Stories credited to Chicago Sun-Times, by publication date. ChamberLight collects articles that mention the officials it tracks, so this shows its own coverage of this source, not how much the source publishes.

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Month	Stories	All outlets
March 2026	3	880
April 2026	0	4,537
May 2026	0	none collected
June 2026	0	none collected
July 2026	0	none collected
August 2026	0	1 (collection gap)
September 2026	0	598

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Party of the officials these stories are mainly about, across all 6 officials named. A story counts once for each official it is mainly about, so the split is over 8 story–official pairs, from 3 stories.

Republican75% · 6 pairs
Democrat25% · 2 pairs

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Good Look: 0 (0%)
Mixed: 3 (100%)
Informational: 0 (0%)
Bad Look: 0 (0%)

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Articles served from chicago.suntimes.com

Some airport bottlenecks ease as TSA says workers got their pay

After weeks of chaos in U.S. airports, the Transportation Safety Administration said Monday that most of its officers received much of their backpay Monday for working during the shutdown. Weary travelers hope the overdue paychecks will lead to the end of the hours-long security lines travelers experienced at several major U.S. airports in recent weeks. Wait times at some TSA security bottlenecks, such as the airport checkpoints in Atlanta and Houston, already had improved significantly Monday morning. But how long it will take for long security lines to consistently return to normal — and how long federal immigration officers will maintain a visible presence in airport terminals — remains unknown as the busy spring break travel season continues. “Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out,” said Acting TSA Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. The DHS shutdown resulted in not only travel delays but also warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stopped going to work. Those workers were just recovering financially since last fall’s extended government shutdown. Wait times still pushed beyond two hours at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Monday morning. Baltimore-Washington International Airport had minimal wait-times Monday morning, but continued to advise travelers to arrive three hours before their scheduled departure. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately to ease the lines plaguing airports. The move came after Trump rejected bipartisan congressional efforts to fund the TSA while negotiations continue with Democrats, who have refused to approve more funding without restraints on Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations. Democrats are demanding better identification for the officers, judicial warrants in some cases and for agents to refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Republicans and the White House have been willing to negotiate on some points, but the sides have yet to reach a final agreement. On Monday, there were few signs of progress on Capitol Hill, where the Senate held a short session without considering the House bill and resumed its two-week break. GOP Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota said afterward that Senate Republicans are talking with Democrats and also the House as they try to find a way to funding DHS. TSA employees had gone without pay since DHS funding lapsed in February. The department’s shutdown reached 44 days on Sunday, eclipsing the record 43-day shutdown last fall that affected all of the federal government. The DHS shutdown has resulted in not only travel delays but also warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stopped going to work. Those workers had already endured the nation’s longest government shutdown last fall. Multiple airports experienced greater than 40% callout rates, and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers quit during the shutdown. Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to some airports a week ago to help with security as TSA callouts rose nationwide. How long they stay, White House border czar Tom Homan said, depends on how quickly TSA employees return to work. A TSA statement said the agency “has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce,” with paychecks arriving “as early as Monday.” The overall absentee rate among TSA officers scheduled to work dipped slightly on Sunday, according to DHS. The highest were concentrated at major airports that have seen consistently elevated absences lately. Those included BWI, both of Houston’s main airports; Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans; Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport; and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Mar 30, 202620 votes

