ice detains at family shelter

From Block Club Chicago

NORTH PARK — Federal immigration agents detained and then released two people Tuesday outside a homeless shelter in Budlong Woods, according to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

About 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up at the family shelter at 3034 W. Foster Ave., said Andre Gordillo, director of the family support network for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Shelter staff did not let the ICE agents in, but two residents were detained outside the shelter. Gordillo said shelter staff confirmed the residents were later released, though he did not know how long they were held or where they were taken.

Elected officials and activists held a press conference Wednesday at River Park to denounce the detainment.

“This is an immigrant neighborhood, and we are going to protect our people,” said Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd).

The property at 3034 W. Foster Ave. during November 2022. Credit: Google

Rodriguez-Sanchez went to the shelter and spoke with the staff Tuesday morning. Volunteers with the Northwest Side Rapid Response Team and the Albany Park Defense Network also patrolled the area Tuesday. Shelter staff said ICE agents were looking for a man who no longer lived at the shelter, Gordillo said.

The Northwest Side Rapid Response Team issued a community alert about the activity Tuesday morning.

The Budlong Woods shelter was formerly a Marine Corps building. It was bought by the city in 2023 as thousands of asylum seekers were arriving in Chicago. The shelter was originally used to house migrants, many of whom were fleeing political and economic upheaval in Venezuela. It became a family shelter after the city combined the migrant and the homeless shelter systems last year.

Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th), whose ward encompasses the shelter, said she wishes the federal government would “ask us what we need because we need a lot of things.”

“We would welcome the opportunity to work with the federal government to provide more housing,” she said.

Andre Gordillo, the director of the family support network for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, speaks during a Sept. 24, 2025 press conference. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago

Gordillo and Doug Schenkelberg, executive director of the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, said Tuesday was the first time they’d heard of an ICE agent detaining someone outside a homeless shelter in Chicago.

Schenkelberg said he has not heard about ICE agents targeting any homeless encampments in the city, but “it’s something we’ve been worried about.”

Shelters, schools, churches and hospitals were considered sensitive locations and were protected from immigration enforcement under former President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump ended these protections in January.

“People who have nowhere else to go should have access to shelter and other lifesaving services without fear of detainment,” said Arturo Hernandez, an attorney with the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness.

A press conference was held at River Park after two people were detained by ICE at a nearby homeless shelter. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago

Marcos Charles, acting head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, recently said about 50-60 percent of the Chicago operation arrests were targeted arrests. That means they were specific people that ICE was trying to find because they had committed a crime, said Ramona Riecke, of the Albany Park Defense Network.

“In other words, despite their stated goals, ICE openly admits that they are arresting and detaining people without criminal backgrounds,” Riecke said. “They are targeting all members of our communities at all hours of the day and with increasing aggression.”

Riecke said volunteers will continue to patrol the area for the next few days. She encouraged anyone who sees potential lCE activity to contact the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights at 855-435-7693.

“We have a vast and wide coalition of people in Albany Park that will stand up and love and defend our neighbors,” state Sen. Graciela Guzmán said. “They could stand to learn a lesson from Chicago.”