A Chicago man was shot after immigration agents stormed into a house on the city’s northwest side Monday morning — and officials have acknowledged that the wounded man was not the person they were looking for, according to reports.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents encountered a man wielding a gun when they rushed into a residence in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood just before 6:30 a.m., agency officials said.
An agent subsequently opened fire, striking the man in his left arm, officials said. The man, identified as Felix Torres, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remained in serious condition early Tuesday.
ICE officials acknowledged to DNAinfo.com that Torres was not the person they came to detain, declining to reveal further details.
But Torres’ daughter, Carmen Torres, told the local news site that she was perplexed why agents would target their home, as no one there is undocumented. She also said her father doesn’t own a gun.
“It’s a lie when they say he was holding a gun,” Torres said, speaking outside her home. “They shot my dad. They shot him, and I don’t know why.”
Torres said she was asleep downstairs with her husband and their 1-year-old daughter when the agents rushed in and dragged them outside.
“They didn’t say anything. They just came in and pointed pistols in our faces,” she said. “We didn’t even have time to dress or grab milk for the baby.”
Torres said at least eight relatives were home at the time of the raid, including her 5-month-old nephew. She also claimed none of her relatives are undocumented, adding that the family has lived in the house for “at least 30 years.”
ICE would not immediately confirm who agents were trying to arrest in the raid.
Local politician Carlos Ramirez-Rosa blasted the raid, and accused ICE of “routinely” violating “the American people’s constitutional rights.”
“ICE’s guns blazing raid on a northwest side home filled with sleeping kids is exactly why the City of Chicago should refuse to collaborate with ICE,” Ramirez-Rosa said in a statement.
A Chicago council committee renewed the city’s so-called sanctuary status last week, meaning that local cops won’t assist federal immigration agencies in tracking down undocumented immigrants. New York, Baltimore, Detroit, Los Angeles and Seattle also tout sanctuary status.
The Trump administration has threatened to slash federal funding for sanctuary cities, drawing the ire of immigration activists.
