
Week in Review: Federal Agents Patrol Downtown; Trump Pauses Infrastructure Funding
10/3/2025 | 26m 48sVideo has Closed Captions
Nick Blumberg and guests on the week's biggest news.
Another week of aggressive immigration raids — including patrols on peaceful downtown streets. And the Trump administration wants to pause $2.1 billion in infrastructure funding for Chicago.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Chicago Tonight is a local public television program presented by WTTW
WTTW video streaming support provided by members and sponsors.

Week in Review: Federal Agents Patrol Downtown; Trump Pauses Infrastructure Funding
10/3/2025 | 26m 48sVideo has Closed Captions
Another week of aggressive immigration raids — including patrols on peaceful downtown streets. And the Trump administration wants to pause $2.1 billion in infrastructure funding for Chicago.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Chicago Tonight
Chicago Tonight is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.

WTTW News Explains
In this Emmy Award-winning series, WTTW News tackles your questions — big and small — about life in the Chicago area. Our video animations guide you through local government, city history, public utilities and everything in between.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship>> Good evening and thanks for joining us on the weekend review.
I'm Nick Lumber in the latest in a series of provocations, President Donald Trump suggest Chicago could be used as a training ground for the military.
>> He is mischaracterizing Chicago.
He clearly doesn't know anything about Chicago.
He's unwilling to read anything about Chicago.
>> Governor JB Pritzker also warns the administration is planning to send 100 troops to Chicago to protect immigration agents and facilities.
>> This is not law enforcement.
This is state terrorism advocates work to track ice arrests amid a chaotic week of agents marching downtown at a military style raid on residential building.
>> We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them and irreversible by them.
President Trump tries to use the government shutdown to retaliate against his political enemies.
Meanwhile, his administration moves to freeze 2 billion dollars in funding for the Red Line extension and the Bears are out with flashy renderings of a new Arlington Heights stadium.
That comes with an ask from more than 800 million dollars in publicly funded infrastructure work.
>> And now to our week in review panel.
Joining us are Becky Vivi with Chalk Beach.
Chicago LV amount of gone with the Chicago Sun-Times, 80 Quigg with the Chicago Tribune and Ship Mitchell with WBEZ.
Thank you all for being here.
Let's get right to it.
Federal agents today have been sweeping across the northwest side.
Reports of tear gas used outside an elementary school, a supermarket, a Home depot.
And of course, we also saw this week that aggressive sweep of an apartment building arrested a homeless shelter.
You know, done some reporting on kind of a mental health effects on folks right now.
Are these enforcement actions at places that maybe once were considered a safe haven kind of the new norm?
>> That's exactly what's happening next.
So before the prior policy was that the so-called sensitive locations, ice make arrests.
That and sensitive locations are really churches, schools, hospitals prior to this administration.
Ice didn't go to those locations.
And so what's happening now is that arrests are happening.
Folks are seeing agents in those areas and that's really leading to a lot of immigrants isolating in their homes and just really going to absolutely necessary maybe to work and back.
But we've been reporting about how there's also this network that's really forming of community members, relatives, sometimes even strangers that are really stepping up to Ron errands, take kids to school, grab groceries.
Just so folks are minimizing their exposure.
>> to your point about, you know, health care facilities being kind of a and off, you know, off location that that they won't go hands off earlier today.
26 word Alderperson.
Jesse Fuentes was handcuffed in the humble park ER when she demanded to know whether agents had a judicial warrant for a man's arrest.
Here's a bit of what she had to say afterwards.
>> They have to take those handcuffs off.
Because we have constitutional rights and in the city of Chicago, every single elected official is going to protect those constitutional rights.
>> You know, ad that that arrest video pretty dramatic.
was in a public area of the hospital, not making physical contact of with the agents.
Would you make of her detention?
>> Well, they had to do it because they really didn't have a good reason to take her.
She was not obstructing their actions in any way.
She was standing very still just repeating her words.
Do you have a judicial warrant?
You have traditional war.
Nothing beyond that.
But the frustration of the agent was really clear.
kind of her around and then ultimately had to let her go, says the county building.
>> And it seems like it was pretty dramatic moment.
Their and agent keep saying, you know, that that she's in some way impeding them.
And question was are trying block their path, though, in any of the video that we can see right.
