CHICAGO (AP) — A commission formed to document alleged harassment and abuse by federal agents during an immigration crackdown in the Chicago area reviewed the wide use of chemical agents in its first public hearing Thursday.
The immigration operation, which started in September, has been marked by aggressive tactics widely denounced by judges, elected leaders and a growing number of residents in the nation’s third-largest city and surrounding suburbs. Formed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the commission is the latest resistance effort by a Democratic-led state to the Trump administration’s federal intervention, which critics say is discriminatory and an overreach of executive power.
“It’s going to be impossible to forget,” said Rubén Castillo, a former federal judge who leads the commission, of the immigration operation. “The one thing we cannot do is accept this. This cannot be the new normal.”
The meeting came as a Border Patrol commander — who was the face of the Chicago operation before leading similar crackdowns in North Carolina and Louisiana — surprisingly returned to the Chicago area this week.
More than 4,000 people have been arrested in the Chicago area crackdown, during which there was a fatal shooting by federal agents. The operation prompted multiple lawsuits and a new law that shields immigrants from arrests near courthouses, hospitals and schools. Other places where there's been intensified immigration enforcement have also fought back, including California, which launched a portal this month for residents to file complaints against federal agents of alleged misconduct.
There are limitations on what the Illinois commission can do, something members acknowledged as they played video clips and heard testimony of well-documented incidents, including an agent pepper spraying a toddler and her father. The commission cannot compel anyone to testify, bring charges or force legislation but they’ll issue a report next year with recommendations.
Members include attorneys, community leaders and retired judges who said their goal was to also create an accurate historic record of the impact on the community as the Trump administration's account of what happened often contradict what was seen and documented by firsthand witnesses.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended its approach as appropriate in the face of growing threats to federal officers. The agency has touted efforts to arrest violent criminals, though public records of their first weeks in Chicago show the majority of arrestees didn’t have violent criminal records.
In a statement Thursday, the department's assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, blasted the commission as Pritzker's way of continuing “to smear law enforcement."
Community leaders have said the operation has been devastating to the community.
The hearing Thursday was held near Little Village, a neighborhood known as the “Mexico of the Midwest” that was among the hardest hit by immigration agents. Businesses reported slowdowns and schools noted drops in attendance as many residents have remained on edge.
“The narrative of removing dangerous criminals is simply not true,” Matt DeMateo, a pastor who leads New Life Centers, testified.
Senior Border Patrol Official Greg Bovino left the Chicago area last month. His surprise return, amid ongoing operations in New Orleans, prompted immediately backlash in the Democratic stronghold, with activists following agents as they patrolled throughout the city and suburbs. That included a confrontation Wednesday with the mayor of Evanston, an affluent Chicago suburb that’s home to Northwestern University.
Bovino posted last month about his conversation with Mayor Daniel Biss.
“Although he fell back into the divisive talking points that we’ve heard ad nauseum from politicians in Chicago, I hope it was enlightening to him,” Bovino said on the social platform X.
Biss, who is running for Congress, had a different take.
“We will not be intimidated,” he said in a statement posted to X with a picture of the Bovino interaction. “Get the hell out of our city.”
Illinois Accountability Commission Vice Chair Patricia Brown Holmes, left, speaks during the commission's first hearing at Arturo Velasquez Institute at Richard J. Daley College in the Lower West Side of Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, center, looks on after federal immigration enforcement agents detained an individual outside a Mobil gas station in Evanston, Ill., Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Green Bay (9-4-1) at Chicago (10-4)
Saturday, 8:20 p.m. EST, Fox.
BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 1 1/2.
Against the spread: Packers 6-7-1; Bears 8-5-1.
Series record: Packers lead 109-96-6.
Last meeting: Packers beat Bears 28-21 at Green Bay on Dec. 7.
Last week: Packers lost at Denver 34-26; Bears beat Cleveland 31-3.
Packers offense: overall (13), rush (18), pass (12), scoring (10)
Packers defense: overall (6), rush (8), pass (8), scoring (8)
Bears offense: overall (5), rush (2), pass (17), scoring (9)
Bears defense: overall (24), overall (23), pass (18), scoring (21)
Turnover differential: Packers plus-3; Bears plus-20.
DL Rashan Gary. The Packers need one of their other pass rushers to step up now that Micah Parsons, who had 12 1/2 sacks, is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Gary is the most proven of the candidates, though he hasn't played particularly well lately. After recording 7 1/2 sacks in Green Bay's first seven games of the season, he doesn't have any in the Packers' last seven contests. He has a sack in two of his last three games against the Bears.
