Chicago alderperson says federal agents handcuffed her at Humboldt Park medical facility
Video shows tear gas deployed across Chicago; Gov. Pritzker calls for investigation into South Shore raid
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago alderperson said federal immigration agents handcuffed her while she was questioning them at a Humboldt Park medical center Friday.
In multiple occasions this week in Chicago, video apparently shows federal officers deploying tear gas. It happened right outside Humboldt Park Hospital.
It's all part of a sweeping immigration enforcement effort that also saw a father and son arrested in Little Village. However, the family told ABC7 the son is a U.S. citizen.
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The activity in Humboldt Park came as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is now calling for an investigation into how children were treated during a federal raid in South Shore.
Families say kids were zip tied, separated from parents and held for hours.
The governor has ordered state agencies to provide support and look into possible abuse by federal agents.
SEE ALSO | DHS secretary at Broadview ICE facility as protesters clash with agents; village files lawsuit
Ald. Jessie Fuentes said she was at Humboldt Park Health Friday, after there was a report of immigration agents at the facility.
She said when she asked the agents if they had a warrant to make an arrest at the medical center, they would not respond and shoved her.
Fuentes said she was later handcuffed and threatened with arrest.
"This is violence," Fuentes said.
Video shows the incident. Agents are seen claiming Fuentes was impeding their work.
The director of the hospital said, while United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can come into the emergency room, they cannot go into the operating room.
The hospital has no plans of releasing the person agents were originally trying to detain, who had broken his leg.
Fuentes said he broke his leg running from the agents. Attorneys were brought in to represent the person.
Fuentes also said federal immigration agents have brought a number of people to local hospitals, when they were injured during arrests.
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"ICE's abusive tactics have no place in our city, and our elected officials will continue to stand with residents against this attempt to stoke fear and intimidation," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. "Chicago's elected officials have a First Amendment right to document ICE's actions and to inform their constituents of their rights without federal interference. Any attempt to block this work is a direct attack on democratic accountability and an assault on the rights of the people of Chicago."
Fuentes said there was an increase in immigration enforcement activity Friday in Humboldt Park.
She said tear gas was used on passersby at the Home Depot on Cicero Street and Armitage Avenue and at Rico Fresh on Armitage and Central Park Avenue, as well.
Several Chicago aldermen spoke out Friday, amid "ongoing militarized immigration enforcement in Humboldt Park."
Fuentes, state Sen. Graciela Guzmán, Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez, Alderman Anthony Quezada, Alderwoman Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights spoke out Friday outside Humboldt Park Health's emergency room.
A viewer posted cell phone video showing what appears to be a federal agent inside an SUV stuck in traffic in Logan Square Friday. The agent then throws what witnesses say was some sort of gas canister out the window.
Video showed someone on a motorbike apparently stopping federal authorities in traffic near Armitage and Central Park.
"It was ridiculous. They were just being blocked in the street. They could've just backed up and gone around the guy," witness Andrew Denton said. But instead, they had to use excessive force."
There has been an increased presence of federal agents across much of Chicago recently.
RELATED: Veterans speak out against ICE after Air Force veteran arrested at protest in Broadview
In Little Village Friday, video showed a 21-year-old man on the ground being arrested by federal agents. His 46-year-old father was then eventually taken down too, before both are led away in custody.
Community and family members who gathered where the two were arrested in Little Village identified the father of three as Jesus Hernandez, from Mexico, who's lived in the United States for 25 years, and his U.S.-born son, Brian.
"He's the main head of the family, and it's sad that they just taken him away from them," relative Kevin Hernandez said.
In the Back of the Yards neighborhood, many people were around when at least five men were detained Thursday.
This comes as the Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 1,000 arrests so far across Illinois in "Operation Midway Blitz."
There was also an immigration raid in Humboldt Park about 6 a.m. Thursday morning. A woman says federal agents knocked down her front door.
She says her husband and two other men in the home were detained by ICE.
The woman says she is a migrant from Venezuela, and her family has been in the U.S. for three years now, as they've been going through the process of seeking asylum.
