US Border Patrol agents deployed to Chicago led a late-night raid on an apartment building this week, rappelling from helicopters onto rooftops and breaking down doors in an operation authorities said targeted gang members but which swept up US citizens and families.
The show of force highlighted President Donald Trump’s unprecedented use of Border Patrol agents as a surge force in major cities, rerouting personnel who would normally be tasked with guarding America’s borders with Mexico and Canada.
Naudelys, a 19-year-old Venezuelan woman, says she was in her apartment with her four-year-old son and another couple with a baby when agents knocked down their door during the raid early Tuesday.
Agents told them to put up their hands and pointed guns at them, she said.
Naudelys, whose husband was arrested and detained by immigration authorities three months ago, said she tried to record the scene but an agent knocked away her phone.
The Spanish-speaking agents told them to go back to their country and made a sexualised remark about Venezuelan women, she said.
One of the agents hit a man in front of her son, and she begged him to stop, she said. “My son was traumatised,” said Naudelys, who requested her last name be withheld.
She said authorities alleged her friend’s partner is a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, something she disputes.
As part of the raid, some US citizens were temporarily detained and children pulled from their beds, according to interviews with residents and news reports.
Building hallways were still littered with debris two days later.
Trump, a Republican, has vowed to escalate immigration enforcement in Chicago and other Democratic strongholds that limit co-operation with federal operations.
Border Patrol – staffed with some 19,000 agents and under less pressure with border apprehensions at historic lows – has increasingly taken on a new role in major cities, led by Gregory Bovino, the agency’s commander-at-large.
The incident in the city’s South Side neighbourhood, which authorities said resulted in dozens of arrests, was one of the highest-profile immigration actions in Chicago since the Trump administration launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in the city last month.
Hundreds of agents swarmed the apartment building during the raid on Tuesday, including some rappelling down to the roof from Black Hawk helicopters, according to NewsNation.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed the operation, saying it focused on alleged members of Tren de Aragua and that border agents partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Authorities arrested at least 37 people on immigration violations, most of whom were Venezuelan, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said two people arrested were alleged members of Tren de Aragua.
The department identified six people with criminal histories, ranging from battery to marijuana possession and said two people were suspected of being involved in a shooting.
The spokesperson declined to say whether agents had warrants to forcibly enter homes, saying that because Tren de Aragua has been labelled a terrorist organisation “there are sensitivities on what we can provide without putting people at risk.”
“This operation was performed in full compliance of the law,” the spokesperson said.
Four US citizen children were taken from their parents during the raid because the parents lacked legal status, DHS said, alleging that one of the parents was a Tren de Aragua member. “These children were taken into custody until they could be put in the care of a safe guardian or the state.”
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