And I would surprised if we other instances like this as there are more we can place.
starting to >> Politician showing up in almost all of these locations, the kind of trying stand in the way at least try to force the conversation about judicial warrant.
Constitutional rights attorney use that the power of their office.
We just saw a bit of that arrest video.
You know, we also mentions immigration agents swarming downtown streets on a on a quiet day.
>> Ship, you had a eliminating conversation with Border Patrol Commander Gregory Vino, who's been heading up some of the local efforts.
What did you hear from him about how agents decide on their targets?
Well, yeah, contacts is that for the first time we're seeing some of these federal forces in this case, it was several dozen.
>> Heavily armed Border Patrol agents wearing military-style fatigues.
Many of them wearing military style helmets, long rifles.
They're patrolling through something.
Not right.
Right past some of the most famous tourist attractions prominent places in downtown Chicago and then into a wealthy area river north on Sunday and they're putting on this big show.
They picked a few people.
They made several arrests and and it wasn't like they had some kind of plan and we're looking for certain people to arrest.
They did What look like based on appearances and like I went up and I had a conversation with Gregory.
But, you know, he's he was he's the he was charge of this patrol.
He's from Southern California, very prominent.
And he didn't even hide.
You know, I I I think that he looked at me.
I'm 6 foot 3.
I'm middle-aged.
I'm right.
And he just that.
Well, this guy's he's he's not going to get me in any trouble.
You know, he I mean, he's not going to call me out on racial profiling.
And he just laid out.
We do it based on appearances.
He said, yeah, that's the thing about reporters.
We have a pesky habit putting people's words out there and they think we might not.
>> But I mean, it is fairly surprising to hear something like that so openly and to see the agents in there without really sort of a tactical plan necessarily?
No, no, it was it was it the one that we very close-up, Ashlee Rezin who I was working with with the photographer.
It's a good.
It's like I was very short.
He had a dark hair.
Browns scan, you know, dark pencil mouse, ask OT and he ran.
And of course, there's our there's I'm Mark.
We're going that and bovino and several others chased him down and detained him.
Yeah.
2nd and then he cemented.
They said this is based on intelligence and our experience.
Yeah, we just saw that in the video as well of ice, trying to chase down agents, try to chase down that that bicycle messenger successfully.
We've also seen Becky, some pretty chaotic protests in recent weeks that side of ICE's broadview facility.
Now local officials, state officials, they're stepping in trying to create an area to keep demonstrators safe.
How are they handling things there?
Well, it sounds like they are using sort of a space, a perimeter and engaging is that the state must be the state police say that are trying to basically protect that area to allow people to.
>> Be there and be present there and not kind of get into clashes with the enforcement officers.
>> Well, you Broadview officials have also been pushing back on ICE.
You know, the effect on the town also launching some investigations into how you know the feds they're conducting themselves, including reportedly targeting a CBS.
2 journalist was a little bit about that.
Yes, this was last weekend and this person was basically tear gassed in their vehicle.
They had their window down there taking notes the ice officials sent tear gas, sprayed them right in the face.
And that is clearly like that person was not.
>> In their way.
They were in their car, working on their filing.
Their story, presumably you know, I think that the situation out there has become.
has a lot of eyes on it and it's become something officials need to get their heads around.
well, you you mentioned the lot of folks are sort of in isolation right now, you know, with fear of getting detained.
You spoke with a young woman who's become.
>> So lifeline for her parents tell us a bit about that.
>> Yeah, that's right.
I spoke to a woman named Carla.
She was born here in the U.S.
but her parents, you know, are living in the country without legal status.
she really has little faith that they will be able to adjust their status based on everything that is going on.
And so her parents still have to go to work.
So they're still going to work by.
She is really she's living at home.
kind of your typical kind of like Jens, the person figuring things out working post college, but in addition to that, she's also really having to take on the weight of protecting her parents.
She's tracking their locations on her phone, making sure that they get home safely.
Sometimes her mom will hear about I swimmers in their neighborhood and she's driving out and she's checking and she's telling her mom, OK, coast, this clear.
And she mentioned to us that one of the they felt like they were okay.
But then after ICE agents fatally shot a man in Franklin Park that happened near where they live.
They live in the suburbs and that's when she really started to get scared.
She noticed a change in her parents.
There, you know, not going out for breakfast anymore.
No more time can do not Ron's things like that.
Little pieces of life that bring us joy.
