U.S. Citizen Injured During Mistaken Detention by ICE Near Chicago

Federal immigration agents in Evanston, Ill., "mistakenly detained a U.S. citizen, who suffered injuries to his head, neck and teeth in the confrontation," according to local police. The incident shows why ICE cannot be reformed. An agency built for mass deportation treats anyone who fits a loose description as a suspect, and citizens pay the price.

The agents said they held a warrant for a person with Chicago-area addresses, and the man they seized "resembled the person sought." That was enough. Bystander Ryan Garton, 56, said, "I saw two ICE agents pinning a guy to the ground," adding that they were "beating him up." Others shouted that the man was a citizen. He was reportedly walking to a pharmacy after an emergency room visit. Garton said he told him, "I don't understand. I'm a citizen. Why did they attack me?"

Then the agents left. "If you tackle the wrong guy, you don't leave him on the ground bleeding and drive off," Garton said. "It's like fleeing the scene of a crime." DHS said its officers "relied on their training and later left the scene without further incident." An agency that describes the beating of a citizen as "without further incident" has a culture of impunity.

This is not an aberration. It happened the same day ICE agents shot an immigrant in Austin, Texas. It also recalls Operation Midway Blitz, which "swept up thousands of residents, few of whom were charged or prosecuted" and included the arrest of two U.S. citizens in a pre-dawn raid on their homes. The pattern points to a system built around volume and fear rather than accuracy.

Nathan Ryan of Sanctuary Evanston said, "It's been a continuation of the violence we've seen and it reinforces that it's not about safety, it's about violence. It's about the federal government sabotaging the safety of our cities." Restaurant owner Aurora Mata said her staff saw minivans near the scene and reacted with "Oh no." That is a community living in dread.

When routine operations injure citizens, terrorize neighborhoods, and end with agents driving away, retraining and oversight are not enough. ICE should be abolished.

Link: NY Times