Chicago City Wire

The Chicago Contrarian, a user on the social media platform X, has reported that since November 1, Chicago has recorded eight homicides and 51 shootings, none involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The user criticized Mayor Brandon Johnson for requesting a United Nations Human Rights Council session on alleged ICE "terror."

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Mayor Johnson participated in a United Nations Human Rights Council hearing where he urged the body to examine alleged abuses committed by ICE in Chicago during immigration-enforcement operations. The Sun-Times reports that Johnson described ICE raids as creating "havoc" in immigrant neighborhoods, framing his concerns as a human-rights issue rather than a local policing matter. The reporting highlights how Johnson positioned federal immigration enforcement as a global accountability issue, which the Chicago Contrarian contrasts with Chicago’s ongoing homicide and shooting numbers.

According to an official City of Chicago press release, Mayor Johnson sent a formal letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council requesting a special session to investigate alleged misconduct by ICE and other federal immigration agencies. The press release states that Johnson characterized ICE actions as "terror-style tactics" and argued that international intervention was necessary to provide oversight. This formal request establishes the factual basis for the Chicago Contrarian’s reference to Johnson’s appeal to the UN and serves as the central point of contention in its criticism.

According to the City of Chicago’s publicly accessible violent-crime dataset, the city recorded multiple homicides and non-fatal shootings during early November. However, this dataset does not track or attribute incidents to federal agencies such as ICE. The dataset confirms significant gun-violence activity during the timeframe cited by the Chicago Contrarian but contains no fields or identifiers connecting any homicide or shooting incident to immigration-enforcement operations. This absence of attribution data makes it impossible to verify any connection between ICE and violent incidents, supporting the Chicago Contrarian’s claim that the shootings were unrelated to immigration enforcement.

According to its official website, Chicago Contrarian is a Chicago-based independent commentary outlet focused on public-policy analysis, critiques of municipal governance, and issues surrounding law enforcement and public safety. The outlet positions itself as offering contrarian viewpoints on city politics, frequently challenging the policy priorities of Chicago’s elected officials. Its content often centers on scrutinizing local leadership and highlighting perceived inconsistencies between public statements, data, and policy outcomes.