As Chicago gears up for the arrival of federal agents, some have already been around.
Chicago police confirmed Thursday that some agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were at an apartment on the city’s West Side.
CBS News Chicago reached out to DHS to see how many people were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. There had been no response as of 10 p.m., but the landlord said six people were taken from an apartment building she owns.
She said at least one of them was taken to an ICE building in west suburban Broadview.
On Sunday, Aug. 24, families woke up to federal agents with their guns drawn in a building on Jackson Boulevard in the South Austin neighborhood.
Video shows a woman in her pajamas being patted down on the deck, and a man handcuffed in the corner.
“My tenant called me very scared. He said that, ‘Police are trying to break into our house,'” said property owner Arminda Castelin. “When I came on Monday, I see these doors — they break these doors.”
Castelin said six people — mostly fathers and husbands — were detained. She said some of her doors were broken, and her building is almost completely empty after the rest of the tenants fled in fear. She said a mother and a baby remained in one apartment, trying to figure out the next steps after the father was taken.
“What you should be looking for is they give you a judicial warrant,” said Guadalupe Rivera, a community activist running for Illinois state representative.
Rivera said if agents knock on anyone’s door, they need to be asked for a warrant. She said the warrant must be signed by a judge, and have the correct date — and should not have an ICE agent’s signature.
“Do not open the door,” said Rivera. “You want to ask them to slide it through, like underneath the door.”
Castelin said she thought her agents were police officers, since that is what their vests said.
“They say police, but they don’t even know what kind of people it is,” she said. “They are just terrorized right now.”
Castelin said she also looked at her tenants’ IDs and documents before they signed leases to make sure they were legal residents.
“It’s just so sad, you know?” she said. “They keep calling me, and I’m just trying to help them.”
Rivera said if agents do try to detain someone, they have the right to remain silent, deny entry, and speak to an attorney.
CBS News Chicago also reached out to Legal Analyst Irv Miller to see if ICE agents can wear police vests. Miller said there is no law or regulation saying they cannot.
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