They're not able to experience that right now.
>> Well, you know, 80 Cook County public defenders are also speaking out about some of their concerns on immigration enforcement.
What are the details there?
What they want to happen is no ice in court.
around court at all.
It's supposed to one of those safe havens.
Lot of times people are attending to go to immigration proceedings in order to become legal citizens were there attending as a witness in criminal cases or domestic violence cases a couple weeks ago, a lot of Cook County officials got together and asked other Cook County officials.
If you see ICE acting in any capacity, let us know.
So we can alert something that works that are doing kind of.
Watchdog and warning people when their eyes or it's nearby public defender.
Sean Mitchell kind of escalated that this weekend formally asked Chief judge to Nivens to limit ICE and court facilities which is.
We're not entirely Still a public space Evans has not responded.
So we don't we don't know where that's headed.
And even if it did, there was a policy could be limited.
New York tried something similar.
The Trump administration still pending in court.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see because that is the idea, you know, that you want to make sure folks are attending these sort of critical hearings.
>> But if they think they're at risk of being detained, it's likely they may stay home from that.
Yeah, let's just think a little bit about how this plays out.
You have a woman at home who battered by her husband.
She wants help.
She wants the abuse to stop.
>> But she doesn't want him deported because he's the breadwinner for her and her kids.
And they've actually have a long-term relationship.
So is she going to go to court now if she is, if you can even call the police in the first place, if she's worried that this will end up very quickly in a deportation?
No, I'm so that that there are all sorts of situations like this where the presence of immigration authorities in a courthouse for some of these other places.
It actually compromises criminal justice >> Yeah, it could really put a wrench in the works.
There.
We'll to continue for a minute.
The governor says he's expecting a wave of troops in Chicago at some point soon.
Do you expect Attorney General Kwame Raoul to take court action if that deployment actually comes about?
Well, he he very well.
He very well might.
And I think what we've what we've seen so far from the Trump administration, those that they don't really care about waging court battles are the reactions here on the local level.
>> There with all these actions, these raids, all of these conflicts that are happening at the Broad View detention center, these arrests, these marches on time.
They're actually playing to a national audience and they're trying to without their own base whip up whatever fear and hatred that they can stir up about immigrants so that they can forward their political and economic agenda.
So they're playing to a national audience.
And I don't think they really care about any lawsuit on the local level.
just to add to >> This week we saw very dramatic read happen at a South Shore apartment and of course, the next day we saw something on Twitter post that that makes it seem like it was like a movie like a trailer yeah.
But our colleagues who went down there and actually spoke to residents, talked about how it was also U.S.
citizens who were detained for hours without any answers about what was going on.
are they being detained in the middle of the night?
>> Who are held without guardians and I mean, the whole scene down there and some ways it's the point of making a public spectacle and also, I think other ulterior motive is to.
Encourage people to be afraid to leave.
Yeah, Well, and we heard very quarter point and just before we went on air that the state is, in fact, launching an investigation into that that rate of the apartment buildings will be interesting to see what comes of that.
>> But I mean Becky, the memo requesting these troops as is to protect ICE agents and facilities.
But given Trump's comments about using Chicago as some sort of a training ground.
Do you think it will actually remain within those bounds?
>> I mean, it even the example of the South Shore apartment building mean we're talking about people who, you know, they don't want to leave their home because they're worried about this ice enforcement outside.
But then very home in the middle of the night.
And so I don't really think that there's any bounds here.
There's not any boundaries that it seems that are being followed and it.
that's about it.
>> Well, 80, we are several days into the latest federal government shutdown and the Trump administration wants to pull back already promised funding for the Red Line extension.
What's their justification?
Essentially that the >> the city CTA is using race pace contracting that the federal administration supposed to.
The problem with that is.
The city receiving this money was actually contingent on them giving a certain amount of contracting business to disadvantaged business enterprises.
So businesses run by women, minorities, CTA committed to that months years ago Yep, years ago, yes, this is a federal requirement And at the moment it's frozen.
I would expect CTA to fight this vigorously back in January.
Everyone kind of thought the coast was clear.
Dorval Carter did not leave the CTA until he was sure the money for this was secured and it's not unlike what's happened with magnet schools where similar similar reasons for pulling back from holding their withholding grant money from Chicago Public schools that was awarded under previous administration under.
