Immigrant rights groups in Chicago say ICE agents now targeting Home Depot stores
As the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, reports have started coming in that ICE agents have targeted places like Home Depot, where migrant workers are known to gather for for-hire jobs.
Rapid response teams formed by immigrant rights groups have said Home Depot stores have become a target, something the Department of Homeland Security promised they would not do.
"ICE has targeted Home Depot corner hiring sites … where day laborers – our neighbors who build, paint, fix, and beautify this city – have been the target of these unwarranted attacks," said Miguel Avelo Rivera with Latino Union of Chicago, which represents day laborers.
Volunteers said, in the last two days, multiple undocumented neighbors working at Home Depot sites were detained by ICE.
On the Northwest Side, immigrant advocates said five people were arrested as part of an immigration enforcement mission as they traveled to work.
Video from the Home Depot at 47th and Western appears to show uniformed federal agents conducting an immigration enforcement mission on Wednesday afternoon.
At a rally on the Northwest Side on Thursday, activists pointed to the same type of activity at other Home Depots.
"Time and time again, we have seen that a united neighborhood is a safe neighborhood," said Sandra Puebla, with the Northwest Side Rapid Response Team
The head of ICE's deportation branch in the Chicago area previously told CBS News they would not target Home Depot as part of "Operation Midway Blitz." Officials said the goal rather is to target people living in the Chicago area who are non-citizens with pending criminal charges or convictions.
ICE has said anyone else who is undocumented that is found during that mission is also eligible for deportation, regardless of their criminal record.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration launched a second immigration enforcement effort, "Operation At Large," in the Chicago area, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection commander Gregory Bovino, who previously ran the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles.
His tactics there did hone in on places like Home Depot. Those reports have flown into rapid response teams.
"That information is shared with trained rapid response volunteers that then go into the community and ensure that we can verify and document the activity that's going on," said Stephanie Alejandro Ortega, with the Northwest Side Rapid Response Team.
The two immigration operations in Chicago each have their own personnel, and a similar mission.
Operation At Large differs from Midway Blitz in that it will look more like the Los Angeles effort, with more indiscriminate raids, sources said. Bovino's team has a history of targeting Home Depots and car washes.