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — El presidente Donald Trump dijo el jueves que firmaría una orden instruyendo al secretario de Seguridad Nacional a pagar inmediatamente a los agentes de la Administración de Seguridad en el Transporte (TSA), mientras el Congreso luchaba por llegar a un acuerdo para poner fin a un estancamiento presupuestario que ha paralizado aeropuertos y dejado a los trabajadores sin cheques de pago. Trump anunció su decisión en una publicación en redes sociales, diciendo que quería detener rápidamente el "caos en los aeropuertos". “No es algo fácil de hacer, ¡pero lo voy a hacer!” publicó el presidente. La Voz Chicago WhatsApp Encuentra más noticias en nuestro canal de WhatsApp. Síguenos. Con la presión en aumento, la Casa Blanca había sugerido la medida extraordinaria de invocar una emergencia nacional para pagar a los agentes de la TSA, mientras los senadores revisaban una oferta "última y final" de los republicanos a los demócratas para terminar con el estancamiento de financiamiento en el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS). Los detalles del plan del presidente no estaban disponibles de inmediato, pero una declaración de emergencia nacional podría resultar políticamente complicada y casi cierta de enfrentar desafíos legales. En su lugar, el presidente podría simplemente estar desviando dinero de otras fuentes. Los demócratas han estado rechazando financiar a DHS mientras exigen cambios para frenar los operativos de inmigración de Trump. El Senado llegó a un punto muerto y los senadores, listos para salir de la ciudad por sus propias vacaciones de primavera, se habían preparado para quedarse toda la noche para alcanzar un acuerdo. “El presidente está haciendo absolutamente lo correcto,” dijo el senador John Barrasso, republicano por Wyoming, el líder del Partido Republicano. “Se le va a pagar a los agentes de la TSA”. Everett Kelley, presidente nacional de la Federación Estadounidense de Empleados Gubernamentales (AFGE), emitió una declaración diciendo que pagar solo a los trabajadores de la TSA, aunque es bienvenido, no es suficiente. La AFGE representa a 47,000 oficiales de la TSA. “Todavía no sabemos lo que esto significa para miles de otros empleados de DHS en la Agencia Federal Para el Manejo de Emergencias (FEMA), la Guardia Costera y la Agencia de Seguridad Cibernética e Infraestructura, entre otros”, dijo Kelley en su declaración. “Estos trabajadores y sus familias no pueden esperar. A todos los empleados de DHS se les debe pagar inmediatamente”, añadió. “El Congreso necesita seguir trabajando para aprobar un verdadero acuerdo de asignaciones bipartidista que financie a DHS, pague a todos los trabajadores de DHS y mantenga en funcionamiento estas agencias vitales —incluso si eso significa cancelar sus próximas vacaciones”, La senadora Susan Collins, republicana por Maine, presidenta del Comité de Asignaciones, ha dicho que hay fondos disponibles en otros lugares que se pueden usar legalmente para pagar a la TSA, así como a la Guardia Costera, sin declarar una emergencia nacional. El cierre de financiamiento, que ahora lleva más de 40 días, ha dado lugar a retrasos en los viajes, cheques de pago perdidos y hasta advertencias de cierres de aeropuertos. Los trabajadores de la TSA estaban a punto de perder su segundo día de pago el viernes, con miles de ellos negándose a presentarse a trabajar. Varios aeropuertos han estado experimentando tasas de ausentismo de más del 40% entre los trabajadores de la TSA y casi 500 de sus cerca de 50,000 oficiales de seguridad de transporte han renunciado durante el cierre. A nivel nacional, el miércoles, más del 11% de los empleados de la TSA programados faltaron al trabajo, según DHS. Eso representa más de 3,120 ausencias. Trump, quien en gran medida ha dejado el tema en manos del Congreso para resolverlo, había advertido que estaba listo para tomar medidas, incluso amenazando con enviar a la Guardia Nacional a los aeropuertos, además de su despliegue de agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) que ahora están verificando las identificaciones de los viajeros, algo que ha suscitado preocupaciones. La Casa Blanca ha estado considerando una serie de opciones. En el Aeropuerto Intercontinental George Bush en Houston, Melissa Gates dijo que no podría hacer su vuelo a Baton Rouge, Luisiana, después de esperar más de 2 horas y media y aún no haber llegado al control de seguridad. Dijo que no había otros vuelos disponibles hasta el viernes. “Debí haber manejado, ¿verdad?”, comentó Gates. “Cinco horas hubieran sido graciosas al lado de esto”. Los agentes de ICE están de guardia en el punto de salida de la zona de llegadas en la Terminal 2 del Aeropuerto Internacional O’Hare el lunes. