The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Oct. 14 that it has obtained “credible intelligence” that cartels in Mexico have placed bounties on U.S. law enforcement officers and officials.
Mexican cartels, which have used Chicago and other major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta as drug distribution hubs for years, are now being confronted with targeted law enforcement operations and have put out calls to sympathetic domestic groups for acts of violence and intimidation against authorities in the United States, according to the DHS.
“These criminal networks have issued explicit instructions to U.S.-based sympathetics, including street gangs in Chicago, to monitor, harass, and assassinate federal agents,” the department stated.
The department noted several federal investigations, which are still active, that have uncovered intelligence showing that the cartels have advertised a tiered bounty system of remuneration for various actions escalating in violence and ambition.
Intelligence gathering or doxxing of federal agents, including taking photos and gathering information about their families, could receive a payout of $2,000, and kidnapping or non-lethal assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection agents could receive payments of up to $10,000. Assassinations of high-ranking U.S. officials could see payments of up to $50,000, according to the DHS.
The investigations also revealed that criminal groups, including members of Chicago’s street gangs with ties to the Latin Kings, have developed networks of armed rooftop “spotters” who track ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers and communicate their coordinates.
“This surveillance has enabled ambushes and disruptions during routine enforcement actions, including recent raids under Operation Midway Blitz,” the DHS stated.
Led by ICE, Operation Midway Blitz was launched in early September in Chicago and the surrounding areas covered by the ICE Chicago Field Office, including Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas, to remove illegal immigrants and enforce immigration law.
The intelligence comes as federal and state authorities are at loggerheads over how to approach law enforcement in the state.
Federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection walk north on North Clark Street in the River North neighborhood of Chicago on Sept. 28, 2025. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have criticized the Trump administration for seeking to send in the National Guard to protect ICE agents and facilities from a rebellion. Pritzker said the city and its residents are safe and that there is no evidence of a rebellion, only constitutionally protected protests in front of ICE facilities.
Pritzker said on Oct. 5 that the ICE operations were creating a “war zone” and leaving ordinary residents terrorized. He said that agents were going after a few gang members but that in at least one of the raids, elderly people and children were held for a few hours.
“If they’re not going to focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they were going to do, they need to get the heck out,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
President Donald Trump called for Brandon and Pritzker to be jailed for allegedly failing to protect ICE officers in Chicago. Pritzker responded by saying that the 25th Amendment should be invoked to remove Trump from office.
Brandon, on Oct. 6, signed an executive order prohibiting federal immigration agents from using city-owned property during their law enforcement operations.
“We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority,” he said in a statement. “ICE agents are detaining elected officials, tear-gassing protestors, children, and Chicago police officers, and abusing Chicago residents. We will not stand for that in our city.”
Support From Antifa
The DHS also laid blame on the far-left extremist group Antifa for aiding and abetting these criminal groups by organizing protests to block federal operations in Chicago and in Portland, Oregon. This has shielded cartel-linked individuals from deportation, according to the DHS.
Antifa originated under the Soviet Union and functioned as the violent wing of Germany’s Communist Party to target political rivals.
The department urged state and local leaders to support the federal law enforcement efforts and “cease policies that embolden criminals.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with a reporter on her plane while in the air en route from Quito, Ecuador, to Joint Base Andrews, Md., on July 31, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
“These criminal networks are not just resisting the rule of law, they are waging an organized campaign of terror against the brave men and women who protect our borders and communities,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“Our agents are facing ambushes, drone surveillance, and death threats, all because they dare to enforce the laws passed by Congress. We will not back down from these threats, and every criminal, terrorist, and illegal alien will face American justice.”
The department stated that members of the public can report suspicious activities, such as rooftop surveillance or organized protests blocking federal operations, to the DHS Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or via the ICE website.
