Chicago officials said that agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) forcibly detained a day care teacher in front of other teachers, parents, and students.
The incident happened on Wednesday shortly after the center opened for the day. City officials and parents said that ICE agents took the teacher from Rayito de Sol, a Spanish immersion day care and preschool located on Addison Street near Western Avenue.
ICE Agents Detain Day Care Teacher
A member of the community, Alderman Matt Martin, said that the teacher was "violently taken out" of the day care while children were on-site. He said the video was one of the most chilling footage he has ever seen during his time in office.
Martin added that the arrested educator was apparently "followed inside by ICE" uninvited and was "violently taken away." He noted that the ICE agents were armed with guns while they were walking around the facility. Staff are now demanding the immediate release of the detained individual, according to NBC News.
There have been several videos of the incident that were posted on social media platforms that show what happened shortly after the incident. In at least one footage, the woman could be heard telling authorities, in Spanish, that she had papers.
The video that was taken by a parent shortly after the incident showed ICE officers wearing gear identifying them as ICE agents and talking to an individual inside a vehicle. All of this happened as onlookers appeared to cry nearby.
A parent whose child attends the school, Adam Gonzalez, said that this is not even the worst of the worst. She noted that these people are teachers who care and are part of the community, adding that they need to be better, CBS News reported.
Abducting the Individual in Front of Kids
Another parent, Maia Reed, said that the recent developments, particularly the detainment of the day care teacher, only harm the community. The incident comes as a Biden-era rule previously made schools and other locations "protected" or "sensitive" areas where immigration enforcement was generally not allowed.
Parent Tara Goodarzi, who saw the incident on her way to drop off her son, said that everyone in the area was "crying, terrified, huddled together," after the supposed "abduction." She added that doing such a thing in a place where kids are, with complete disregard that these children see what is happening, shows how low they will go.
Following the incident, city and state lawmakers quickly held a press conference and condemned ICE's efforts. Democratic representative Mike Quigley also said that the day care teacher was a "trusted, loved member of her community with a work permit who has dedicated her life to caring for children," as per The Guardian.
