{"id":232301,"date":"2025-09-16T22:07:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/232301\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T22:07:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:07:16","slug":"elgin-man-who-is-a-us-citizen-was-briefly-detained-in-latest-chicago-area-ice-blitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/232301\/","title":{"rendered":"Elgin man who is a US citizen was briefly detained in latest Chicago-area ICE blitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Elgin man who was born in the United States said he was handcuffed, questioned and placed in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle before dawn, part of a blitz of immigration enforcement<\/a> activity reported in the Chicago area early Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Joe Botello, 37, recalled being jolted awake before 6 a.m. by his home shaking and the sounds of yelling upstairs on the main floor.<\/p>\n

He said masked and armed agents were calling out the name of another man in Spanish and had forcibly entered his house in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive, destroying a front door and glass patio door in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just blessed that I\u2019m still alive,\u201d Botello said. \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing it and seeing it through social media. But it never crossed my mind that it was going to happen here at the house \u2026 where I live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video on social media of four men \u2014 including Botello \u2014 handcuffed and being led away from the home.<\/p>\n

Noem appears to hop on a truck at the end of the clip, but she is not shown interacting with any of the detainees. Neither the video nor Noem\u2019s message explain that Botello is a U.S. citizen and was later released.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down,\u201d Noem posted on X<\/a> as she shared a video of herself\u00a0in Elgin. \u201cJust this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday released information on 11 more men arrested since Operation Midway Blitz began, though there were no details provided on exactly where or when the arrests occurred. All of the detainees were in the U.S. illegally, the DHS said.<\/p>\n

Only one arrestee, Christian Lopez-Cervantes, could be independently verified through court records and other public information. He was taken into custody by federal authorities last week in Cicero, where video surfaced showing more than seven armed officers dressed in fatigues wrestling Lopez-Cervantes to the ground. His wife told the Spanish-language TV station Univision that the officers broke out the window of her husband\u2019s car. \u201cIt seemed they were already waiting for him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Court records show Lopez-Cervantes, 32, who had twice before been removed from the U.S. for illegal entry, got on the feds\u2019 radar after he was charged with misdemeanor battery earlier this year for fighting with his wife\u2019s ex-husband. On Sept. 5, he was charged under seal in U.S. District Court with illegal reentry of a deported alien. He appeared before a judge on Sept. 10 and was ordered released on an unsecured bond, records show.<\/p>\n

Cook County records show his battery charge was dropped that same day.<\/p>\n

In their news release, the DHS stated Lopez-Cervantes had been charged with felony assault and domestic violence, but those charges were not listed in any local court record.<\/p>\n

One other \u201cMidway Blitz\u201d arrestee identified by DHS, Luis Manuel Carrasquel-Hernandez, a native of Venezuela, had been charged in April with possession of a weapon after police arrested him in a Home Depot parking lot with a loaded pistol, court records show.<\/p>\n

Gregory Bovino, an official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection who led immigration operations in Los Angeles this summer, posted on social media early Tuesday announcing that his agency had \u201carrived\u201d in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

Often using confrontational tactics and posting in-your-face messages on social media<\/a>, Bovino put out a short video on Instagram with a montage of images from just outside O\u2019Hare International Airport and the Joliet area, as well as the Centennial Wheel at Navy Pier and Tribune Tower. \u201cOperation At Large is here to continue the mission we started in Los Angeles \u2014 to make the city safer by targeting and arresting criminal illegal aliens,\u201d he wrote on the post.<\/p>\n

The song \u201cEnd of Beginning\u201d by artist Djo played in the background of the video clip, which features the lyrics, \u201cYou take the man out of the city, not the city out the man. \u2026 And when I\u2019m back in Chicago, I feel it. Another version of me, I was in it. Oh, I wave goodbye to the end of beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Hill, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, chided Bovino on X Tuesday morning, pointing out, among other things, the federal government\u2019s lack of communication with the governor while mocking the Border Patrol official\u2019s video announcing his Chicago-area operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a federal law enforcement operation gets underway, they don\u2019t pick up the phone to call the Governor but do have the time to create a TikTok video showing off beautiful Chicago scenery,\u201d Hill wrote. \u201cHe\u2019s not a serious individual but a wannabe social media star.\u201d<\/p>\n

This prompted a flippant response from Bovino, who wrote back, \u201cTik Tok, tik tok, time is up!! We\u2019ve already arrested several criminals this morning. Much more to come, so stay tuned my friend,\u201d followed by an American flag and several other emojis.<\/p>\n

Bovino led Trump\u2019s deportation missions in the Los Angeles area at a time when the Trump administration has made the region a top priority. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies, said authorities have made over 5,000 arrests since early June as part of those efforts, which have prompted protests and the deployment of the Marines and National Guard.<\/p>\n

Speaking outside a church in Oak Park on Tuesday, Pritzker said \u201cone of the strategies to protect our immigrant communities has been to make sure they know their rights, and we\u2019re doing that not just in the city of Chicago but all across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that maybe (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) thinks there\u2019s a concentrated effort only in the city of Chicago and not elsewhere, but I have been to those communities \u2014 in fact, over the last several weeks \u2014 to make sure that actually they\u2019ve been doing what we hope they have been doing, and they have,\u201d he said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean, by the way, that no one is going to get swept up by ICE. Because if you\u2019re just walking your child to school, you can get grabbed by ICE. Think about those children, by the way, that are in school right now, who will come home to an empty house because their parents have been taken with an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant. Not because someone committed a crime, but an administrative warrant issued by an ICE agent. And now a child is showing up at home. No one\u2019s home. This is what ICE is doing, this is what the president of the United States is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear if the ongoing operation is separate from \u201cOperation Midway Blitz,\u201d which was announced specifically<\/a> for the Chicago area by Noem last week.<\/p>\n

