By Kate D’Avingon
ELGIN, IL | U.S Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem joined forces with armed ICE agents who used military vehicles, helicopters, high-intensity lights, and smoke bombs in a raid Tuesday morning.
ICE broke through the front door of a home located in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive in Elgin just before 5:30 a.m. and took at least one U.S. citizen into custody, according to media reports. Two of the six roommates at the home were released following questioning, while four others were detained.
“I told them I was a U.S. citizen, that my ID was in my wallet,” Joe Botello told the Chicago Sun-Times. He said federal agents woke him early Tuesday, put him in handcuffs, and led him out of his home before eventually releasing him.
Botello is among the men shown on a video shared by Noem, who joined the operation on Tuesday.
“President Trump has been clear: if politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will. I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down,” Noem said in a statement posted on X.
The ICE operation was one of several immigration raids in the Elgin area in recent days, with the latest raid happening in the suburb of West Chicago.
ICE arrested a known gang member, Monday, who was convicted in 2005 of killing Fernando Diaz Jr., 21, according to an ICE news release. He was released from prison on Sept. 12 after serving a 20-year sentence.
ICE Chicago filed an immigration detainer with the Stateville Correctional Center, where Salazar was being housed before his release, but “state officials refused to transfer him directly to ICE custody,” according to ICE officials. Under the Illinois TRUST Act, local law enforcement is prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to detain or deport undocumented immigrants.
“Salazar was locked away in one of Illinois’ maximum-security prisons for two decades for murder, but the state released him although he had a final order of removal from a Department of Justice immigration judge dated Sept. 26, 2016,” acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons said in a statement. “Sanctuary policies, by design, protect criminals — and in this case, a murderer — over the safety of American communities. Luckily, ICE was there to effectuate his lawful arrest and removal from the streets.”
The arrests this past week are part of the Department of Homeland Security “Operation Midway Blitz” operation, which includes all of Illinois and Lake County, Indiana. The operation is currently focused on the Chicago area and suburbs. Law enforcement assigned to execute the Blitz includes ICE, the U.S. Marshall’s Office, the DEA, and the ATF.