At least 12 people were arrested by federal immigration enforcement agents in Lake County over the weekend, according to community organizers. However, the approach to responding to these actions in Lake County differs from what has been seen in Chicago, where demonstrators sometimes confront agents, who have at times used tear gas in response.
Dulce Ortiz, executive director of the Mano Family Resource Center and a Waukegan Township trustee, explained that different forms of “community resistance” are being employed to deal with U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Waukegan area. Ortiz noted that when immigration agents take people into custody, neighbors often do not rush outside to protest, as sometimes occurs in Chicago. This hesitation stems from a “fear they will be kidnapped themselves.”
“By the time our rapid response teams get there, ICE is gone,” Ortiz said. “When community members identify an ICE vehicle, they start beeping and honking. A line of 10 cars once followed them down Sheridan Road into North Chicago. They left. This is community resistance.”
According to an email from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended nine undocumented individuals in a targeted operation Saturday in Waukegan. Some of those detained reportedly have criminal backgrounds.
Ortiz said she is aware of five arrests in Waukegan and three in Gurnee on Saturday, which she described as part of a series of swift actions. This information comes from records maintained by Mano a Mano and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), who gather data from their rapid response teams.
Because the data is collected from community reports, Ortiz does not have access to the names of those arrested or confirmation regarding their criminal backgrounds.
Working in coordination with ICIRR and HACES, Mano a Mano helps deploy rapid response teams immediately upon receiving reports of federal immigration enforcement activity in an area. They offer assistance to those detained and support their families.
While tear gas has been deployed multiple times in Chicago, reportedly for crowd control during immigration enforcement operations, Ortiz confirmed that such measures have not been used in Lake County. In the past three weeks, at least 48 people have been taken into custody in Lake County for allegedly being undocumented.
“We have not seen any of that here,” Ortiz stated. “They do not have to use chemical weapons in Lake County. The pattern is to move quickly and apprehend someone before anyone comes outside to protest.”
A DHS spokesperson said in an email that the “illegal aliens” arrested in Lake County came from El Salvador, Mexico, and Nicaragua, and that they had criminal backgrounds. However, DHS did not provide the detainees’ names, nor confirm where any crimes took place.
Ortiz shared additional details about the arrests over the weekend. Two landscapers were detained outside a restaurant in Gurnee, and a construction worker was taken into custody near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Washington Street in the village.
In Waukegan, Border Patrol agents apprehended five individuals on Saturday, based on Mano a Mano and ICIRR records. Arrest locations included near 10th Street and McAlister Avenue, 9th Street, and at Adams and 10th Streets. Another individual was arrested outside a Honduran grocery store on Grand Avenue, and one man was taken into custody near Belvidere Road and Jackson Street. Ortiz noted, “He was sitting outside waiting on a bench.”
Two weeks prior, Border Patrol and ICE officers apprehended 20 people over a three-day period, mainly in Waukegan and North Chicago. The previous weekend, 16 allegedly undocumented individuals were apprehended at locations such as gas stations, grocery stores, car washes, and nurseries throughout Round Lake, Wauconda, Lake Villa, Lakemoor, Grayslake, Fox Lake, and Gurnee.
Ortiz has repeatedly emphasized the importance of people knowing their legal rights. These rights include the right to remain silent and not speak to enforcement officers, the right to an attorney, and the right not to open the door to agents unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.
The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/28/lake-county-federal-immigration-enforcement/
