Two unauthorized migrants were apprehended on Tuesday after their vehicle collided with a Border Patrol car in Chicago during an immigration enforcement operation, sparking a confrontation with demonstrators, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security.
Venezuelan nationals Luis Gerardo Pirela-Ramirez and Yonder Enrique Tenefe-Perez were arrested on Tuesday morning for allegedly crashing into a Border Patrol vehicle and trying to escape, according to a senior DHS source.
The incident happened near South Avenue N, according to officials.
“During an immigration enforcement operation in Chicago this morning, a car driven by an unauthorized migrant struck a Border Patrol vehicle and attempted to flee,” stated a DHS spokesperson. “Border Patrol officers engaged in pursuit and managed to halt the vehicle using an approved precision immobilization technique (PIT). Once stopped, the suspects, both unauthorized migrants, tried to run away on foot. As the Border Patrol officers apprehended the individuals and worked to secure the scene, a crowd began to gather, eventually becoming hostile, which prompted the use of crowd control measures.”
Luis Gerardo Pirela-Ramirez and Yonder Enrique Tenefe-Perez were detained Tuesday morning. (DHS)
“This incident is not unique and represents a worrying trend of unauthorized migrants forcefully resisting arrest and assailants crashing vehicles into our law enforcement agents,” the spokesperson added. “The involvement of two unauthorized immigrants in this attack underscores the necessity for federal law enforcement to persist in enforcing our nation’s laws — all while working without pay due to the Democrats’ government shutdown.”
After the incident, a crowd started to assemble. Chicago Police reported they tried to calm the situation as federal agents were preparing to depart, but individuals in the crowd began hurling objects.
Federal agents then deployed tear gas into the street, and 13 Chicago cops were exposed to the tear gas.
“Chicago Police Department officers were dispatched to the 10500 block of S. Avenue N around 11:07 a.m. responding to a report of a traffic accident involving federal authorities,” stated the police department. “CPD was not engaged in the federal operations at that site. Upon arriving, officers recorded the traffic collision. Given that this incident involved federal authorities, additional CPD supervisors arrived to ensure appropriate measures were taken.”
Federal agents deployed tear gas into the street to disperse the crowd. (WFLD)
“A crowd began to form and as federal authorities were leaving the scene, CPD members attempted to de-escalate the situation for the safety of everyone, including community members who were gathering at the location,” the statement added. “Individuals then began throwing objects at the federal agents, at which point the federal agents deployed tear gas into the street. Thirteen CPD members were exposed to the tear gas. Exposure reports will be completed for all CPD members who were exposed to the tear gas.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of “recklessly throwing tear gas into our neighborhoods and busy streets, including near children at school and CPD officers.”
“The Trump Administration must stop their deployment of dangerous chemical weapons into the air of peaceful American communities,” he wrote on X.
Police said 13 Chicago cops were exposed to the tear gas. (WFLD)
At least one person detained by Border Patrol was a 15-year-old American citizen, attorneys with the law firm Romanucci & Blandin said, according to Fox 32. The boy was “grabbed off a Chicago East Side street,” slammed to the ground, kneed in the back and zip-tied by agents at around 12:30 p.m.
The boy was handcuffed and was placed in the back of a vehicle for five hours, the attorneys said, noting that he was not allowed to contact his mother during that time. It was unclear why the boy was detained.
“This is how people disappear in autocracies—grabbed off streets, held in unmarked locations, no calls to family, no stated charges, no due process,” attorney Antonio M. Romanucci said in a statement. “A 15-year-old American citizen was effectively ‘disappeared’ for five hours in Chicago. This is not law enforcement; this is the playbook of authoritarian regimes.”
