Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) has filed a federal claim over an incident in which an immigration enforcement agent briefly handcuffed and detained her inside Humboldt Park Health.
Fuentes filed the claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to seek damages if they’ve been harmed by a “negligent or wrongful act” committed by a federal employee while performing their duties.
“Federal agents have been deployed to our city in an effort to create chaos, violate individuals’ constitutional rights and separate families,” Fuentes and her attorneys said in a statement. “Federal agents are not above the law, and we must hold them accountable.”
The incident happened Oct. 3 inside the hospital’s emergency room, where Fuentes had gone to support a man injured during an encounter with ICE agents.
A video shared by Fuentes’s office shows the alderperson asking whether the agents had a warrant for the man’s arrest. After Fuentes asserts that the man has constitutional rights, one of the agents responds, “No.”
Fuentes continues to press, at which point the other agent, who was wearing a mask, tells the alderperson, “You are going to be placed under arrest.”
The unmasked agent then grabs Fuentes, turns her around and handcuffs her. Fuentes never touches either agent.
“We told you to leave,” the unmasked agent says in the video. “Now you are under arrest for impeding.”
The encounter prompted citywide outrage and a formal condemnation from most members of the City Council.
Fuentes previously told Windy City Times that ICE agents detained the hospitalized man at a work site despite his temporary protected status, for which he had filed a renewal. He has no criminal record.
Fuentes added that the same ICE agent who handcuffed her has been filmed in at least three other violent encounters, including one at a Walmart, the viral arrest in Waukegan where the mayor was present, and another incident involving a woman.
Jan Susler, one of Fuentes’s attorneys from the People’s Law Office, said Fuentes’ claim relating to the incident is about “standing up for herself, her community and her constituency, holding accountable those who, in their anonymity, wreak terror and havoc.”