Fifty-three-year-old Felix Torres alleges that on Monday, after he opened the door to his house, Immigration and Customs agents shot him in the arm. His daughter, Carmen Torres, as well as her husband and daughter woke up at about 6:20 a.m. in a panic as ICE officials barged into the home. Unlike many undocumented immigrants across the country living in fear as the Trump Administration ramps up deportation efforts, Torres and the at least seven others inside the home had no reason to believe that they’d come this close to ICE agents. None of the people present at the Belmont Cragin, Chicago house during the raid are undocumented, and ICE didn’t immediately give them answers. “They didn’t say anything,” Carmen told DNA Info. “They just came in and pointed pistols in our faces and dragged us out. We didn’t even have time to dress or grab milk for the baby.”
The raid ended in the hospitalization of Felix, who was taken to Stroger Hospital. ICE agents, who set out to serve a warrant to someone not identified, allege that Felix, a permanent resident, pointed a gun at the agents, something that Carmen says is categorically false. Felix’s lawyer, Thomas Hallock, also denies that Felix had a gun. “I don’t know if there was some sort of mistake here or what,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “But it’s all pretty bizarre. He opened the door and, without cause, they shot him. I don’t know that they had a warrant, but they certainly made forced entry into the house.”
ICE didn’t provide more details as the incident is currently under review. For its part, the Chicago Police Department reported that it played no role in the raid. Chicago is a sanctuary city, which at its most basic means that the city’s police officers don’t cooperate with ICE agents. Ald. Carlos Ramírez-Rosa explained that this raid is further proof that the CPD should not work with ICE.
“ICE’s guns blazing raid on a northwest side home filled with sleeping kids is exactly why the City of Chicago should refuse to collaborate with ICE,” Ramírez-Rosa said. “ICE routinely violates the American people’s constitutional rights. This guns blazing ICE raid deepens my resolve to organize my community so we can keep each other safe from a threat posed by ICE.”