CHICAGO (WGN) – ICE conducted another round of arrests in Chicago’s western suburbs on Wednesday, with a particularly intense raid in Naperville leading to a tumultuous scene, according to bystanders.
Witnesses said federal agents appeared to target a suburban roof repair to the distress of workers and many Cress Creek residents.
The agents converged on a two-story home early Wednesday afternoon without warning, sending roofers running in all directions.
Bobby Fischer reported that his Naperville home now has a large hole in the roof with no one available to repair it, as the ICE operation resulted in roofers fleeing in various directions.
“Our neighbors witnessed agents with guns drawn running down a residential street, which seems irresponsible,” Fischer said.
Fischer and his family were out celebrating a birthday and were not present when ICE made their arrival. They returned to find their work site deserted, with the roofers mysteriously absent.
Neighbors quickly caught the Fischers up on what happened.
A roofer, who preferred to remain anonymous, mentioned to WGN-TV that the ICE agents were excessively forceful, in his view, as they detained a number of the workers.
“They commenced to attack us, to throw us onto the ground,” the roofer said.
That roofer, a 32-year-old father, is still shaken and was barely able to finish his conversation as he was overcome with emotion.
“Some of them are fathers,” he said. “It’s very hard what is happening. It’s a lot of harm that they’re doing to us.”
Fischer hopes that the agents might have exercised more judgment and carried out the operation at a location that posed less risk to both the workers and the local community.
“There shouldn’t be anything wrong with guys making a living. I don’t care if they’re documented,” Fischer said.
WGN-TV reached out to ICE for comment, but has not yet heard back.
Meanwhile, people in Cicero, Wheaton and Naperville spotted ICE’s arrest teams taking some people into custody and caught some of it on video.
Witnesses described a group of masked individuals trying to get others to come out of their vehicle in a Mendard’s parking lot off Aurora Avenue.
One man who spoke with WGN-TV said the masked men had no visible ID badges as they tried to make an arrest.
Meanwhile, community rapid response teams in Wheaton gathered at a parking lot near Roosevelt as federal agents proceeded with the arrests of individuals described by Homeland Security as “illegal criminal aliens.”
The local response team, however, questioned the ICE agents and demanded to see judicial warrants. The ICE agents soon left and abandoned their effort, according to witnesses.
ICE agents also continue to stake out local jails, looking to detain people as they’re released from custody.
Video obtained by WGN Investigates shows agents in the public library of the Kane County Jail in St. Charles, taking a man into custody on Wednesday.
It’s unclear why the man had been in jail, or why ICE agents targeted him.