Long-standing policies, procedures and practices that the Department of Education has had in place for what these grants are for.
And this administration is coming in with a the whole different interpretation and saying were just we won't certify that you're in compliance since will hold back the money until you come into compliance and our version of compliance is that you eliminate your programs for black students and eliminate.
And they're also trapped with state law.
Yes, strict state law requires them to do some of these things.
So the schools are really between a rock and a hard place right now in.
I how do you comply with these new imposed?
you know, versions of requirements that this new deal he is putting down and I do think again, this is going get wound through the courts.
The courts will yeah, we heard statement yesterday that yes to end.
I think while the amount of money for the schools that's being withheld is about 8 million, which is not a lot in a 10 billion dollar budget.
>> It's still significant.
It's on top of and the precedent setting in a way that if the district doesn't take action to fight this, do they go after other streams of money under the same arguments that they're now applying to the CTA?
Yeah.
And it's CBS isn't budget trouble as forward to just the CTA for the it's interesting to cause, you know, with the CTA there was funding guarantees for the red purple modernization on the north side.
That is very well under members earlier this summer renovated stations open because like we are, we are mostly we're well on our way to completing this And that was money that was, you know, approved in the waning days of the Obama administration.
The first Trump administration distributed the funding as they were supposed to.
But >> clearly we're seeing a change tactics now.
Ray D it's everyone's favorite time of the year and that was city budget.
See give us a preview.
What's ahead for for the mayor and for the city Council.
very rocky.
>> Tue There's political pressure because we're getting really close to municipal elections.
>> There is labor pressure from unions that work in the city that are very afraid of layoffs, furloughs or any other kinds of cuts to departments.
There's alderman that very rarely agree on much of anything.
There's a mayor who has vowed not to raise property taxes, even though it's one of the easiest and biggest levers you can pull to fill.
A one point nearly 2 billion dollar deficit City Council just agreed to more costs at its most recent meeting, including a global settlement that will cost 90 million dollars next year.
It's just I thought last year was intense.
This year is going to be.
Really something really extra.
Really intense?
Yeah.
Really?
Ducks.
Double extra secret.
Intense and we have no idea yet what exactly the mayor is going to announce his budget speech later this month.
Well, one place where local officials are in alignment Elvia the Chicago Department of Public Health.
>> Joining with the state of Illinois and breaking for the federal COVID guidelines.
Was that something you more or less expected to see?
>> Yeah, everyone off the medical experts and doctors said I spoke to everyone.
was expecting that the state what say something that was very contrary to what's going on on the federal level.
They expected that there would be access more white access to COVID shots on that.
Also, I mean, there's some other things that on the federal level, especially for children.
They're kind of changing their recommendations.
so we started to see me about 2 weeks ago that they set pretty much anyone ticket a COVID vaccine and hopefully you're able to life in here kind of some mix stories about how that is actually playing out at pharmacies.
But yeah, here in Illinois pretty much if you want one, you should be able to even parents, even though they're only recommending them for certain children.
If a parent does want their child to be vaccinated, if there should be a way for them to do >> Well, turning to some news about CPD chip police reform advocates say the department's violating the consent decree because use of force has been on the rise.
You know, when it comes to black and Latino Chicagoans, they made that charge in a federal court filing and they can said superintendent snowing hasn't been coming to the table.
Do you think this kind of public pressure could persuade CPD to talk to solutions or might this, you know, coming out in public, make them dig in their heels.
Well, Larry Snelling is very unique.
And among recent superintendents for many, many years, had broad community support.
>> And he's also was he was the favorite candidate to become superintendent among rank-and-file cops as expressed by their union.
So I think he is sensitive public opinion and he he will.
He doesn't.
He doesn't want to look like he's letting corrupt and brutal caps the hook.
you know, we'll And especially at a time where the department is still very much not in full compliance with the consent decree.
You know, this is something that they want to make a public commitment to to working towards That's exactly right.
small fraction of the consent decree paragraphs have been.
>> Complied totally which means they're there policies are being an operation already quite a ways to go.
We'll turn back to some education news.
Becky, there was a new report on spending per student in Illinois.
And then it's improved pretty significantly.
>> What are the findings that would help that turnaround?
So a few years, I should take us back in time a little bit.
Let's do our than a few years ago.
I guess back in 2015, 16, the state legislature who was having big discussion about how Illinois rank very low in the amount that's the state puts towards.
