SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said he is hoping to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials this week about their operations in the Chicago area.

Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress have been seeking answers from ICE and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials about their operations in the Chicago area with little success. Durbin told reporters in Springfield on Wednesday that he has reached out to Homeland Security several times seeking a meeting.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has left Illinois officials from Gov. JB Pritzker down to local police chiefs almost entirely in the dark about the government’s “Operation Midway Blitz.” Federal officials say the operation is meant to arrest violent people illegally in the United States who are living in the Chicago area.

Durbin said prior presidential administrations have always kept members of Congress updated on their plans, but President Donald Trump’s second administration is leaving lawmakers searching for answers.

“That is routine in my service in Congress over the last 40 years,” Durbin said. “Routine for the administration of either political party to be asked to explain what they are doing and how they are spending tax funds. And they did it, but not this time.”

Durbin said there is a “chance” that changes this week, adding he has a lot of “basic” questions for ICE.

“What’s happening to the people that you’re sweeping off the streets, the detainees?” Durbin said. “Many times, their families don’t know what happened to them and can’t come up with any information as to where they’re even located.”

Transparency concerns

Illinois leaders have faulted ICE for a lack of transparency about its work in the Chicago area, which also includes teams from Customs and Border Protection.

Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Noem on Tuesday with 13 questions about DHS’ operations. The letter also expressed concerns about the tactics federal agents are using to arrest people and manage protests outside an ICE detention center in Broadview.

Last week, Pritzker released his own list of 22 questions he wants reporters to ask DHS about immigration enforcement, including how people detained by ICE are receiving legal information.

Illinois leaders said several incidents heightened their concerns, including last week when Noem shared a video of herself at a raid of an Elgin home where two U.S. citizens were briefly detained by immigration authorities.

Franklin Park police released body camera footage following a deadly shooting by ICE in the near west suburb that appeared to contradict DHS’ narrative about the incident. The footage captured by a Franklin Park police officer after the shooting shows an ICE agent saying he had no major injuries. A previous DHS statement said an agent was dragged by a car and sustained “serious injuries,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

[ Read more: ‘We are not backing down’: Feds ramp up immigration raids in Chicago area ]

It’s unclear how many people have been arrested by immigration authorities in their Chicago area crackdown or how long the operations will last. Many people who have been arrested have no criminal history, news outlets including NBC Chicago have reported.

“This notion that we’re dealing with rapists and murderers and terrorists and criminally insane is a hoax, is a fraud,” Durbin said. “If there’s a person who is dangerous in the community, remove them.”

Durbin added it’s “not American” for masked agents to arrest people who have followed the country’s laws.

Trusting the Trump administration

Durbin also discussed the Trump administration’s decision to close an FBI investigation of Tom Homan, a previous acting director of ICE who is now overseeing the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

MSNBC reported Homan took a $50,000 bribe last year from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives before Trump’s election last year in exchange for government contracts if Homan earned a job in Trump’s administration.

Trump’s Justice Department ended the investigation. The White House said Homan did nothing wrong and accused the Biden administration of entrapment and political motives.

“This $50,000, particularly as it relates to this mass deportation effort, is embarrassing,” Durbin said.

He said the incident raises more questions about how much Trump’s administration can be trusted.

“If we want to have confidence in government, we have to fight corruption in government,” Durbin said. “And the notion that someone coming into the administration takes a $50,000 payment so good word will be expressed to the White House is troubling.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.