On Wednesday morning in Chicago, the first children had arrived at the Reito de Sol Early Learning Center, and staff members were getting ready for the day. Suddenly, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, some wearing balaclavas over their faces, burst in and arrested a teacher. A father dropping 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 spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that ICE agents did not target the day care center, but rather “attempted to stop the targeted traffic 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 American broadcaster NBC that it was “certainly some of the most hair-raising video footage I’ve seen while I’ve been in office. We had agents with guns walking around the facility with teachers, with children inside.”
3,000 arrests in Chicago since September
The raid was part of a larger crackdown on immigration in Chicago that began in September. More than 3,000 arrests have been made since then, according to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Since taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump has tightened immigration policy, banning immigrants without valid papers and deporting those accused of being “criminal aliens”. ICE agents have faced criticism for their aggressive tactics and lack of transparency.
Many of those arrested are American citizens who have no criminal record. Several raids have been conducted on schools, retirement homes and other public institutions. Countless videos have been circulating on social media platforms showing ICE agents, often camouflaged and armed, carrying out brutal arrests.
A video reportedly shows ICE agents in an unmarked car ramming another car, pulling the driver out and arresting him. Other videos show people surrounded by agents on the street and forced into vehicles and driven away. Agents are also using tear gas. The NGO Human Rights Watch reported that car windows were broken to pull people out of their cars. There have also been cases when people run away from agents in panic.
According to Human Rights WatchRights are also being violated in detention centres. The organization has documented several cases of agents putting undue pressure on people to agree to “voluntary departure”. Those arrested were tied up and forced to sleep on the floor; Others have reportedly been deprived of food and water. People have also been prevented from contacting their families and/or lawyers.
A review by US broadcaster NPR found that at least 20 people have died in ICE custody already this year, the deadliest toll in 20 years. The total number of people held in immigration detention has also reached a new high of nearly 60,000.
‘ICE is out of control’
“ICE is out of control,” Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez said in a statement. Press release“ICE is operating with impunity outside the bounds of the law. ICE is trampling on our rights. ICE is terrorizing our communities.”
He said, “This is what happens when Trump, Republicans, and DHS leadership strip ICE of unlimited funding, immunity from oversight, and transparency and accountability.”
In September, the Supreme Court effectively legalized racial profiling by striking down restrictions and giving federal agents the power to detain people based on skin color, language or employment.
President Trump defends ICE raids
President Trump has rejected all criticism and recently defended the raid, telling CBS News that he thought ICE agents “didn’t go far enough.” According to American news organization blockingImmigration officials are currently considering whether to offer bounty hunters “monetary bonuses” for locating immigrants and reporting them to ICE.
This summer, the US President set aside nearly $170 billion (€147 billion) for immigration enforcement over the next four years as part of his “big beautiful” budget bill. According to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, this would make ICE the most heavily funded federal law enforcement agency in US history. He said Jacobean In July the magazine reported that ICE’s budget would be “slightly larger than the FBI’s, [Drug Enforcement Administration], [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]The Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service jointly.”
This article was originally published in German.