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Una ‘última y final’ oferta sobre la mesa El jueves temprano, el líder de la mayoría del Senado, John Thune, republicano por South Dakota, anunció que había entregado la oferta final a los demócratas. Thune no reveló detalles del nuevo marco, pero dijo que se basaba en lo que había sido la oferta republicana durante el fin de semana, antes de que las conversaciones con la Casa Blanca y los demócratas se interrumpieran. Pero a medida que los senadores se retiraron para discutir en privado el nuevo plan, la acción se estancó. Los demócratas argumentan que las propuestas del partido republicano no han ido lo suficientemente lejos al poner límites sobre los oficiales de ICE, la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP) y otras agencias federales que están involucradas en las redadas de inmigración, particularmente después de las muertes de dos estadounidenses que protestaban las acciones en Minneapolis. Quieren que los agentes federales usen identificación, se quiten las mascarillas y se abstengan de realizar redadas en escuelas, iglesias u otros lugares sensibles. Los demócratas también han presionado por el fin de las órdenes administrativas, insistiendo en que los jueces firmen antes de que los agentes registren las casas o espacios privados de las personas. El líder demócrata del Senado, Chuck Schumer de Nueva York, dijo que necesitaban ver cambios reales. “Hemos estado hablando de reformas de ICE desde el primer día”, comentó. Cualquier acuerdo casi ciertamente necesitará involucrar un compromiso, ya que los legisladores de los lados derecho e izquierdo se rebelan. Los republicanos conservadores han criticado sus propias propuestas del partido republicano, exigiendo financiamiento total para los operativos de inmigración y escépticos de la promesa de los líderes de que abordarían el proyecto de ley de comprobación de ciudadanía de Trump en un paquete legislativo posterior. Los republicanos dijeron después de una reunión privada de almuerzo que había otras opciones para desviar fondos en lugar de invocar la emergencia nacional. El gran proyecto de ley de recortes de impuestos del partido republicano que Trump firmó el año pasado canalizó miles de millones al DHS, incluyendo $75 mil millones para operativos de ICE, asegurando que el flujo de dinero continúe para su agenda de inmigración y deportación, incluso con el cierre de financiamiento. ICE y otros agentes de inmigración aún están recibiendo sus pagos. Los republicanos dicen que la administración de Trump ya ha avanzado para satisfacer las demandas de los demócratas, especialmente después de juramentar al exsenador de Oklahoma Markwayne Mullin como el nuevo secretario de Seguridad Nacional para reemplazar a Kristi Noem. Él ha reconocido la necesidad de órdenes judiciales para las búsquedas. Las filas en los aeropuertos aumentaron “Esta es una situación crítica”, testificó la administradora interina de la TSA, Ha Nguyen McNeill, en una audiencia de la Cámara el miércoles. Describió las múltiples dificultades que enfrentan los trabajadores no remunerados de la TSA —acumulación de cuentas y avisos de desalojo, incluso donar plasma para llegar a fin de mes— y advirtió sobre posibles cierres de aeropuertos si más empleados se niegan a ir a trabajar. “En este momento, tenemos que considerar todas las opciones sobre la mesa,” dijo. McNeill también afirmó que los oficiales de la TSA que trabajan en los aeropuertos de la nación han experimentado un aumento de más del 500% en la frecuencia de agresiones desde que comenzó el cierre. “Esto es inaceptable,” dijo McNeill. Contribuyeron: Los reporteros de la Associated Press (AP) Joey Cappelletti, Kevin Freking, Rebecca Santana y Ben Finley en Washington, Lekan Oyekanmi en Houston, Wyatte Grantham-Philips en Nueva York, Rio Yamat en Las Vegas, Russ Bynum en Savannah, Georgia, y Gabriela Aoun Angueira en San Diego. Traducido con una herramienta de inteligencia artificial (AI) y editado por La Voz Chicago

