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In late September, immigration agents launched a massive raid chicago Heavily armed agents were deployed to the apartment building, who stormed the building from the ground floor, while others climbed to the roof. black eagle Helicopter.
Authorities said the raid ended with the arrest of 27 immigrants. But residents said the apartments of dozens of American citizens were also targeted and at least half a dozen Americans were zip-tied and held hostage for hours.
The huge show of force signaled a sharp increase in the White House’s immigration crackdown and heightened tensions in an already tense city.
The raid was conducted targeting Venezuelan Gang
Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was targeted in a raid led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, although officials said only two of the 27 immigrants arrested were gang members. He provided almost no details on the arrests.
The raids came during a Chicago immigration crackdown dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz”, which began with a few arrests in Latino neighborhoods in early September but has expanded across the city. This includes increased patrols by masked, armed agents; detention of U.S. citizens and immigrants with legal status; A fatal shooting outside a suburban immigration facility and a protesting priest were shot in the head with a pepper ball while standing with his arms raised.
In early October, officials said more than 1,000 immigrants had been arrested across the region.
The raid has created a stir in the city.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said after the September 30 raid, “We have a rogue, reckless group of heavily armed, masked individuals roaming throughout the city.” He used language that a few weeks ago would have sounded like political hyperbole. “The trump The administration wants to destabilize our city and promote anarchy.
American citizens were also detained
Among those detained was Tony Wilson, a third-floor resident who was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side.
A few days after the raid, Wilson said, “It felt like we were under attack.” Agents used a grinder to cut off the bolt on his door and he still couldn’t close the door properly, let alone lock it. He had locked himself inside, blocked the door with furniture, and talked through the hole where his doorknob used to be.
“It was horrible, man,” said Wilson, who was zip-tied, taken from the building and held for more than two hours before being released. Since then he had hardly left the apartment.
what the raid was really about
The White House says gang members and immigrants have entered Chicago illegally and crime is rampant. Officials say the troops are needed to protect government facilities from radical leftist protesters.
The reality is much less dramatic. Violence is rare at the protests, although angry confrontations are common, especially outside a federal immigration center in suburban Broadview. And while crime remains a serious problem, the city’s murder rate has nearly halved since the 1990s.
To Trump’s critics, the action appears to be a deliberate effort to stoke anger in a city and state run by some of his most vocal Democratic opponents. They say uncontrolled protests would reinforce Trump’s tough-on-crime image while embarrassing Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is widely seen as a potential Democratic presidential contender.
So the South Shore raid, designed for social media with its display of military hardware and agents armed for battle, was seen as wildly out of proportion.
Less than two days after the raid Department of Homeland Security Edited the video of the raid into a series of dramatic scenes, set it to music and released it on social media. It has been viewed more than 6.4 million times.
“It was a crazy-looking military response that they cooked up for their reality show,” said Lavonte Stewart, who runs a popular South Shore sports program aimed at steering youth away from violence. “It’s not like there are groups of Venezuelan teenagers hanging around.”
Officials say this was not a reality show.
According to a US official authorized to discuss the matter publicly, the operation was based on months of intelligence gathering. The landlord told authorities that Venezuelans were trespassers in about 30 units and had threatened other tenants, the official said, adding that the show of force became necessary due to the size of the building. Immigration agencies declined further comment.