How a collision with Border Patrol led to a Chicago woman's arrest
Just over a week ago, 60 Minutes reported from Minneapolis, Minnesota, about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the city, Operation Metro Surge.
Thousands protested in the streets of Minneapolis over this past weekend after a second Minneapolis resident, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters that the Border Patrol agent fired "defensive shots," fearing for his life because Pretti was "brandishing" a handgun. Multiple videos contradict the statement: Pretti held a phone, not the gun he was licensed to carry, in the moments leading up to his death.
It is not the first time that video shot by bystanders has cast doubt on statements made by DHS.
In Chicago, on Oct. 10, Dayanne Figueroa, a U.S. citizen and paralegal, was driving to work after dropping her son off at school. She came across a chaotic scene: masked agents were blocking traffic while bystanders filmed them.
"It didn't make sense to me because… they weren't in an ICE agent's uniform," she told correspondent Cecilia Vega. "I've never seen that before… I was confused, because they were also masked."
Figueroa said she saw that their vehicle had pulled up, creating an open lane for her to pass by. She drove ahead, attempting to get through.
Bystander video of the incident appears to show the agents' vehicle swerving into the side of Figueroa's car. "He sideswipes me," Figueroa said. "And it wasn't a huge accident either. It's not like it was a huge collision."
In the bystander video, Border Patrol agents can be seen exiting the vehicle with their guns drawn, one pointing their gun directly at Figueroa.
Figueroa told Vega that the agents did not identify themselves. When the man pointing the gun approached her driver's side door, he told her to "get out." Figueroa replied: "Nope."
"A clear order. Why didn't you?" Vega asked Figueroa.
"Cause who the f*** is that?" Figueroa said. "No. I'm not going to get out of the car. What are you going to do to me? And where are you taking me? How about you ask me for my ID first? How about you ask me if I'm a citizen?I don't even know what he assumed, but he just took action. And he hurt me."
Two Border Patrol agents began pulling Figueroa out of the car. She gripped the steering wheel, and later screamed and kicked as they removed her, losing her shoes in the process. When agents brought her down to the pavement, they pressed their knees down on her body, then rolled her over and put handcuffs on her.
Figueroa could only watch the first few seconds of the video taken by witnesses before she broke down sobbing. Her voice shook as she described the impact the experience had on her.
"I've never been that scared in my life. And all I could think of was my son. Like, I need to get back to my boy… the physical pain, it went away eventually. I healed. But, man, it's going to be a long road for my emotional state to be okay," she said.
Figueroa told 60 Minutes she was traumatized by the experience. "I have nightmares every single night. And I can't sleep," she said. "It's been very hard. And I really don't like to leave my house."
Figueroa said the experience was especially painful because she had recently had kidney surgery.
Figueroa was put in a red van with two men accused of being in the United States illegally. She said she told agents multiple times that she was a U.S. citizen, and no one responded.
En route to a detention center, Figueroa said, they finally identified themselves as agents working for the Department of Homeland Security. She said they took her to an FBI facility for questioning.
Figueroa told 60 Minutes that she had been detained for about four hours when she was finally released by FBI agents after she told them she had urinated blood and expressed concern about damage to her kidneys. Paramedics then arrived to take her to a hospital.
"I left without a single piece of paper… as if it never happened. I was put on to the stretcher and as I'm being wheeled away, [the FBI agents] said that I'm released pending charges," Figueroa explained to Vega.
Figueroa said she was never charged with a crime.
In a statement to 60 Minutes, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: "U.S. Border Patrol was conducting a targeted immigration enforcement arrest of two illegal aliens when an individual used her Mercedes Benz to block in agents, honking her horn. As agents were departing, the driver, a U.S. citizen, hit a government vehicle. In fear of public safety and of law enforcement, officers attempted to remove her from the vehicle. She violently resisted, kicking two agents and causing injuries. This agitator was arrested for assault on a federal agent."
In December, Figueroa traveled to Washington, DC, to testify in a hearing organized by Democratic members of the U.S. House and Senate.
Figueroa told 60 Minutes that she's speaking out because she wants to set a good example for her 6-year-old son.
"He needs to know that people will fight back. And we have a voice. And it's important to be heard," she told Vega.
"People have gotten killed in these situations," Figueroa said. "And I'm alive and I can speak for them… the more attention we bring to these things, the higher chance we have to stop it and to make a change."
The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Scott Rosann. Reporting by Andy Court, Cecilia Vega, Annabelle Hanflig, and Camilo Montoya-Galvez.
Photos and video courtesy of Storyful, Getty Images, and Michael Pretti via AP.