On the South Side of Chicago last fall, dozens of federal immigration agents swarmed an apartment building in the middle of the night. Some of them rappelled down from a Black Hawk helicopter and banged on doors. Many residents were restrained outdoors and forced to wait while agents checked their identities.
By the end of the night, at least 37 people, mostly Venezuelan nationals, had been arrested, and the building was left in disarray. The Sept. 30 raid was one of the most aggressive in the early months of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. It raised questions about why a random, blighted building in Chicago’s predominantly Black neighborhood of South Shore had been targeted for such a large show of federal force.
At the time, Trump administration officials said they were targeting a number of unauthorized Venezuelan immigrants living in the building, some of them with purported ties to criminal gangs.
But on Wednesday, Illinois officials said they have opened a new investigation into claims that building managers had contacted the federal government with a tip about Venezuelan immigrants who were not authorized to be living in the building. State officials say it may have been an illegal attempt on the managers’ part to force Black and Hispanic tenants, including U.S. residents, out of the building.
In the aftermath of the raid, residents described years of conflicts among tenants, building management and city officials over claims of inadequate maintenance, safety hazards and frequent instances of crime. The building’s ownership has countered that it had spent $2 million on repairs, maintenance, security and evictions since 2020, but had been unable to keep squatters and criminals out.