QB Caleb Williams. Williams made it clear after last week's win that he was looking forward to the rematch with the Packers. Who could blame him? The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner had a rough time at Lambeau Field and it wasn't just the ending, with an interception in the end zone by Keisean Nixon with 22 seconds remaining on a badly underthrown pass to Cole Kmet. Williams threw for just 186 yards and was 19 of 35 in his sixth straight game completing fewer than 60% of his passes. That streak ended against Cleveland, when he threw two touchdown passes and finished 17 of 28 for 242 yards.
Bears offensive line vs. Packers defensive line. Though Parsons didn't have a sack in the game at Lambeau Field, he was consistently in Williams' face. With Parsons out, Williams should have more time to let plays develop behind one of the NFL's most effective lines.
Packers: Parsons wasn't the only notable Packers player to get injured against Denver. Other players to exit that game included WR Christian Watson (chest/shoulder), RT Zach Tom (back/knee), S Evan Williams (knee) and TE Josh Whyle (concussion). RB Josh Jacobs re-injured his knee in that game, but played the rest of the way. Whyle has been ruled out for Saturday's game. Watson, Tom, Williams and Jacobs are all questionable, along with RB Chris Brooks (chest), DL Brenton Cox Jr. (groin), DL Kingsley Enagbare (illness), OL Darian Kinnard (neck), DL Collin Oliver (hamstring) and WR Dontayvion Wicks (ankle).
Bears: WR Rome Odunze will miss his third straight game due to a lingering foot injury after being ruled out on Thursday. He was a late scratch against Cleveland after aggravating it in warmups. ... WR Luther Burden (ankle) is also out. He was hurt against Cleveland. ... LB Tremaine Edmunds (groin), who has missed the past four games, was a full participant in practice on Thursday and is listed as questionable after the Bears opened a 21-day practice window this week. ... RB D'Andre Swift (groin) was added to the injury list on Wednesday, when he was limited in practice, and is questionable.
The Packers are 30-6 against the Bears counting the playoffs since the start of the 2008 season and had won 11 straight in the NFL's longest-running rivalry before a loss at Lambeau Field in last year's finale. ... Green Bay has won six in a row at Soldier Field. ... This will be the first time the teams meet twice within a 14-day span since 1985. ... Packers QB Jordan Love has nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions in five career games against the Bears.
Chicago and Green Bay can clinch playoff spots with a win, plus a loss or tie by Detroit against Pittsburgh. The Bears and Packers would also get in with a tie if the Lions lose. ... Green Bay is looking to reach the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years under coach Matt LaFleur, while Chicago is trying to make it for the first time since 2020. ... The Packers are 4-0 against the NFC North and are one of only two teams unbeaten against their division. The Los Angeles Chargers are 5-0 against the AFC West. ... LaFleur's 76 career wins match Paul Brown for the second-highest total by any coach in his first seven NFL seasons. George Seifert holds the record with 86 wins over that stretch. ... The Packers are 24-12-1 in prime-time games during LaFleur's tenure. ... The Packers are 4-0 against NFC North opponents this season. The only other NFL team that's undefeated in divisional games is the Los Angeles Chargers. ... Jacobs has 13 touchdown runs, putting him in a tie for second in the league with Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs. Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor has 16 touchdown runs. Jacobs also had his first touchdown catch of the season Sunday. ... The Bears won five straight games and nine of 10 before the loss at Lambeau two weeks ago. They moved back into the NFC North lead with the win over Cleveland and Green Bay's loss to Denver. ... Chicago has won five in a row at Soldier Field since a season-opening loss to Minnesota. It's the team's best home win streak since a six-game run in 2005. ... The Bears picked off Shedeur Sanders three times last week and extended their league-leading totals in INTs (21), takeaways (30) and turnover differential (plus-20). ... Chicago has takeaways in seven straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL. ... The Bears have five wins after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. ... Williams has a franchise-record five fourth-quarter comeback wins and is tied with Denver's Bo Nix for the league lead.
Swift had a big game last week, running for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and will be going against a defense missing one of the NFL's best players. With 935 yards rushing, Swift also has a chance to reach 1,000 for the second time in his six seasons. He ran for 1,049 yards with Philadelphia in 2023.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Green Bay Packers' Micah Parsons reacts after an injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, right, avoids a tackle by Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, left, in the second half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