\"JoeJoe Botello steps through a patio door shattered by federal agents when they broke down the front and back doors of his home in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive in the early morning on Sept. 16, 2025, in Elgin. Botello said the federal agents did not show residents of the home a warrant, placed him in a vehicle, but eventually released him after scanning his driver’s license.(Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

As for the apparent raid at the Elgin home, Botello said agents had him put his hands behind his head and back up slowly through the patio door, telling him to be careful because the frame was filled with shards of glass. He said that he and five male roommates were handcuffed outside and placed into a vehicle that said U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on the side. Botello added that he was never told why he was handcuffed or read his rights.<\/p>\n

According to Botello, one agent asked him how he was able to speak English so well and Botello said he replied that he was a U.S. citizen and had been born in Texas.<\/p>\n

After checking Botello\u2019s identification, the agents released him and one of his roommates, Botello said. The agents took the other roommates away in vehicles and didn\u2019t say where they were going or why they were detained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were about to take me without explaining to me where I was going to go or what was going on. And then I showed them my ID. I told them it was in my wallet,\u201d Botello said. \u201cI\u2019m glad I was able to grab my wallet in order to have some type of identification.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe front door of a home in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive is torn from its hinges and lies on a sofa after federal agents broke it down early on Sept. 16, 2025, in Elgin. (Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The father of five said his first thought was that he would be late for work. Then he was grateful his children, whom he has on weekends, weren\u2019t with him at the time because the scene would have terrified them. Botello spent the rest of the morning calling his daughter, patching the two empty door frames with plywood and scrambling to contact the loved ones of his roommates, in the hopes of tracking down their location.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still a little bit in shock. I\u2019m just glad that I\u2019m OK,\u201d he added. \u201cI recommend that everyone always have their documentation \u2014 their passport if they can, and any type of ID that would identify them. \u2026 Stay safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Sen. Cristina Castro, a Democrat who grew up in Elgin, said she was alerted by community members in the largely Latino northwest suburb of more than 100,000 people that law enforcement went to the home around 5 a.m. \u201cin full military gear\u201d and \u201cSWAT-like vehicles,\u201d and established their presence with the use of flash-bang grenades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should brace ourselves, not only just in Elgin, but in other parts of this state and the city, (to hear of) more of these operations taking place,\u201d Castro told the Tribune. \u201cI think it\u2019s unnerving. It\u2019s unsettling. People are afraid. They\u2019ve been afraid even to celebrate Mexican Independence Day weekend. But this is just going to put more fear in hard-working people who really just are here to have a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IsmaelIsmael Cordova-Clough, left, hugs Delani Hernandez, both members of a volunteer patrol group in the Elgin area, as Hernandez cries after witnessing a man pulled from his truck and detained by federal agents along Route 31 on Sept. 16, 2025, in Elgin. As Hernandez cried she said “I couldn’t stop them, I couldn’t stop them.” It was her first day on patrol with the group which posts and livestreams any suspected ICE activities in and around Elgin. (Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Delani Hernandez, a volunteer immigration advocate, said she witnessed another apparent raid in Elgin early Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Near the Gail Borden Public Library on Illinois Route 31, she said she saw three unmarked vehicles with flashing blue and red lights pull over another car. Agents in ICE vests then questioned the driver, handcuffed him and took him away in one of the unmarked vehicles, leaving the driver\u2019s car by the side of the road, Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he was just saying that he\u2019s not a criminal, he has a family and that he\u2019s going to work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hernandez, 27, said she and other volunteers patrol the Elgin area every day starting at 4 a.m. to try to spot immigration enforcement activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people feel helpless. I feel defeated,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roughly 40 demonstrators gathered in Franklin Park on Monday to protest<\/a> the recent fatal shooting of a man by ICE in that northwest suburb. Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, 38, was shot and killed after he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop Friday and struck an ICE officer with his vehicle. The ICE officer was seriously injured<\/a>, according to federal officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo justice, no peace,\u201d protesters called out. \u201cWe want ICE off our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, dozens of community members, immigration advocates and activists rallied in nearby Melrose Park to decry the death of Villegas-Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not here on a whim today,\u201d said Nancy Salgado, director of organizing at P.A.S.O. West Suburban Action Project, in Spanish. \u201cWe\u2019re very firm, with a firm step, to make it clear that ICE is not welcome in Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press and Chicago Tribune reporters Jason Meisner, Adriana P\u00e9rez, Olivia Olander, Tess Kenny and Sam Charles contributed.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 16, 2025 at 1:25 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Elgin man who was born in the United States said he was handcuffed, questioned and placed in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":232302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[125174,960,14684,5410,5386,1818,20523,19810,9408],"class_list":{"0":"post-232301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-bovino","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-elgin","11":"tag-ice","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","15":"tag-pritzker","16":"tag-u-s-customs-and-border-patrol"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115216256175649607","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}