>> K 12 education in K 12 school districts back in 2008 to this report goes back to 2008 and said we 47th out of 50 states in 2017 lawmakers passed a new formula for distributing state money to schools.
And with that passage of that bill, they also committed to adding 350 million dollars annually every year until every district gets too funding adequacy and folks who are regular viewers poll know we've talked about this a and what that means and we're kind of all all these districts are on a ramp.
So the state has really been increasing since 2017.
They've put in 2.8 billion dollars additional to that formula.
And that has resulted this Advance Illinois, an advocacy group that watches a lot of education policy in Illinois.
So that we now rank 18th.
So one from 47 to 18 years, which is pretty significant.
Now, they're still equity gaps because we have a system that still is very heavily reliant on property taxes to local communities.
You don't have have their schools funded by their local taxes.
But the state's contribution to K 12 schools has increased in a significant way that has made an impact.
>> Well, and we've heard a lot from CTU in the recent seen Ocps budget battle saying the state still not funding U.S.
adequately were not getting what we need this report could could scramble.
might scramble some of that.
You know, I But I do think you've heard from Pritzker and lawmakers, you know, we're on this.
We've got this plan under this formula that we've committed to, you know, 10 years ago, we're going to keep marching toward that.
>> To to move from where we're at now to immediately full funding for everybody just being able to do that in one year would be nice, too.
But I mean, it would cause him.
It would be like billions billions of dollars in the state budget every year deals with deficits.
And so this sort of slow march.
Well, isn't, you know, ideal for people in schools who would like all that money tomorrow.
It's it's kind of a budgetary challenge.
So I don't know that it will scramble it.
I do think the state will stay on that track.
And I do think there are some important other points raised about again, the equity and even as we've increased funding formula money, there's been cuts proration done areas like special Ed or transportation, which can then, you know, cause ground level disruptions for school districts 80.
We've got about 30 seconds left.
There's officials celebrating a new quantum computing campus on the Old South works site.
>> Neighbors want to community benefits agreement.
You've reported heavily on the Obama center.
You know, just how tough those agreements are to land.
Fair to say, very fair to say.
And it's even difficult for the city county or state to guarantee certain.
>> Housing protections or job protections in that area.
I'm sure community members will still go ahead as they have for the Obama center.
They just got a deal for South shore couple weeks ago.
So it's something we'll be watching closely.
>> All right.
Well, we've been watching all of you closely and you all been great, but we are out of time.
So hour, thanks to that DVD of the amount of gone.
quick and Chip Mitchell and we're back to wrap things up right after this.
>> Tonight's presentation of Week in review is made possible in part by an and rich com BNSF railway.
And Francine and Doctor Anthony Brown.
Chicago tonight is made possible in part why the Alexander and John Nichols fate.
The Pope Brothers Foundation, additional support is provided by.
>> And that's our show for this Friday night.
Be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter.
That's the Daily Chicago and at W T Tw Dot Com Slash newsletter.
Join us Monday evening on Chicago tonight for a one-on-one with Mayor Brandon Johnson to talk about plans to address the city's budget shortfall.
Immigration enforcement and much more.
Lots to talk with him about now for the weekend or view.
I'm Nick Lambert.
Thank you for watching.
Stay healthy, stay safe and stay informed.
Have a great weekend.
>> All right, folks, the Bears are out with their latest latest latest plan for this stadium and mixed use development if only they were persistent on the field as they are off it.
This is in Arlington Heights, some 850 million dollars in publicly funded infrastructure.
Do you think that might have a snowball's chance given that it won't just benefit the team?
Let's hear it.
>> And you have one thought, which is that they're trying to build public support to have to do a lot better just the stadium renderings.
What I saw there was >> a total 60's 70's style kind of ash tray brutalist design that remind you have to Houston after down from 1965.
So that's one thing.
What?
Yes, from no longer with I I don't know.
You know, they're been all sorts of economic studies that publicly public financing stadiums for sports.
>> Closed captioning is made possible by Robert a cliff and Clifford law offices, personal injury, law firm that gives
- News and Public Affairs
Top journalists deliver compelling original analysis of the hour's headlines.
- News and Public Affairs
FRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world.
Support for PBS provided by:
Chicago Tonight is a local public television program presented by WTTW
WTTW video streaming support provided by members and sponsors.