field Director Shawn Byers are expected to appear.

20.10.2025 13:05 — 👍 89    🔁 28    💬 3    📌 4
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From California to Chicago, a Border Patrol boss sparks accusations of race-based arrests Gregory Bovino led aggressive immigration operations in California, leading to lawsuits questioning his agents’ tactics. The same tactics are being used in his “Operation Midway Blitz” mission in Chic...

Propelling a #deportation blitz in #Chicago, U.S. #BorderPatrol boss Gregory Bovino is using tactics similar to those that sparked lawsuits against him and other feds in #California.

@schuba.bsky.social @sophiesherry.bsky.social @chicago.suntimes.com @wbez.org
chicago.suntimes.com/donald-trump...

17.10.2025 22:23 — 👍 12    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 1
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'Political Opposition is not Rebellion'

Today's @chicago.suntimes.com front page story on Thursday's ruling from the federal appeals court in Chicago.

National Guard deployment still blocked in Illinois: chicago.suntimes.com/donald-trump...

17.10.2025 13:14 — 👍 699    🔁 226    💬 11    📌 12
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Top Cook County judge bars civil arrests at courthouses, citing chilling effect The Cook County public defender’s office and legal aid organizations had sought the move, saying they had clients who were avoiding court out of fear of being detained by federal immigration authorities.

Cook County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Evans signed an order effective Wednesday that prohibits civil arrests of people while at county courts, though judicial warrants can still be carried out.

15.10.2025 12:38 — 👍 90    🔁 31    💬 2    📌 2
CHICAGO (October 14, 2025) – A 15-year-old American citizen was detained by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents today in a manner reminiscent of authoritarian regimes, holding him incommunicado in a federal building garage for five hours without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney. The teenager, who is Hispanic and African American, was grabbed off a Chicago East Side street at approximately 12:30 p.m. CST slammed to the ground, kneed in the back, and zip-tied by CBP agents. He was then transported to a federal law enforcement facility not affiliated with CBP or ICE, where CBP agents held him, handcuffed, in the back of a vehicle in a garage—never booking him, never reading him his rights, never stating why he was detained, and never allowing him to contact his mother.

CHICAGO (October 14, 2025) – A 15-year-old American citizen was detained by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents today in a manner reminiscent of authoritarian regimes, holding him incommunicado in a federal building garage for five hours without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney. The teenager, who is Hispanic and African American, was grabbed off a Chicago East Side street at approximately 12:30 p.m. CST slammed to the ground, kneed in the back, and zip-tied by CBP agents. He was then transported to a federal law enforcement facility not affiliated with CBP or ICE, where CBP agents held him, handcuffed, in the back of a vehicle in a garage—never booking him, never reading him his rights, never stating why he was detained, and never allowing him to contact his mother.

For five hours, his mother had no idea where her son was or whether he safe. Federal agents provided no information about his whereabouts, no phone call, no explanation for the arrest. His mother’s terror was amplified by her son’s heart condition and the complete absence of any information from authorities.  

"This is how people disappear in autocracies—grabbed off streets, held in unmarked locations, no calls to family, no stated charges, no due process," said Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci of Romanucci & Blandin, the firm that obtained his release this evening. "A 15-year-old American citizen was effectively 'disappeared' for five hours in Chicago. This is not law enforcement; this is the playbook of authoritarian regimes."

For five hours, his mother had no idea where her son was or whether he safe. Federal agents provided no information about his whereabouts, no phone call, no explanation for the arrest. His mother’s terror was amplified by her son’s heart condition and the complete absence of any information from authorities. "This is how people disappear in autocracies—grabbed off streets, held in unmarked locations, no calls to family, no stated charges, no due process," said Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci of Romanucci & Blandin, the firm that obtained his release this evening. "A 15-year-old American citizen was effectively 'disappeared' for five hours in Chicago. This is not law enforcement; this is the playbook of authoritarian regimes."

The 15 y/o detained by CBP today in the East Side neighborhood has been released per a statement from his attorneys.

Story tk in the morning.

15.10.2025 05:04 — 👍 240    🔁 95    💬 6    📌 10

This of course comes four days after a federal judge in Chicago concluded that the Trump administration's "perception of events" around Chicago "are simply unreliable."

chicago.suntimes.com/donald-trump...

13.10.2025 14:29 — 👍 128    🔁 51    💬 5    📌 0
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Feds deploy tear gas in another Chicago neighborhood: 'We chased federal agents out of Albany Park today' A federal judge’s temporary restraining order requires federal agents to issue two warnings before using riot control weapons such as tear gas. Witnesses says they didn't get any warning.

Feds deploy tear gas in Albany Park as neighbors respond to them detaining people. One person was taken, though another was freed.

“I was afraid to go over there. I got braver the more people came out. I know my neighbors have my back, and I have their back."

12.10.2025 23:37 — 👍 492    🔁 184    💬 5    📌 10
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ICE / Border Patrol threatening to arrest a cyclist for following and recording in Chicago

12.10.2025 17:00 — 👍 3558    🔁 1422    💬 226    📌 242
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Family of Chicago-area man killed by ICE seeks to reunite with his children who are now in foster care in Idaho The state of Idaho took custody of the children a few weeks after Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was killed by ICE agents in Franklin Park on Sept. 12.

ICE killed their father. Now they’re in foster care.

Silverio Villegas, a single father, was fatally shot by fed agents after he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop in Franklin Park.

His family spoke to the Tribune of their grieve and their fight.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/12/s...

12.10.2025 21:13 — 👍 1208    🔁 606    💬 26    📌 22
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‘Unlivable’ conditions festered at Chicago apartment building long before jarring immigration raid Residents at the South Shore building targeted by federal agents blame the owner and property manager for "inhumane" conditions that city efforts did little to improve and which predate the arrival of immigrants.

Residents at the South Shore building targeted by federal agents blame the owner and property manager for “inhumane” conditions that city efforts did little to improve and which predate the arrival of immigrants.
trib.al/Lsp1vyu

10.10.2025 14:30 — 👍 11    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0
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Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’ During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door. 

It wasn’t the feds —  it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

10.10.2025 19:33 — 👍 7536    🔁 2380    💬 189    📌 684

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