Halloween Celebrations Dwindle in Chicago Amid Immigration Enforcement Escalation

By Brian Freeman | Sunday, 02 November 2025 10:10 PM EST

Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities saw a significant drop over the weekend in and around Chicago due to heightened immigration enforcement activities. At least one Halloween parade was canceled as tensions flared between protesters and federal agents.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker had previously urged federal authorities to temporarily halt immigration operations during the holiday, stating that “our children should not be victims.” However, this request was rejected by the Trump administration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized Pritzker’s appeal as “shameful,” emphasizing, “We’re absolutely not willing to put on pause any work that we will do to keep communities safe.”

A confrontation occurred in Evanston on Friday, where clashes erupted between demonstrators and immigration agents near a middle school. Footage shared by witnesses depicted an agent restraining a man and striking him repeatedly in the head. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson described the incident, stating that agents were “aggressively tailgated by a red vehicle” before a crash occurred. The agency reported that a hostile crowd surrounded agents, verbally abused them, and spat on them. During the encounter, pepper spray was used to disperse the crowd after an individual resisted arrest. Three U.S. citizens were detained for assaulting law enforcement.

DHS also revealed that five undocumented migrants from Mexico were arrested during the operation. All had no legal documentation and faced criminal records, including trespassing charges and multiple illegal entries into the United States. ICE currently holds nearly 60,000 individuals in detention, the highest number in years, with many lacking criminal histories.

Brian Freeman is a Newsmax writer based in Israel, with over three decades of experience covering culture and politics for newspapers, online platforms, and television.