Mar 27, 202612 votes

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Mar 27, 202612 votes

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Mar 27, 202620 votes

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Mar 27, 202610 votes

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Mar 27, 202630 votes

Another Trump administration deportation blitz hasn’t materialized in Chicago

When U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino left town last fall, Chicago’s reprieve came with a warning: The tear gas, chaos and fear associated with Operation Midway Blitz could return to the city’s streets fourfold in March. Now March is here. And President Donald Trump has fired Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, instead. Bovino’s out too. The White House put him on the sidelines in January after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis. Even Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary who once fiercely defended Homeland Security, has moved on. All told, there’s little on the horizon to suggest Operation Midway Blitz 2.0 is about to materialize. Much has changed since a source told the Chicago Sun-Times in November that 1,000 agents could return this month. The enforcement surge in Minnesota that followed the earlier Chicago campaign turned out to be a breaking point, leaving the Trump administration struggling to justify the shooting deaths of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti. Calls to reform immigration enforcement have led to a partial government shutdown. Senate Democrats last week blocked Homeland Security funding for a third time, refusing to approve a spending bill without stricter use-of-force policies and a ban on officers wearing masks. Steve Art, an attorney who challenged the feds’ tactics in court last fall, said the Minneapolis campaign gave the American people "a look at what we saw in Chicago throughout Operation Midway Blitz." And, he said, "the American people didn’t like it." The Chicago operation featured roving bands of masked agents, thousands of arrests, the seemingly indiscriminate use of tear gas and pepper balls and two shootings, one of which claimed the life of Silverio Villegas González. "Bovino being gone and Noem being gone within six months of the start of Operation Midway Blitz really shows you how politically untenable it is to engage in that kind of operation in the United States," Art said. "And that should give everybody a lot of hope." A Homeland Security spokesperson said officials in the department "do not discuss future or potential operations. Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country, including in Chicago." Immigration enforcement remains a key pillar of Trump’s second term. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a mountain of funding and continues to hire and increase its capacity to remove immigrants from the country, according to a former Homeland Security official. The feds are still fighting a court order that would govern the treatment of people held in an immigration processing facility in Broadview. Last fall, a judge heard that people were crammed 100 at a time into a cell there, with nowhere to sleep but a dirty floor near an open toilet. Art said it’s good to be prepared for another surge in enforcement, but he also warned of future issues "relating to the election and to polling places." Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., said Democrats "can’t keep sabotaging ourselves." She took Noem to task in a fiery meeting last month and told her, "your days may be numbered." That was eight days before Trump showed Noem the door. Now, with Homeland Security on its heels, Ramirez told the Sun-Times: "This is our moment. Our strategy has to be, delay as far as you possibly can. Delay till November, if you can. Maybe January. And then let us get into the majority." Changing tactics The public outcry that stifled the feds’ immigration operation in Minneapolis led to new ICE directives that were relayed during recent agencywide leadership meetings, a former Homeland Security official told the Sun-Times. Leaders were told to prioritize "targeted enforcement," instead of the "street sweeps" and large-scale campaigns like Midway Blitz, the official said. That would mean a return to ICE’s traditional, but still aggressive, enforcement tactics. It would also mean setting aside the hallmark, but controversial, tactics of Midway Blitz: Roaming Chicago’s neighborhoods and stopping anyone whose legal status appeared to be in doubt. Those tactics came roaring back Dec. 16, when Bovino led Border Patrol agents on a brief trip to the Chicago area. ICE still has vast financial resources and access to vital information from other government agencies that helps agents identify and target people. “Does the Chicago field office just really try to do a lot of enforcement without supplemental folks from other areas and other federal agencies?” the former official asked. “Do they look at different ways of arresting people, like work sites? “It doesn’t appear that they’re going to stop doing immigration enforcement, because they’re ramping up all the other parts of the system.” Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a man during a skirmish outside the ICE facility in Broadview in September. