An Illinois Department of Transportation employee was questioned about his immigration status while working on a Park Ridge construction project Friday morning — and asked about incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.
Pritzker is speaking out about the alleged incident, calling it another example of President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “continuing to question U.S. citizens apparently based on the color of their skin.” The employee, who is Indian and a U.S. citizen, was stopped and questioned by agents while working on the Busse Highway resurfacing project.
The governor’s office says three masked agents questioned the IDOT employee about his immigration status — and also asked him if he had traveled to New York and if he was “aware” of the mayor-elect in New York City before leaving.
“I am appalled they would stop and question a state employee working hard on the job to help improve our state’s roads and infrastructure,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Our state employees should be able to go to work and do their jobs without masked agents targeting them for no legitimate reason.”
DHS on Saturday denied that the agents were from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The governor’s office did not immediately provide further details.
Students and teachers at a school district in Park Ridge were told to remain inside on Friday after reports of ICE agents in the area, WGN reported. Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Superintendent Dr. Ben Collins said in a statement on Friday that he was aware of reports regarding ICE agents in Park Ridge neighborhoods near some of the district’s schools.
As federal judges in Chicago this week set limits for conditions at the Broadview facility — and for DHS’ use of force policies, federal immigration agents also led a caravan Thursday morning across Chicago’s Southwest Side, making several stops to question residents on their immigration status. The caravan was led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino.
Federal immigration agents on Wednesday also entered a North Center day care center and arrested a teacher before searching each of the rooms without a warrant, a local alderperson said.
Video captured two agents pulling the woman out of Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center at 2550 W. Addison St. around 7 a.m. The Department of Homeland Security identified the woman as Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano of Colombia.
Santillana Galeano, known as “Ms. Diana” to parents and children at the day care, is heard in the recording telling an agent that she has documentation, but she was still detained. “Yo tengo papeles,” she says in a video.