SOUTH SHORE — Days after armed federal agents walked Downtown streets in droves, another large crowd descended upon a South Shore building early Tuesday.
Videos posted online by witnesses show an armored green truck and more than a dozen unmarked white vans and black SUVs blocking streets and bus stops as agents in camouflage, some holding long guns, step out and surround a large apartment building near 75th Street and South Shore Drive.
At least one person was seen taken into custody, witnesses told CBS2.
A spokesperson with the FBI’s Chicago office confirmed it was working with U.S. Border Patrol on a “targeted immigration enforcement operation,” but the spokesperson did not elaborate.
South Shore had been a landing spot for many Venezuelans when tens of thousands of migrants were bused from the Southern border to Chicago and other Democrat-led cities.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a memo to Department of Justice agencies, including the FBI, directing them to “defend ICE facilities and personnel whenever and wherever they come under attack, including in Portland and Chicago.” It’s the latest escalation as President Donald Trump directs federal agencies to carry out his aggressive deportation agenda, largely aimed at sanctuary cities.
Gov. JB Pritzker said at a press conference Monday that the Department of Homeland Security has requested the deployment of 100 military troops to Chicago to help with immigration enforcement.
Recent tactics by federal agents, from attacking journalists to cruising on Border Patrol boats on the Chicago River as a show of force, were intended to intimidate, Pritzker said Monday.
“Get out your cellphones, record and narrate what you see, put it on social media peacefully,” Pritzker said.
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