Black Hawks and break-ins: Chicago immigration crackdown intensifies
4 Min Read
A late-night US Border Patrol raid in Chicago claimed to target Tren de Aragua gang members but ended up sweeping up families, separating children from parents.
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Law enforcement holds back protesters near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 (AP)
US Border Patrol agents in Chicago led a late-night raid on an apartment building, with agents rappelling from helicopters and breaking down doors in an operation authorities said targeted gang members, but which ended up sweeping up US citizens and families.
This show of force highlighted President Trump's unprecedented use of Border Patrol agents as a surge force in major cities, a strategy that rerouted personnel who would normally be tasked with guarding the US borders with Mexico and Canada.
Naudelys, a 19-year-old Venezuelan woman, told Reuters that she was in her apartment with her 4-year-old son and another couple with a baby when agents knocked down their door during the raid early Tuesday and that agents told them to put up their hands while pointing guns at them. Naudelys, whose husband was detained by immigration authorities three months ago, said an agent knocked her phone away when she tried to record the scene.
She said that the Spanish-speaking agents told them to go back to their country and made a sexualized remark about Venezuelan women, adding that one of the agents hit a man in front of her son and that she begged him to stop.
"My son was traumatized," Naudelys told Reuters, adding that authorities alleged her friend's partner is a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which she disputed.
Children separated from parents in raids
As part of the raid, some US citizens were temporarily detained, and children were pulled from their beds, according to interviews with residents and news reports. Building hallways were still littered with debris two days later.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed the operation and stated that it focused on alleged members of Tren de Aragua, explaining that border agents partnered with the FBI and ATF and that authorities arrested at least 37 people, most of whom were Venezuelan, on alleged immigration violations.
The spokesperson declined to say whether agents had warrants to forcibly enter homes, stating that because Tren de Aragua has been labeled a "terrorist organization", "there are sensitivities on what we can provide without putting people at risk."
DHS stated that four US citizen children were taken from their parents during the raid because the parents lacked legal status, while also claiming that one of the parents was a Tren de Aragua member. The spokesperson further explained that the children were taken into custody until they could be placed in the care of a safe guardian or the state.
Naudelys said authorities released her and her son later that day because she had a pending asylum case, only to find her apartment boarded up upon her return. When workers opened it for her, she discovered her possessions were gone.
Different agencies, more brutality
One resident, who asked not to be named, reported that agents made him lie down on the ground and zip-tied his hands during the raid, according to Reuters.
Gil Kerlikowske, who was commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017 and a former Seattle police chief, said that border agents have different training and protocols than local police and that he worries their more aggressive tactics could erode trust. “Policing an urban environment is totally, completely different,” he said.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have also come under scrutiny for using tear gas against protesters at one of its Chicago facilities and for the fatal shooting of a Mexican man.
