Court records: Chicago immigration raid was about squatters, not Venezuelan gangs

Source: NPR

February 6, 2026 5:19 AM ET


Newly revealed arrest records show that a high-profile immigration raid on a South Shore Chicago apartment building last year that became a symbol of President Trump's harsh immigration tactics actually targeted squatters, not Venezuelan gang members. The court documents were first reported by ProPublica.

Quickly after the Sept. 30, 2025, raid, the Department of Homeland Security published a dramatic video of the operation showing agents with their guns drawn, some rappelling out of a Black Hawk helicopter onto the roof, and leading people away with their hands zip-tied. On multiple occasions, the Trump administration has said the building was frequented by members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.

But arrest records for two of the men show the government's stated reason for the raid was to take out squatters, not gang members. The documents were included in a motion filed in an ongoing case challenging warrantless arrests in Chicago. In the documents, DHS stated "this operation was based on intelligence that there were illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments in the building." There is no mention of criminal gangs or Tren de Aragua.

The records confirm "the worst thoughts that we had about the operation," Mark Fleming, the associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, told NPR. "This is the most brazen unconstitutional use of force in an operation that I've seen in my entire career," he said. "They have no legal authority to be addressing purported squatters; that is not within the purview of the federal government."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/02/06/nx-s1-5703603/court-records-chicago-immigration-raid-was-about-squatters-not-venezuelan-gangs