New video shows ICE making arrests in Chicago; agency says 'targeted operations' are underway
A Waukegan woman is speaking out after she says ICE arrested her father at his home early Sunday.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted on the ground in the Chicago area as the agency said "targeted operations" are underway Sunday.
New video shows ICE and other federal agents knocking on doors and making arrests in the city.
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ICE released a statement on Sunday saying that it is working alongside multiple federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Marshals service.
ICE went on to say together they have started "conducting enhanced, targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law."
President Donald Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove are in town to oversee the deportation operations.
New pictures released Sunday by the DEA show Homan and Bove alongside federal agents in Chicago.
READ MORE | Trump authorizes ICE to target schools and churches as mass deportation fears grow in Chicago
And ABC7 spoke with one woman who says ICE arrested her father at his north suburban Waukegan home early Sunday morning.
"For them to just take him like that," said Waukegan resident Yelitza Marquina. "They opened the door because they thought, maybe, one of us was in trouble, or something happened to us. Never did he think they were ICE."
She says the 44-year-old grandfather came to the U.S. from Mexico nearly 30 years ago.
Yelitza, who was born in the U.S., is one of many people, now seeking legal help at Pastor Julie Contreras' place of worship.
"I had a 4-year-old crying, fearing deportation. That is not making America great again," Contreras said.
Yelitza said she has not been able to speak with her father while he remains in ICE custody.
SEE ALSO | Chicago immigrant advocacy groups sue Trump administration, ICE over planned deportation raids
"I'm already heartbroken, myself, and I can't really imagine little kids whose families are breaking apart because of this," she said.
Cellphone video also shows agents sweeping through west suburban Berwyn.
ICE said the agency made 956 immigration-related arrests on Sunday, but did not specify whether any were in Chicago.
It is unclear how many people have been arrested in the Chicago area so far, but federal officers believed to be immigration officials targeted at least two apartment buildings in Albany Park.
Three officers with vests identifying them as police showed up to a four-flat in the 4800-block of North Central Avenue just before 10:30 a.m. and began loudly knocking on everyone's doors. They left around 10 minutes later without arresting anyone.
"I opened the curtain and saw that it said police. When I saw the agents get out, they had the building surrounded. So, they entered. They went up and started knocking on the doors really loudly. My children started crying," one Guatemalan immigrant, who did not want to be identified, said in Spanish. "They didn't say anything. They just banged on the doors. We didn't open. We took all the precautions everyone has been taking about."
While Homan says for now, they are focusing on criminals with arrest warrants or deportation orders against them, the fear many have is that others, who Homan has referred to as "collaterals," will also be arrested.
"The fear is that they will detain other people around them, maybe that live there or maybe that just happen to interact with them. And that's why it's important that folks know their rights and that they don't have to answer any questions," said Erendira Rendón with the Resurrection Project.
READ MORE | City of Chicago launches 'Know Your Rights' campaign with CTA amid fears of immigration raids
In fact, those ABC7 spoke to at that Albany Park apartment building said they do not know who the agents were after.
"They say we're all criminals, and that's not true. We are here working. I've been here 14 years. I work and I pay my taxes," said the Guatemalan immigrant who spoke with ABC7.
Homan on ABC's "This Week" pointed the finger at sanctuary cities, including Chicago.
"Sanctuary cities lock us out of the jails. So instead of ICE being able to arrest the bad guy, that the criminal alien in the safety and security of a jail, where the officers are safe, the alien is safe, the public safe, sanctuary cities release him back in the community," Homan said.
Homan also acknowledged there may be arrests of people with no criminal background, particularly in sanctuary cities.
"When we find him, he's going to be with others. Most likely, many times you're with others in a country illegally. They're coming too," Homan said.
RELATED | Trump's border czar: 'If you're in the country illegally, you got a problem'
Gov. JB Pritzker, who appeared on CNN Sunday, agreed that there is no place for violent criminals who have been convicted and are undocumented. But he says the distinction must be made between criminals and law-abiding undocumented immigrants.
"Why are we going after them? These are not people who are causing problems in our country, and what we need is a path to citizenship for them. We need to secure our border. We need to get rid of the violent criminals, but we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation, who are Just doing what we hope that immigrants will do," Pritzker said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson issued a statement later Sunday, saying, "There have been confirmed reports of ICE enforcement activity in Chicago today, Sunday, January 26. Per City code, Chicago police were not involved in this immigration enforcement activity. My team and I are in close communication with City officials including the CPD. It is imperative that all Chicagoans know their constitutional rights and share the Know Your Rights guidance with their neighbors and community."
Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth released a joint statement on Sunday night, saying, in part, "We stand with the immigrant community in Chicago and across the country, and our offices and caseworkers are ready to help those who are improperly caught up in these raids."
This all comes as Trump has imposed emergency tariffs and visa restrictions on Colombia after two flights carrying undocumented migrants were not allowed to land in the country.
Trump ordered a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S., and that will be raised to 50% in one week.
Colombia's president responded Sunday, saying it will impose reciprocal 50% tariffs on U.S. goods.
SEE ALSO | Our Chicago: President Trump's Proposed Tariffs & Possible Impacts
