In Chicago on Wednesday morning, the first children had just arrived at the Rayito de Sol early learning center, and staff members were getting ready for the day. Suddenly, agents from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), some wearing balaclavas pulled over their faces, stormed in and arrested one of the teachers. A father who had come to drop off his child captured the scene on video: It shows two ICE agents dragging the screaming woman out of the building, while she insists she has valid papers.
A spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents had not targeted the day care center but had “attempted to conduct a targeted traffic stop of this female illegal alien from Colombia.”
The video, which has been shared on various social networks and picked up by various US media outlets, has sparked nationwide outrage. Local Chicago politician Matt Martin told the US broadcaster NBC that it was “some of the most chilling video footage I have seen certainly in my time in office. We had agents with guns who were walking around the facility with teachers inside, with children inside.”
3,000 arrests in Chicago since September
This raid was part of a huge crackdown on immigration in Chicago that began in September. Since then there have been more than 3,000 arrests according to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Since taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump has tightened immigration policy, clamping down on immigrants without valid papers and deporting those accused of being “criminal aliens.” ICE agents have faced criticism for their aggressive tactics and the lack of transparency.
Many of those arrested are US citizens without a criminal record. There have been several raids on schools, retirement homes and other public institutions. There are countless videos circulating on social media platforms showing ICE agents, who are often camouflaged and armed, conducting arrests in a ruthless manner.
One video reportedly shows ICE agents in an unmarked car ramming another car, dragging out the driver and arresting her. Other videos show people out on the street being surrounded by agents and led away to vehicles and driven off. Agents have also been using tear gas. The NGO Human Rights Watch has reported that car windows have been smashed to drag people out of their cars. There have also been chases when people flee the agents in panic.
According to Human Rights Watch, there are also rights violations taking place in detention centers. The organization has documented several cases of agents putting undue pressure on people to agree to “voluntary departure.” People under arrest have been tied up and forced to sleep on the floor; others have reportedly been denied food and water. People have also been prevented from contacting their families and/ or lawyers.
A review by the US broadcaster NPR found that at least 20 people had died in ICE custody this year already, the deadliest number in 20 years. The total number of people in immigration detention has also reached a new high of around 60,000.
‘ICE is out of control’
“ICE is out of control,” said Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez in a press release. “ICE is operating with impunity outside the confines of the law. ICE is trampling our rights. ICE is terrorizing our communities.”
She said this was “what happens when Trump, Republicans and DHS leadership give ICE unlimited money, freedom from oversight, and a pass on transparency and accountability.”
In September, the Supreme Court effectively legalized racial profiling by removing restrictions and granting federal agents the power to detain people on the basis of skin color, language or employment.
President Trump defends ICE raids
President Trump has rejected all criticism and recently defended the raids, telling CBS news that he thought that the ICE agents “haven’t gone far enough.” According to the US news organization The Intercept, the immigration authorities are currently considering whether to offer “monetary bonuses” to bounty hunters for tracking down immigrants and reporting them to ICE.
This summer, the US president set aside around $170 billion (€147 billion) for immigration enforcement over the next four years as part of his “big beautiful” budget bill. This will make ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in US history, according to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. He told Jacobin magazine in July that ICE’s budget would be “slightly larger than the budgets of the FBI, [Drug Enforcement Administration], [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives], Bureau of Prisons, and US Marshals Service combined.”
This article was originally published in German.
