Federal immigration agents detained at least three people in the west suburbs Friday in a sudden burst of aggressive action, chasing workers who tried to hide on top of a truck before running through a Menards parking lot in Cicero and questioning people walking in Berwyn.<\/p>\n
Since Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino left Chicago in November with hundreds of his agents, aggressive enforcement tactics<\/a> have largely subsided, but immigration advocates and other leaders say that federal enforcement from the Department of Homeland Security, whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol, has not stopped.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that Chicago and Illinois remain a target of the administration,\u201d said Brandon Lee of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advocates also note the high-visibility arrests may be intended to send a message ahead of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s scheduled visit to Chicago on Saturday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Noem is set to join the U.S. Coast Guard members offloading Christmas trees from the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw for local families, according to a news release from DHS.\u00a0<\/p>\n DHS did not immediately respond to Tribune inquiries about whether Friday\u2019s enforcement activity is part of Operation Midway Blitz, Operation at Large, or a new operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n After the Tribune reported in mid-November that Bovino and his team were leaving Chicago, a DHS spokesperson said at the time, \u201cEvery day DHS enforces the laws of this country, including in Chicago. We do not comment or telegraph future operations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A Dec. 4 social media post declared: \u201cWE\u2019RE STILL HERE CHICAGO,\u201d along with a photo of a woman whom the department alleged was affiliated with the Latin Kings and had previously been arrested by Chicago police on murder charges, without providing further details.<\/p>\n Chicago Police Department representatives said they had no charging records for a person under the woman\u2019s name. A search of Cook County court records and publicly available arrest information for the woman returned no results. DHS did not respond to a request seeking comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Multiple videos shared with rapid response teams by community members and other local leaders on Friday morning show uniformed immigration officers attempting to question and arrest men in the Menards parking lot at 2333 S. Cicero Ave. In the footage, passersby can be heard blowing whistles, recording and yelling at the officers, tactics commonplace during Operation Midway Blitz<\/a>, which began in early September.<\/p>\n Four Venezuelan men working at a construction site were approached by Border Patrol agents Friday morning on a property near the corner of 58th Court and 27th Street in Cicero, according to Luciana Diaz, a member of Panas in Chicago, an organization that provides resources to Venezuelan migrants in the city.<\/p>\n Diaz said the agents showed no warrant but eventually apprehended three of the four men, including the father of one of her godchildren.<\/p>\n Friyexon Moises Guerrero, 25, who arrived in Chicago about three years ago, called his family after being detained Friday to let his partner know that he had signed for voluntary departure.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, I\u2019ve been very clear with my people, letting them know that things are very difficult here and they\u2019re not looking good. Many of them are planning to return,\u201d Diaz said, adding that it had been about a month since she last worked with a family affected by arrests.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were good men, willing to work, obviously, even through the cold,\u201d Diaz added.<\/p>\n The Cicero-Berwyn Rapid Response Team followed up on five confrontations and confirmed at least three people were detained, said Lee of ICIRR.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that immigration enforcement has not left Chicagoland,\u201d Lee said. \u201cToday\u2019s activity in Cicero and Berwyn is emblematic of what communities across Chicago and the suburbs experienced in the months before September: erratic enforcement that targets different cities and towns every day, involving agents who engage in explicit racial profiling and conduct warrantless arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n