Surveillance footage captured the scene in suburban Des Plaines as three men were detained by ICE Tuesday morning.
Attorney George Gomez tells NBC Chicago that one of the men who was detained has been in the U.S. for more than 30 years, but does not have current immigration status.
Gomez told NBC Chicago one of the men’s sons is a U.S. citizen and was released a short time after being detained while the trio was on their way to work Tuesday morning. A third man was also released after the incident.
According to NBC Chicago’s Vi Nguyen, a woman who asked not to be identified said it was her father and two brothers who were detained at the Mobil gas station near Ballard and Potter Roads Tuesday morning.
She said they were headed to a landscaping job, and were confronted by armed ICE officers. Surveillance footage at the gas station showed an agent approaching a truck, which backed up from a pump, with other agents then emerging and taking three men into custody.
“They went to the gas station, no issues whatsoever,” Gomez said. “They went to get something to drink, they go back to their car and as they get back in their car they’re approached by an unknown individual, who never states at any point whether he’s a law official or whether he works for the government or whether he works for the local police.”
Gomez said the trio of men tried to flee during the exchange, arguing they did so because agents did not identify themselves.
“Edgar Ruiz was sitting there, and (the agent) draws a gun and everyone gets scared and they all try to flee,” he said. “As one of my clients attempted to get out of the vehicle, he was tased in his chin, and there was significant damage to his chin.”
Gomez said Ruiz was detained and released, but his father Rigoberto was detained and the family has been unable to obtain information on where he’s being held, as he’s not in ICE’s detainee locating system.
“It’s very heartbreaking, I’m not gonna lie,” Monserrat Ayala of Increase the Peace told NBC Chicago. “It’s heartbreaking because that could be anyone that we know. It could be my father, my brother, our local corner store lady.”
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not yet responded to requests for comment on the incident.
