Residents on Chicago’s Northwest Side say they were outraged to learn federal immigration agents used police-run parking lots this month to stage and transfer detainees, in violation of an executive order barring federal immigration enforcement on city-owned property.
Videos reviewed by the Sun-Times show federal immigration agents moving detainees from one vehicle to another last week at a parking lot run by the Chicago Police Department’s Albany Park District.
Denise Poloyac, a member of Indivisible Chicago, said she saw masked agents staged at the parking lot on Wednesday.
“I saw what was obviously a federal agent get out of a car. He had a black mask on, and he was all dressed in black,” Poloyac, 66, told the Sun-Times. “State and local law enforcement in Illinois is not to, in any way, cooperate with federal immigration agents doing immigration enforcement, and that’s clearly what their intent was — to use this as a meeting spot to then go out and detain people.”
Last year, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order barring city-owned property from being used as staging grounds for raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The order followed a 2021 revision to Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot that prohibits Chicago police officers from cooperating with ICE under any circumstances.
At an Albany Park District council meeting on Saturday, residents called on the Chicago Police Department to “end the collaboration” between the department and federal immigration agents.
District Councilor Elizabeth Rochford told the Sun-Times she heard about federal immigration agents allegedly using the lot to stage and transfer detainees Wednesday after learning about similar rumors in other areas. She immediately reached out to Cmdr. Jesse Alvarez, who has since ignored her requests for a response.
“[Resident concerns] seem to be falling on deaf ears unfortunately,” Rochford said. “It’s very frustrating. … I feel like we wanted there to be more respect for their positions, and more of a give and take, and that doesn’t feel like it has come to pass.”
Paddy Lindley, a resident of Albany Park, said Alvarez has shown a pattern of ignoring residents’ concerns and allowing federal agents to stage in the precinct is just the latest example.
“What we have seen from this district commander is a pattern of stalling, of lying to us, and of not prioritizing the activities that keep us safe,” Lindley said. “Instead, what we continue to see are instances of ICE terrorizing our neighbors, harassment of youth, of immigrant populations, of our homeless neighbors in encampments. These are the populations that need the most protection.”
Miguel Alvelo-Rivera speaks to the press as community activists and aldermen during a news conference to demand a Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigation into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for using the Chicago Police Department’s 17th District parking lot to transfer detainees and stage for an operation.
The Chicago Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said the mayor and CPD were aware of the incident and were “actively monitoring and responding” to the violation of Johnson’s executive order.
“Following recent reports, senior members of the Johnson administration and CPD met with district commanders to verify full compliance with the Welcoming City ordinance was upheld and reiterate that when violations occur, CPD personnel must take action to direct federal immigration personnel to leave City property and comply with local law,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
At a press conference before the district council meeting, residents and local officials demanded answers from police and accountability for their actions.
“Illinois has made a commitment that our state and local resources would not be used to facilitate federal civil immigration enforcement,” said state Sen. Graciela Guzman (20th).
“That commitment has to mean something, and it especially has to mean something when our communities are under attack,” she said. “We deserve the facts. We deserve transparency.”