Department of Homeland Security officers who are enforcing President Donald Trump's immigration agenda are taking an increasingly violent posture against protesters — and American Immigration Council fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick is fearful of where it's all heading.
The incident exemplifying many of his fears was posted to X on Tuesday by Chicago Tribune journalist Laura N. Rodríguez Presa, who showed an image of a masked federal agent in camouflage, pointing a rifle at a woman recording him from out of the window of a vehicle during an incident in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn. It's part of a growing resistance movement in the suburbs as people band together to protest mass arrests by immigration agents.
Still, the risk that ICE agents and other federal officials could push things further terrifies Reichlin-Melnick.
"DHS is an escalation spiral; the more they do things like this, the more people on the ground push back, the more people on the ground push back, the more officers do things like this, and I'm deeply worried what the ultimate result will be," he wrote.
This comes as a group of journalists and protesters in the Chicago area file a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming the use of excessive force to stop demonstrations and the operations of the free press.
Trump has threatened to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, following similar operations in Los Angeles and Nashville, and the outright federalization of law enforcement in Washington, D.C. — often ostensibly to stop crime and civil unrest, but much of it seemingly directed at protests against the administration's policies.
A federal agent points a weapon at a woman who was recording them.
Jess, a U.S. citizen and member of a neighborhood patrol team that documents and shares ICE activity across the city, was filming when the incident occurred earlier today in the Berwyn area. pic.twitter.com/5JZQRplhaf
— Laura N. Rodríguez Presa (@LAURA_N_ROD) October 7, 2025