Associated Press (AP) — Storming an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept. Deploying chemical agents near a public school. Handcuffing a Chicago City Council member at a hospital.
Activists, residents, and leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest city.
“They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday on CNN. “They fire tear gas and smoke grenades, and they make it look like it’s a war zone.”
More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested since an immigration crackdown started last month in the Chicago area. The Trump administration has also vowed to deploy National Guard troops in its agenda to boost deportations.
However, U.S. citizens, immigrants with legal status, and children have been among those detained in increasingly brazen and aggressive encounters reported across neighborhoods in the city of 2.7 million and its suburbs.
Arriving by helicopter
Activists and residents were taking stock Sunday at an apartment building on Chicago’s South Side where the Department of Homeland Security reported 37 immigrants were arrested recently, prompting calls for investigation by Pritzker.
Federal agents focused their efforts in areas with higher immigrant populations, including the largely Black South Shore neighborhood experiencing a small influx of migrants seeking asylum. The operation involved unmarked trucks and helicopters, with agents reportedly rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters.
Residents reported being awoken as agents went door to door using zip ties to restrain people, including parents and children. Rodrick Johnson, a 67-year-old U.S. citizen, described being detained and asked if agents had a warrant, to which he received no response.
“Everyone we talked to didn’t feel safe,” said Dixon Romero of Southside Together, emphasizing that such enforcement is not normal or acceptable. Pritzker has called for an investigation into claims of children being zip tied and detained separately from their parents.
DHS officials defended their actions, claiming they were targeting gang connections, without addressing the treatment of children during the operations.
More tear gas and smoke bombs
The use of chemical agents has sharply increased in recent weeks, transitioning from controlling protests to being deployed on city streets during immigration operations. An emergency hotline for reporting sightings of immigrant agents received over 800 calls in a single day.
On the same day, Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was detained when she confronted agents at a hospital, asking for a warrant for a patient injured during a chase involving ICE.
Local leaders have voiced strong condemnation of the aggressive tactics. State Rep. Lilian Jiménez described ICE’s actions as reminiscent of an invading army, stressing the violation of citizens' rights to live free from fear.
In a separate incident, immigration agents shot a woman they alleged tried to flee in her vehicle, although activists contend the agents were responsible for provoking the situation.
Going to court
Suburban leaders from Broadview, which houses an immigration processing center, have taken their opposition against federal agents to court, seeking legal remedies against perceived overreach and aggressive tactics.
With community protests escalating and near-daily arrests occurring outside the processing center, civil rights organizations are calling for investigations into the actions of federal agents. The village has filed a lawsuit demanding the removal of an illegally erected fence that allegedly hampers public safety.
As community tensions continue to rise, a pending ruling on alleged violations of federal oversight concerning immigration arrests in Illinois signifies deep divisions over the approach of federal immigration enforcement in urban settings.
