A Democratic Chicago City Council member was handcuffed Friday by federal agents while at a hospital in her district as she insisted that a man who suffered serious injuries during a chase with immigration authorities had due process rights.
Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes told reporters she was handcuffed at Humboldt Park Hospital after advocating for a man who suffered a broken leg during a chase with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. In comments flagged by The New Republic, Fuentes said the agents refused to let the man speak to an attorney.
"The footage begins with Fuentes stressing that the detained man has constitutional rights, to which one agent replied, 'No. No.' The alderperson asked whether the agents had a signed judicial warrant for him," the report said.
The agent replied, "You need to leave," and threatened to arrest her. The second agent, who was masked, told Fuentes, “You are going to be placed under arrest—.”
As he spoke, Fuentes was handcuffed as a woman proclaims, “This is an alderperson who is being [placed] under arrest!”
She was informed she was arrested for "impeding." Fuentes insisted the man had constitutional rights and that she was not trespassing, demanding to know, "Do you have a signed judicial warrant?" The agent said he didn't need such documentation.
Federal agents are in Chicago as part of a significant escalation in immigration enforcement and crime crackdown ordered by the Trump administration. Border Patrol and ICE have conducted high-profile raids targeting areas with large immigrant and Latino populations, particularly in the South Shore neighborhood and downtown.
