CHICAGO – Officials said a U.S. immigration and customs law enforcement officer fatally shot and killed a suspect who tried to arrest his car in a Chicago suburb on Friday and dragged one of the suspects.
The shootings took place days after the Trump administration’s surge in immigration enforcement in the country’s third-largest city, and less than a week of actions in Chicago and Illinois’s so-called shelter policies marked it as a “midway blitz.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a press release that the official tried to arrest a man with a reckless driving history who entered the country illegally, but he refused the officer’s order and drove to them instead. An ice officer hit and dragged by a car felt his life threatened and opened fire, the department said.
The officers and drivers of most Spanish suburbs shootings in Franklin Park, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) west of Chicago were taken to local hospitals and the suspect was pronounced dead, ICE said.
“We are recovering quickly for our law enforcement officers. He follows training, uses appropriate force and properly enforces the law to protect the public and law enforcement,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, in a statement.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said he was aware of the shooting and asked for “full facts about what happened today to ensure transparency and accountability.”
Video from the scene showed police tape and traffic cones blocking certain parts of the street, where a large food distribution truck and grey car could be seen from a distance. Several law enforcement vehicles in the area surround the area.
Immigration advocates and local officials believe the shooting represents how militarized immigration enforcement harms communities and demands transparency and accountability for Icefield agents involved in the shooting at a press conference on Friday.
They were flanked by about twenty protesters, wearing flags that declared “end of detention and welcome immigration”, beating drums and beatings.
“Trump’s deportation machines are out of control, have no transparency or accountability, and have caused meaningless harm to our communities,” said Lawrence Benito, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights.
Rep. Norma Hernandez, Illinois, called the shooting a tragedy and condemned ice officials for trying to blame the dead.
“These strategies have led to the loss of life for one of our community members,” Hernandez said. “He is not the first, and unfortunately, he will not be the last.”
Meanwhile, Chicagoans have been preparing for the weekend’s Mexican Independence Day celebrations, which include parades, festivals, street parties and caravans, despite potential immigrant crackdowns.
“Viral social media videos and activists encourage illegal foreigners to boycott law enforcement” have made the ice officer’s job even more dangerous,” McLaughlin said.
Over the past few weeks, local officials, advocates and teachers have introduced people to their rights when they meet Bingbing agents. On Friday, many denied encouraging people entering the country to boycott law enforcement.
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Santana reported from Washington.
