'Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood'
LITTLE VILLAGE | Residents protest in street after ID fraud bust
April 25, 2007
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Staff Reporter/ecepeda@suntimes.com
Heavily armed officers from several federal agencies locked down a strip mall in a fraudulent-document bust Tuesday, scaring residents and triggering an angry rally at one of Little Village's busiest intersections that lasted into the evening.
"Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood," said Baltazar Enriquez, 30, a lifelong Little Village resident. "It looked like they were marching into Iraq."
? Click to enlarge image
Little Village residents and immigration reform activists protest in the streets after yesterday's raid.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
? Click to enlarge image
Vanessa Delgado holds hands with other protesters Tuesday near a strip mall in the Little Village neighborhood. Witnesses said heavily armed agents handcuffed people, then released most of them.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
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The operation lasted less than an hour, but the commotion brought residents into the streets and ignited a whirlwind of phone calls and text messages to mobilize community organizations and immigration law reform activists to protest.
Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) said his father's photo store was among those entered in the operation. He said his father was "visibly upset" but wasn't charged or arrested. "It was way overboard," Munoz told reporters. "They had machine guns, shotguns and bulletproof vests."
The raid was part of a probe of identification fraud, according to the U.S. attorney's office. "It's an ICE-led investigation; we're assisting them," said FBI spokesman Ross Rice, speaking of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Agents were carrying out a search warrant, he said. The target was sellers of phony Social Security and green cards, authorities said. Although there were a few arrests, U.S. attorney's officials and ICE refused to provide a number.
As word of the raid spread, a crowd of about 250 gathered in the intersection at Albany and 26th as activists exhorted the crowd to take the day's events as reason to join a May 1 march. Trying to cool residents' heated tempers, the Rev. Brandon Curran of St. Pius the Fifth Catholic Church in Pilsen led a prayer in the middle of the street.
"We call on you to answer our prayers at this time of community crisis and bless these suffering and scarred families," he said.
According to witnesses, the lockdown and searches started shortly before 2 p.m. at a gated strip mall anchored by the Discount Mall. Some 200 to 250 people were said to be working and shopping there.
Strip mall locked down
"The police closed all the doors and came through calling for people on a list," said beauty salon owner Maricela Iniguez. "They made everyone sit on the floor and put the plastic handcuffs on some people. The rest were just quiet and scared." She echoed others who said they saw heavily armed agents yelling at and handcuffing people, then rounding them up into vans before releasing all but a handful.
Those arrested are expected to appear in federal court today.
Contributing: Natasha Korecki
LITTLE VILLAGE | Residents protest in street after ID fraud bust
April 25, 2007
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Staff Reporter/ecepeda@suntimes.com
Heavily armed officers from several federal agencies locked down a strip mall in a fraudulent-document bust Tuesday, scaring residents and triggering an angry rally at one of Little Village's busiest intersections that lasted into the evening.
"Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood," said Baltazar Enriquez, 30, a lifelong Little Village resident. "It looked like they were marching into Iraq."
? Click to enlarge image
Little Village residents and immigration reform activists protest in the streets after yesterday's raid.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
? Click to enlarge image
Vanessa Delgado holds hands with other protesters Tuesday near a strip mall in the Little Village neighborhood. Witnesses said heavily armed agents handcuffed people, then released most of them.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
RELATED STORIES
? NBC5 video: Protesters march after raid
? Sneed: Terror raid?
The operation lasted less than an hour, but the commotion brought residents into the streets and ignited a whirlwind of phone calls and text messages to mobilize community organizations and immigration law reform activists to protest.
Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) said his father's photo store was among those entered in the operation. He said his father was "visibly upset" but wasn't charged or arrested. "It was way overboard," Munoz told reporters. "They had machine guns, shotguns and bulletproof vests."
The raid was part of a probe of identification fraud, according to the U.S. attorney's office. "It's an ICE-led investigation; we're assisting them," said FBI spokesman Ross Rice, speaking of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Agents were carrying out a search warrant, he said. The target was sellers of phony Social Security and green cards, authorities said. Although there were a few arrests, U.S. attorney's officials and ICE refused to provide a number.
As word of the raid spread, a crowd of about 250 gathered in the intersection at Albany and 26th as activists exhorted the crowd to take the day's events as reason to join a May 1 march. Trying to cool residents' heated tempers, the Rev. Brandon Curran of St. Pius the Fifth Catholic Church in Pilsen led a prayer in the middle of the street.
"We call on you to answer our prayers at this time of community crisis and bless these suffering and scarred families," he said.
According to witnesses, the lockdown and searches started shortly before 2 p.m. at a gated strip mall anchored by the Discount Mall. Some 200 to 250 people were said to be working and shopping there.
Strip mall locked down
"The police closed all the doors and came through calling for people on a list," said beauty salon owner Maricela Iniguez. "They made everyone sit on the floor and put the plastic handcuffs on some people. The rest were just quiet and scared." She echoed others who said they saw heavily armed agents yelling at and handcuffing people, then rounding them up into vans before releasing all but a handful.
Those arrested are expected to appear in federal court today.
Contributing: Natasha Korecki
