* Tribune…

The city of Chicago ignored concerns raised by an advocate about immigration raids at O’Hare’s rideshare parking lots for weeks before federal agents swept up more than 70 people there, emails obtained by the Tribune show. […]

An advocate for rideshare drivers first emailed the city on Sept. 19, saying she was concerned federal agents might target a parking lot near O’Hare International Airport where rideshare drivers wait for ride assignments. But the city did not appear to take any action in response to her warning until U.S. Border Patrol agents first conducted a raid at the parking lot three weeks later, on Oct. 10. […]

In an interview, [Lori Simmons, lead organizer for the Chicago Gig Alliance,] said she had not received any communications from Stastny or other Aviation Department officials between the time of her first email and the day of the first raid on Oct. 10.

Simmons said she had been worried the feds would target rideshare drivers because she knew many of them were immigrants. “And sure enough they did,” she said.

The city, Simmons said, “did nothing” with her warning, “and then acted surprised when it happened.”

* Click here for some background. Sun-Times federal courts reporter Jon Seidel…

JUST IN: The Trump administration responds to the bid to dismiss the case challenging Operation Midway Blitz in front of Judge Ellis.

It says plaintiffs seek to "throw in the towel" with "procedural gamesmanship," and insists a dismissal with prejudice prevents future claims. https://t.co/SjdP83CuLU pic.twitter.com/0I1C66lh3U

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) December 4, 2025

* Tribune…

Federal prosecutors moved Wednesday to drop charges against a comedy club manager accused of shutting a car door on a federal immigration agent’s leg in the Lakeview neighborhood, the latest in a string of dismissals in high-profile cases that resulted from the Trump administration’s so-called Operation Midway Blitz.

Nathan Griffin, 24, was charged in late October with assaulting, impeding or interfering with a federal officer during one of many skirmishes between federal agents and U.S. citizens that punctuated the Trump administration’s wave of illegal immigration enforcement in and around Chicago. […]

The motion to scrap the case against Griffin without prejudice follows prosecutors’ move to drop charges against Marimar Martinez, the 30-year-old woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Brighton Park who claimed Martinez “rammed” a federal vehicle with her own car in an Oct. 4 standoff.

In a nine-page opinion regarding another one of those cases, against a U.S veteran charged with assault, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes wrote he could not “help but note just how unusual and possibly unprecedented it is” for Chicago’s venerable U.S. attorney’s office to bring charges “so hastily” that, once more facts came out, they were unable to obtain an indictment in the grand jury or were forced to dismiss the case as not provable.

More from WTTW…

The incident began when two Border Patrol agents were searching for a body-worn camera near Broadway and Belmont Avenue that had been lost during a previous immigration arrest, according to court records.

Video captured by the agents’ body-worn cameras showed Griffin closed a car door on a U.S. Border Patrol agent’s leg as the agent was trying to get out of his vehicle, causing a “small gouge and scrapes,” according to the criminal complaint filed against Griffin.

But Curtis Flagg, the Laugh Factory’s president of operations, told the Chicago Tribune that Griffin was walking with his mother when he saw a man getting detained.

When Griffin intervened by asking the agents to leave the man alone, agents tackled him to the ground, triggering a melee caught on video by bystanders before Griffin was detained and taken away.

* Sun-Times…

President Donald Trump’s administration is facing a lawsuit seeking the release of all video footage filmed during the high-powered overnight immigration raid of a Chicago apartment complex in September.

The images captured by a government camera crew were later used in highly edited Hollywood-style videos — which experts called “propaganda” — that were published by the federal government to win support for its deportation campaign.

Democracy Forward, a Washington D.C.-based legal organization that has challenged the Trump administration, state and local governments and right-wing movements over the past decade, filed a public records request for all original footage from the raid in the South Shore neighborhood. That request has gone unfulfilled, the group said, so it filed a seven-page federal complaint in the U.S. District court in D.C. late last month. […]

A camera crew of at least nine people filmed the South Shore raid, according to security footage from a nearby elementary school that was obtained by the Sun-Times through a public records request. The photo and video team wore street clothing, some with neon Department of Homeland Security Office of Public Affairs vests.

Click here for DHS’ social media video of the South Shore raid and here for the lawsuit.

* Crain’s…

Four Chicago-area hospital leaders laid out their fears that worsening burdens stemming from massive federal funding cuts will severely fray the health care safety net.

