ICE subpoenas Chicago for records of applicants in city ID program used by immigrants

Chicago Tribune

12 hours ago

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoenaed the Chicago City Clerk's Office in April for the personal information of applicants to a municipal ID program popular with immigrants, an apparent new tactic in Republican President Donald Trump's plan to target Chicago as he seeks to ramp up deportations.
The clerk's office received the summons on April 17 requiring the city to turn over the past three years of CityKey records, according to a copy obtained by the Tribune in a Freedom of Information Act request. The program was launched in 2017 by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and city Clerk Anna Valencia as part of a stand against Trump.
Asked whether the city complied with the subpoena, Law Department spokesperson Kristen Cabanban indicated some type of response but would not directly confirm whether it turned over documents to ICE, which demanded several years worth of data.
'We were responsive, within the bounds of the law and consistent with our Welcoming City Ordinance,' Cabanban said Friday.
While Emanuel and Valencia trumpeted the safety of the CityKey application during its inception, promising that federal officials would not be able to track down applicants because the city wouldn't keep identifying documents, the situation has recently changed.
Overwhelmed by demand for the IDs by Venezuelan migrants at in-person events last fall, Valencia started offering an online application in December. To meet state document requirements, the Clerk's Office has kept application materials for more than 2,700 people who used the online CityKey system since then, according to Diana Martinez, a spokesperson for Valencia.
'I don't think that's inconsistent,' Martinez said in a phone interview. 'That's why we were so careful to make sure that people were aware of what submitting their information to the online platform meant. … We try to let people know if you're at all concerned about your identity, please go in person.'
The ICE subpoena called on the city to 'provide a copy of the application and all supporting documents for all individuals who applied for a CityKey identification card between April 17, 2022, and April 17, 2025, and used any foreign document as proof of identity, including but not limited to: consular identification card, foreign driver's license, or foreign passport.'
The Tribune also obtained an ICE subpoena sent to Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation on March 21 that sought payroll records for current and recent employees as part of a worker eligibility audit. That department also deferred questions on its subpoena to Cabanban, who again said, 'We were responsive, within the bounds of the law and consistent with our Welcoming City Ordinance.'
ICE spokesperson Erin Bultje declined to comment on both subpoenas, citing 'an ongoing investigation.'
CityKey appeals to immigrants because it allows noncitizens to obtain a city government-issued ID. Now under a second Trump administration, ICE is going after those applications, including identification documents, after a recent explosion in demand for CityKey during the Venezuelan migrant crisis.
It's unclear how many of the 87,100-plus individuals who sought a CityKey during the time period encompassed in ICE's subpoena are immigrants. The city clerk policy is to only retain records for those who apply via the online portal.
The CityKey subpoena indicated the records were sought as part of an immigration enforcement investigation and demanded the clerk turn them over by May 1. The email address listed as the destination for the clerk's subpoena response included the abbreviation for the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force and Chicago's Homeland Security Investigations division, the investigative arm of ICE.
The task force's website says its mission is to 'target and dismantle the transnational criminal organizations and individuals that threaten U.S. national security and public safety – and address vulnerabilities that exist in the immigration system.'
Meanwhile, the ICE subpoena for Streets and Sanitation records asked for forms for all employees confirming they are legally authorized to work in the U.S., a list of current employees and ex-staffers terminated 12 months prior to the subpoena date, payroll data for all employees and their Employer Identification Number, a list of all current city contractors and a list of all staffing companies and their rosters.
The Streets and Sanitation subpoena references a 'Form I-9 Inspection,' an ICE audit that concerns whether an employer has complied with verifying its employees' eligibility to work in the U.S. The federal agency's website says employers who 'knowingly hired or continued to employ unauthorized workers' may be subject to civil fines or criminal prosecution.
Both the clerk and Streets and Sanitation were warned in the subpoena that a 'failure to comply with this subpoena may subject you to an order of contempt by a federal District Court.'
Immigrants and immigrant advocates have raised concerns about federal investigators getting their hands on identifying CityKey documents since the program's 2017 inception. A similar program in New York City raised red flags when Republican lawmakers sued to stop then-Mayor Bill de Blasio from purging applicants' personal information, though that legal challenge failed.
Upon the municipal ID's debut, the city pledged not to keep copies of any personal information that applicants provide.
But Martinez said the Clerk's Office keeps documents from people who applied for the card via the new online website because of an internal records retention policy concerning data submitted online. For most of CityKey's existence, all applications were processed at printing events where clerk staffers purged the papers on the spot after the ID was produced.
Martinez said the online retention schedule, created by working with state officials to comply with the Illinois Records Act, mandates the clerk store CityKey documents submitted online for three years after the ID expires. The card lasts two years for ID holders under 14 years old and five years for recipients between 14 and 64. There is no CityKey expiration for those 65 and up, so their records are never expunged, Martinez said.
All of that data is stored with the local software vendor Omicron Technologies, Martinez said, stressing there are multiple disclaimers on the online portal about the document retention.
The website asks users to agree to the following: 'By using the CityKey online platform, you are agreeing to allow the Office of the City Clerk to keep a record of all the information you submit during your application process.'
Asked whether the Clerk's Office intends to clarify its messaging to online applicants about if their records are safe, Martinez said, 'We actually don't guarantee that.'
'That's been our message throughout, especially once we launched the online platform,' Martinez said. 'We always want to encourage people to go in person if they have any concerns around their identity, whether it's undocumented people, whether it's domestic violence survivors or any other population.'
The online disclaimers don't mention those specific groups, however, or the potential risks of their data being stored. The CityKey FAQ section only warns, 'Yes, the information submitted to the online platform is retained according to the City's retention schedule.'
'Protecting people's information is our number one priority,' the FAQ says. 'We worked closely with community advocates, data security professionals, and the City's technology department to create a program that is safe and secure.'
In total, 145,825 CityKeys have been issued since its 2017 inception, per numbers provided by Martinez. For the period of time in the ICE subpoena — April 17, 2022, to April 17, 2025 — 87,163 individuals had applied for CityKey, 2,717 of them via the online portal starting in December.
During Chicago's migrant crisis that began in 2022, new arrivals often sought official government identification while their federal asylum applications remained in limbo. The municipal ID also serves as a Chicago Public Library card, a Ventra transit pass and a prescription drug benefits card.
To qualify for a CityKey, an applicant must provide documentation proving their identity and residency. Immigrants have used their Department of Homeland Security paperwork, passport, birth certificate, consular card or a letter from a nonprofit temporarily housing them.
Many of the asylum seekers had come from Venezuela, which does not maintain embassies and consulates in the U.S. due to poor diplomatic relations.
But the crowds at the events grew so large that migrants camped outside and fought for spots in line, leading Valencia to implore City Council for help at a budget hearing in October 2023.
'We're beyond the demand,' the clerk told aldermen. 'We're being crushed.'
That was also when she floated the online portal.