Two people were detained by federal immigration officers on Sunday morning outside the Home Depot on Oakton Street in southwest Evanston, according to Mayor Daniel Biss and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Biss confirmed the presence of ICE agents in the city in a social media post at 3 p.m. Sunday and provided resources for citizens to report sightings.
“ICE was once again a presence in Evanston and Rogers Park this AM, with masked men taking multiple members of our community off the street,” he informed me.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., ICIRR’s Rapid Response Network “verified that federal agents abducted two people at the Home Depot on Oakton.”
Following the alarm, Evanston’s youth soccer program, AYSO, sent an email to participants allowing coaches to cancel or postpone games on Sunday.
“James Park is directly across from Home Depot,” the communication from AYSO Evanston stated. “If you do not feel safe playing your soccer game today, do not go!”
“I am not officially canceling all games today, as many of them are in areas where there is no reported [ICE] activity,” according to the email. “If you feel compelled to cancel your game today, do so. The safety of our players, parents, coaches, officials, and volunteers is our first priority!”
According to ICIRR, the detention of two people on Sunday follows a recent increase in ICE activities on Chicago’s North Side.
“We were not notified of any pending ICE operation,” Evanston Police Department Cmdr. Ryan Glew stated. “We did receive a call about ICE operations on Oakton, but whatever occurred was wrapped up before we responded to assess.”
According to the Welcoming City Ordinance, Evanston is a sanctuary city, which means that the city and EPD do not cooperate with federal immigration officials.
On September 10, Homeland Security agents apprehended a suspect in an alleged “criminal matter” near Church Street and Brown Avenue as part of “Operation Midway Blitz” — as ICE has nicknamed its ongoing raids in the Chicago area.
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