The escalation of ICE operations in Waukegan is leaving local leaders on high alert to inform residents about their rights.

Elected officials are urging care and caution in encounters with ICE. This comes one day after several detainments caught on camera, including an American woman taken into custody in front of Waukegan's city hall.

Dariana Fajardo, 23, over the phone, recalled her experience with Border Patrol agents — one in which the mayor stepped in to help. 

Fajardo was involved in an altercation with agents on Monday, just steps from Waukegan city hall. She was heard on video as she called for the mayor.

Mayor Sam Cunningham told CBS News Chicago that he immediately recognized the woman, helping to get her car moved so it wouldn't be towed, and trying to de-escalate the tense situation.

"It was a lot of fear and commotion and misunderstanding and… But we were scared. I was scared," he said.

Cunningham said he did not see the moments before Fajardo, who is a U.S. citizen, was pulled from her car. Fajardo said that she felt targeted because of the Mexican flag on the hood of her car. 

An agent told bystanders there was no warrant for her arrest, but said she was impeding "a federal law enforcement operation." This incident comes at a time when Homeland Security sources have said that sometimes their officers feel they have been boxed in by protestors. 

Fajardo said she is not part of any rapid response group and felt she had been boxed in by the agents.

"These were not lawful arrests. These were warrantless vehicle stops using racial profiling and designed to sow chaos and fear," said Dulce Ortiz, executive director of Mano Family Resource Center.

One day after a series of recorded detainments, including Farjado's, community groups are informing residents to know their rights, but give space when making any recordings, and report these incidents to trained responders.

Some local businesses in the area have signs denying access to federal agents.

Cunningham said he is watching Chicago to see what happens with the executive order signed by Mayor Brandon Johnson creating ICE-free zones.

"We want to be very careful before we put anything out that we have no legs to stand on from a legal standpoint," Cunningham said.  "We all have to start understanding and be conscious of… This is where we're at. So we need to meet them where they are at so we are prepared, better prepared to deal with the situation once it does happen," Cunningham said.

Fajardo has since been released from custody. She says she was not charged, though told that could change.

CBS News Chicago reached out to Homeland Security officials for more information, but has yet to hear back.