Overview

• The FAA issued a 15‑nautical‑mile drone flight restriction centered on downtown Chicago that runs until Oct. 12 and stretches over parts of Lake Michigan.
• Only flights supporting defense, homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, or other emergency response are permitted, with limited waivers for commercial work and media; violating drones can be seized or destroyed.
• The FAA said DHS requested the action, and CBP later attributed it to a credible threat but has not provided public evidence or operational specifics.
• The airspace limits coincided with intensified immigration enforcement, including a South Shore raid where Border Patrol agents rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters and authorities reported more than 30 arrests.
• Drone businesses and civil liberties advocates warned the order curtails commercial work and newsgathering, while protests continued near the Broadview ICE facility alongside new protest zones and local investigations into agent conduct.