Olivia Olander

Olivia Olander is the Chicago-based state government reporter at the Tribune, covering Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois General Assembly and state agencies. She previously covered labor and employment policy for POLITICO in Washington. Olivia is a graduate of Northwestern University and grew up in the suburbs of San Diego.

Gov. JB Pritzker answers questions on Sept. 15, 2025, at Harold Washington College in Chicago’s Loop after holding a roundtable with students. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Gov. JB Pritzker says President Donald Trump is ‘losing it’ after latest Chicago National Guard threat

September 16, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

Gov. JB Pritzker labeled President Donald Trump's latest vow to deploy the National Guard to Chicago a possible sign of “dementia” after a month of on-and-off threats.

Federal agents watch as detainees arrive at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 12, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Federal immigration agents sweep across Chicago area as advocates try to make sense of ‘patchwork’ enforcement

September 15, 2025 at 7:14 p.m.

Actions come one week after President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security announced it was embarking on a surge of immigration enforcement actions in the Chicago region.

A protester yells at federal agents as the officers attempt to clear a path for their vehicles to enter and exit the ICE facility in Broadview on Sept. 12, 2025. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

Protests flare at ICE facility in Broadview even as President Donald Trump deploys National Guard to Memphis

September 13, 2025 at 8:40 a.m.

Emotions in the Chicago area remained at a near-fever pitch as protesters – including two candidates for Congress – confronted federal agents outside an immigration processing center in the near-west...

COVID-19 vaccines in a box at a 9th Ward COVID-19 and flu vaccination clinic in Pullman Community Center in Chicago on Oct. 10, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois to publish its own vaccine guidelines following changes by Trump administration

September 12, 2025 at 6:01 p.m.

Illinois' move to install its own vaccine protocols follows Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s narrowing of COVID-19 vaccine use for younger adults and children, among other...

A detainee is brought into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 9, 2025. (Dominic Di Palermo/ Chicago Tribune)

Hundreds of hotline calls but no clear arrest numbers days into federal immigration ‘blitz’

September 11, 2025 at 8:44 p.m.

Immigrant group's hotline received 500 calls on Tuesday alone, the highest volume since January.

A federal agent escorts a detainee into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 9, 2025. (Dominic Di Palermo/ Chicago Tribune)

Immigration enforcement subdued Tuesday as local officials brace for Trump’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz’

September 9, 2025 at 6:57 p.m.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday said the federal immigration enforcement agency has plans to send in more than 200 agents and 100 vehicles in its Chicago immigration “blitz.”

People attend an interfaith LIVE FREE Illinois rally to denounce the Trump administration's proposed immigration sweeps in the city at Daley Plaza on Sept. 8, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

President Donald Trump’s administration announces immigration ‘blitz’ beginning in Chicago

September 8, 2025 at 6:53 p.m.

The announcement comes more than two weeks after President Donald Trump began to say he was planning to target Chicago.

Protesters and activists join hands and sing “We Shall Overcome” outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 5, 2025. (Dominic Di Palermo/ Chicago Tribune)

Homeland Security avoids Illinois senators, as opponents ready for immigration raids with protests, parades

September 5, 2025 at 8:03 p.m.

Mayor of Broadview says the Trump administration has told her a "large-scale enforcement campaign will soon be underway" and could continue nonstop for 45 days.

Gov. JB Pritzker talks with reporters after leaving a meeting with community violence intervention leaders on Sept. 3, 2025, at the Metropolitan Peace Academy in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Gov. JB Pritzker expecting federal ‘actions’ by weekend as local officials brace for 300 immigration agents

September 3, 2025 at 7:08 p.m.

As President Trump continues to threaten a federal incursion in Chicago, he's also using it to fundraise. On Wednesday, his campaign sought $15 to "LIBERATE CHICAGO - SAVE AMERICA."

Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill on Sept. 25, 2024 (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois prison officials allowed to scan incoming mail amid reports they are tainted by chemicals and drugs

September 3, 2025 at 1:37 p.m.

New temporary rules allow state corrections officials to electronically scan and digitize incoming mail to print it for a person incarcerated or send it to them electronically.

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