A toddler was urgently taken to the hospital following an alleged incident where Border Patrol officers used pepper spray on her family during a tumultuous ICE operation in a Chicago suburb.
Rafael Veraza recounted how he and his one-year-old daughter, Ariana, were hit with the stinging spray in a Sam’s Club parking lot in Cicero, Illinois, on Saturday.
The family was leaving the parking area with their car windows down when officers reportedly directed pepper spray inside the vehicle.
Disturbing footage captured after the incident shows Rafael wincing in agony, while Ariana, visibly distressed, clung to her mother as the family stopped the car.
Both Ariana and her father received medical attention briefly at a hospital following the alleged event.
Rafael shared his alarming experience during a press briefing on Sunday, explaining that the family hadn’t even entered the store, as reported by Fox 32.
After pulling into the parking lot, Rafael noticed a helicopter hovering above and heard whistles being blown, indicating that ICE was in the area.
Fearful for his family’s safety as federal agents clashed with community members close by, he promptly decided to drive away.
One-year-old Ariana Veraza sobbed on the side of the road after an ICE agent allegedly pepper-sprayed inside of her family’s car
Rafael Veraza, the girl’s father, said: ‘My daughter was trying to open her eyes. She was struggling to breathe’
Rafael held Ariana at a Sunday press conference about the incident
But just as he tried to leave, Rafael says a dark-colored truck pulled up beside them and sprayed the chemical irritant inside the window ‘for no reason’.
‘[The agent] started spraying from the front of the car towards the back. Basically, I got sprayed all over my face,’ Rafael said.
He said he could barely breathe and the spray’s burning effects were amplified by his asthma. But the true horror he experienced was watching his innocent baby in agony.
‘My daughter was trying to open her eyes. She was struggling to breathe,’ he recalled.
‘I was not a protester. I didn’t have nothing against them.’
The horrified family said they are considering taking legal action to cover the care Ariana now needs, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted a statement to social media Sunday denying Rafael’s accusations.
‘No. There was no crowd control or pepper spray deployed in a Sam’s Club parking lot,’ she wrote.
‘Though, over the weekend in Chicago, law enforcement was shot at, bricks thrown at them [and] they were rammed with vehicles and other attacks.’
According to a DHS press release, Border Patrol was attacked while conducting immigration enforcement operations in Little Village, which is the town neighboring Cicero.
A federal agent was recorded on a street in Little Village as residents clashed with ICE
Smoke bombs were apparently set off in the street, as captured by a witness video
‘Border Patrol was accosted by a hostile crowd that boxed them into a street and alleyway,’ the statement reads.
Agents were allegedly shot at by someone driving a black Jeep as they tried to arrest someone.
Heart-pounding video of the dramatic scene captured cars piled up in traffic, blaring their horns, as gun-bearing officers roamed the crowded street.
A gunshot was heard ringing in the background, followed by a blood-curdling scream.
Heated confrontations between people in the neighborhood and ICE agents unfolded in the street.
The DHS claimed unruly protestors threw bricks and paint cans from a roof to wreck Border Patrol vehicles. No agents were injured.
Eight US citizens and one illegal immigrant were arrested in Little Village on Saturday.
While many community members have pointed their fingers at ICE agents for bringing violence to Chicago as a part of the Donald Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, the DHS has blamed the city and state’s leadership.
The DHS shared pictures of the aftermath of the Saturday ICE operation, in which the department claimed rioters attacked agents
A federal vehicle’s back window was shattered by protestors throwing bricks, the DHS said
McLaughlin said that Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson have ‘fueled an environment of lawlessness and assault on federal law enforcement.’
The DHS launched Operation Midway Blitz in September, vowing to target migrants with criminal records who flocked to Illinois because of its sanctuary policies.
‘President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem stand with the victims of illegal alien crime while Governor Pritzker stands with criminal illegal aliens,’ the DHS wrote at the time.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Rafael and his wife for comment.
