At least 15 people were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during an operation Monday morning in West Chicago.

That’s according to state Sen. Karina Villa, who spoke at a news conference Monday outside a grocery store in West Chicago.

“There’s been over 15 people this morning,” said Villa, a West Chicago Democrat who represents the state’s 25th District.

“These masked individuals came upon people with the color of my skin and picked them up,” she said.

Of the people arrested, Villa said, one was at a grocery store, another was at an apartment complex, and a third was “simply walking on the side of the street.”

Another person was detained by ICE in Aurora. She did not specify where the people were being held, Villa said.

During the news conference, Villa stood with numerous other local leaders, including state Rep. Maura Hirschauer.

“This morning, we woke up to the news that ICE was in our neighborhoods,” said Hirschauer, a Batavia Democrat.

“Today, I saw firsthand how terrifying it is for our families, for our educators, for all the folks who work in our community every day,” Hirschauer added. “ICE is not making people safe. ICE is spreading fear, and ICE is separating families.”

Villa said she was assured by West Chicago officials that the police department is “not collaborating with ICE.”

Attempts to reach city and police officials in West Chicago were unsuccessful.

On Monday morning, Villa posted live on Facebook from a location at Route 59 and Forest Avenue, stating she’d received reports of “ICE coming” and said she had seen unidentified “masked individuals.”

She was filmed in front of a suburban utility vehicle with lights flashing and a South Dakota license plate, pausing at one point to say, “Not in my city” to a second vehicle driving by. She warned residents to stay inside their homes and not to answer the door for anyone without a warrant.

West Chicago Elementary School District 33 Superintendent Kristina Davis said residents and Villa had informed the district about what they believed to be an ICE presence in neighborhoods.

Davis said the district then executed a “secure-in-teach” for its buildings. The district includes five elementary schools, a middle school, and a preschool.

Secure-in-teach, Davis said, “means that we just do extra monitoring of people in and out of our buildings.”

She said the first report she heard of an ICE sighting came at about 7:30 a.m. in the neighborhood around Route 59 and Lester Street, which is about four blocks east of Leman Middle School.

Davis said what happened on Monday was “unsettling for many.”

Meanwhile, state Rep. Norma Hernandez said during the news conference that the immigration system in the United States is “broken on purpose.”

“We know that both parties are accountable for having a broken immigration system,” said Hernandez, a Melrose Park Democrat. “And there does not seem to be any willingness to come to an agreement where we can create a system that’s fair, (and) that is not targeting people that have been here for decades and have already earned the right to live here.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250915/news/ice-activity-reported-in-west-chicago/