December 18, 2025 Full Episode — Chicago Tonight

Video Description

As federal immigration enforcement operations ramp back up around Chicago, a new commission met publicly for the first time Thursday to begin documenting a record of any and all abuses committed by federal agents. The Illinois Accountability Commission held its first public hearing Thursday in the Little Village neighborhood, where federal agents have repeatedly targeted residents in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. “This is only the beginning,” Rubén Castillo, the commission’s chair and former chief judge for the Northern District of Illinois, said Thursday. “We begin with a simple mission just to tell the truth as to what has occurred and to show what the repercussions have been.” In May, the Trump administration terminated the federal Digital Equity Capacity Grant, which had provided Illinois $23.7 million to give residents access to internet and digital education. The Digital Equity Coalition distributed the grant to dozens of community groups in underserved and low-income communities across Chicago. In Chinatown, the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, or CBCAC, would have received $50,000 from the cut federal grant. Chinatown senior Ping Dong attends CBCACs’ weekly digital education classes. There, CBCAC staff and volunteers help seniors learn how to use technology — from identifying online scams to using Google Maps to navigate public transportation. #chicagotonightwttw #WTTWNews