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times There’s no obvious sign of another Chicago surge within Homeland Security spending, though. Last summer, the agency stocked up on office supplies and ammunition to be used here, while also investing in relocation services for agents, according to federal data. Similar purchases were made in Minnesota and North Carolina in the months leading up to increased immigration enforcement in those states. The department has continued buying supplies and security equipment in Minnesota over the last month, as large swaths of agents remain in the area. But the department hasn’t made any major purchases for use here since the withdrawal of Bovino and many of his agents in November. The last contract the department signed related to the Broadview holding facility was a $349,000 purchase for box lunch services on Dec. 8. Those services are set to expire in early April. Plans for polling places? The spending impasse in Washington leaves immigration enforcement largely unaffected. That’s because the agencies at the crux of the argument are considered essential under a shutdown. That includes ICE, which received $75 billion in Trump’s major tax and spending bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That also allows the agency to ride out the funding lapse while other departments under Homeland Security will be forced to furlough workers and cut operations. Chicago Democrats like Ramirez hope the impasse — and Noem’s firing — will delay any plans to target Chicago in another sweeping immigration operation. Trump said he would nominate U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, as his next Homeland Security secretary. But Ramirez said Mullin is unlikely to be confirmed by the Senate until April. “Frankly, it wouldn't work well with them if they end up continuing these big operations without a leader at the helm,” Ramirez said. U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez speaks during a World Refugee Day ceremony at Daley Plaza last June. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Lawmakers in the nation’s capital have also raised concerns about the Trump administration using ICE or Border Patrol agents to disrupt voting in November. U.S. Sen. Chris Coons asked Noem last week, before she was fired, whether she would rule out deploying agents to polling places. “There are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations,” Noem told the Delaware Democrat. Coons cited a law forbidding troops at the polls and continued to press Noem on whether she would “rule it out.” Noem retorted, “Do you plan on illegal aliens voting in our elections, senator?” Others share Coons’ concern. Art said plans are in the works to litigate “whether there’s ever a reason to have federal forces, like we saw during Operation Midway Blitz, anywhere near a polling place.” “We think the obvious answer to that, under the law, is no,” Art said. “But it’s our intention to litigate that issue far in advance.” Art helped win last fall’s order from U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis restricting the feds’ use of force during Midway Blitz — an order formally vacated last week by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Art's team also secured an under-oath deposition from Bovino, during which Ellis said he lied about his justification for the use of tear gas in Little Village. ‘They say they’re coming back’ The ICE holding facility in Broadview became a focal point of Midway Blitz. Not only did many of the feds’ detainees find themselves held there at some point, but it became the site of near-daily protests. Designed as a short-term holding facility, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman remarked last November that it had “really become a prison.” He did so while presiding over a lawsuit that alleges the feds were “warehousing people at Broadview for days on end.” Gettleman handed down a temporary restraining order that month aimed at improving conditions inside the facility. He required a clean mat and bedding for everyone held there overnight, and that cells be cleaned twice daily. The order is still in effect. A two-day hearing over whether Gettleman should enter a more permanent order is set to begin April 21. But in mid-December, a month after Bovino and his agents first left town, the Justice Department seemed to have an opportunity to bring the case to an end. Justice Department lawyer Jana Brady told the judge that “Broadview is back to being just a processing center.” A pair of federal agents stand atop the immigrant processing center in suburban Broadview on Sept. 22, 2025. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times She said the case was “moot.” In other words, there was no reason to keep arguing about it. The controversy was over. But Gettleman pressed her on the question on many Chicagoans’ minds. He said he would consider whether the case had become irrelevant if Brady would only “stipulate” that a second surge in immigration enforcement was not in the works. “If the government learns that we’re not going to have a surge again, and is able to give assurances about that, then I would be open to some sort of resolution,” Gettleman told her. “What you’re asking for is law enforcement-sensitive information,” Brady replied. She said it could lead to the “thwarting” of a mission or “safety issues for all involved.” So the case is still ongoing, three months later. Gettleman told Brady he was simply taking her client at its word. “They say they’re coming back here in force,” he told her. Contributing: Tom Schuba Related Trump ousts Kristi Noem, Pritzker says ‘don’t let the door hit you on the way out’ DHS head Noem claims she doesn’t know about Marimar Martinez, Chicago woman shot 5 times by federal agent Federal judge likely to intervene at Broadview’s ICE facility: ‘It has really become a prison’

Mar 10, 202620 votes

Another Trump administration deportation blitz hasn’t materialized in Chicago

Mar 10, 20268 votes

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Some airport bottlenecks ease as TSA says workers got their pay

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Trump firma orden para pagar a agentes de la TSA mientras el Congreso debate financiación de DHS

Another Trump administration deportation blitz hasn’t materialized in Chicago

Another Trump administration deportation blitz hasn’t materialized in Chicago