CHICAGO (WGN) — Chicago Alderwoman Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) says she was handcuffed and threatened by federal agents inside a Humboldt Park Hospital for asking agents if they had a warrant for a patient inside.
Fuentes was joined by dozens of people, including other elected leaders, outside the hospital, demanding that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) let an immigration attorney speak with the undocumented man inside.
The alderwoman said federal agents detained her after asking for a warrant.
Chicago Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) says she was handcuffed and threatened by federal agents inside a Humboldt Park Hospital (Photo/Citizen App)
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Video from the Citizen App shows Alderowman Fuentes asking for the warrant, saying the man had constitutional rights. She says she was then put in handcuffs and later released when she challenged the ICE agents, asking what law she was breaking for her to be detained.
WGN-TV reached out to ICE for comment on this incident and has yet to receive a response.
Alderwoman Fuentes says the undocumented man inside the hospital is roughly 37 years of age. It’s not known precisely how the man broke his leg, but it allegedly occurred when ICE was attempting to arrest him.
Witnesses say ICE brought the injured man to the hospital, where an immigration attorney has been unable to speak with him.
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In a Friday afternoon press conference, Fuentes addresses the chain of events.
“People deserve to get medical attention and not fear that they’re going to get detained or deported,” she said. “And so, I arrived at the emergency room, in which the ICE agents were sitting in the room with the individual outside of that room. I asked the ICE agents if they had a judicial warrant for the individual that they were detaining. They refused to answer.”
Chicago Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) says she was handcuffed and threatened by federal agents inside a Humboldt Park Hospital (Photo/Citizen App)
Community groups are also speaking out against ICE tactics, which, they say, were witnessed by several people on Friday morning across multiple North Side neighborhoods.
Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines
WGN’s Angelica Sanchez will have more in the Evening News at 5 p.m. This story will be updated.
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