At yesterday morning’s Crain’s Hospital CEO Breakfast, executives said Medicaid spending cuts, combined with expired tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans and rising costs for employer-based insurance, threaten the quality and availability of care across the region — not just at traditional safety net hospitals. […]

[Dia Nichols, president of Advocate Health Care,] spoke of OBBA being just one “domino” that will fall. He said before impacts of Medicaid work/volunteer requirements and twice-yearly redeterminations kick in at the end of 2026, hospitals and health systems will already be feeling the pressure.

[Dr. Erik Mikaitis, CEO of Cook County Health,] noted hospitals are finding that people are avoiding and delaying health care as a result of immigration enforcement activity and that some Medicaid recipients believe restrictions are already underway.

* More…

* CBS Chicago | Trump administration seeks detailed information on SNAP recipients from democratic states, including Illinois: States, including Illinois, have until Monday, Dec. 8, to formally respond to the federal government. It remains unclear how quickly or if residents or food banks might feel any impact. “The truth is the administration does not have the ability to do this, and I think it’s reprehensible to use food and food insecurity as a weapon to try to effectuate a policy that is completely unrelated to it. The courts have ruled such, and I believe if we have to take them to court again, we will,” Pritzker said.

* Block Club Chicago | How The Feds Used Propaganda To Frame Their ‘War’ On Chicago: ‘They’re Lying Constantly’: As Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz swept through Chicago this fall, federal leaders and agencies issued statements and social media posts that contradicted what reporters and witnesses saw on the ground. They’ve attempted to discredit journalists even after a federal judge ruled that Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, a face of the operation, lied and the federal government had deceived the public and made false claims. Experts who study propaganda and state media say the pattern goes beyond spin. In press releases and social media posts, the Department of Homeland Security has built a narrative meant to project control and valorize its agents, the experts said. At the same time, it has cast protesters and bystanders as threats or obstacles.

* Tribune | Federal funding cuts threaten Chicago Harbor Lock, one of the nation’s busiest: The Army Corps requested $3.85 million for the operation and maintenance of the Chicago Harbor Lock and Dam next year, Corps spokesperson Emily Helton said. But in his proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, President Donald Trump allocated under $300,000 for the harbor, leaving a shortfall of more than $3.5 million, Helton said. In order to try to close the gap, Helton said, the Army Corps will use just over $1 million in leftover operating funds from this year. It will also reallocate some money it had previously planned to use for electrical rehabilitation work at the harbor.

* South Side Weekly | Fraudsters target immigrants seeking legal help: Sometimes, notarios defraud people in immigrant communities by trading on the names and reputations of upstanding organizations. The American Bar Association does not represent clients in court. […] Fear, lack of familiarity with the U.S. immigration process, and the acute need for affordable immigration services all make immigrants susceptible to fraud, experts say. And immigration raids by federal agents are likely to exacerbate the problem, as victims may be hesitant to seek help from law enforcement agencies. “With the aggressiveness of ICE and the apprehension that people have to come out and be public—these notarios are bottom feeders, and they make something bad worse,” Wildes said.

* WaPo | Illinois can set its own vaccine guidelines, bypassing Trump administration: State lawmakers say the new law is the first of its kind. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed it just days before a federal vaccine panel plans to vote on a major change to America’s childhood immunization schedule. Illinois is among several Democratic-led states developing their own systems to assess vaccines, an attempt to address warnings by some public health officials that the Trump administration has politicized vaccine science.

* The 21st Show | Breaking down Northwestern University’s $75 million settlement with the Trump administration: Northwestern University has announced an agreement with the Trump administration over a discrimination investigation. The university will pay $75 million to the federal government, and make commitments to comply with Trump preferences in admissions, hiring, campus protests policies, and trans health care. In exchange, the administration is dropping its investigations against the school and restoring federal funding.

* Tribune | Enterprise Rent-A-Car license plate revoked after immigration agents illegally swapped it out, records show: The penalties for displaying an unauthorized plate or obscuring or modifying license plates in any way include fines and potential jail time. License plates may also be suspended or revoked by the secretary of state. That’s what happened to an Enterprise vehicle, according to a revocation letter from Giannoulias’ office to the business’ parent company, EAN Holdings LLC, obtained by the Tribune. The company must now request a new plate, under state law.

* Tribune | Operation Midway Bliss redefines blitz with gift drive for families affected by immigration enforcement: The gift haul was coined Operation Midway Bliss as a way to reclaim the name from the federal government’s Operation Midway Blitz, which wreaked havoc on the city’s immigrant community. “When I saw those Angel Trees blowing up (on social media),” said McNiff, who lives in the Gold Coast, “an idea sparked of something I can do for my neighbors here in Chicago, aside from just yapping on TikTok or going to a protest, something that can actually have an impact directly.”