CHICAGO – A woman on her way to work got into a traffic accident that turned into an ordeal where masked federal agents holding weapons dragged her out of her car and detained her without telling her why, the woman’s family says.
The video of masked men detaining Dayanne Figueroa, a U.S. citizen and paralegal, after a traffic accident in Chicago is the latest to make the rounds in the city where federal agents have faced scrutiny over aggressive tactics.
Figueroa’s account of the incident comes as the Supreme Court weighs whether to allow President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city. The White House says a rebellion is potentially underway in the Prairie State and troops are needed to help carry out Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown known as Operation Midway Blitz.
Local Democratic leaders view the Republican president’s efforts to deploy the military as a power grab. Many Chicagoans and residents of the surrounding areas view federal agents already deployed to the city as an occupying force.
Reached on the phone by USA TODAY, the Figueroa family declined to immediately speak, citing potential upcoming litigation. Dayanne Figueroa released a statement online.
“I was in shock and terrified,” she said of the moment when she was dragged from her car and pinned to the asphalt. “Agents crashed into me. I was not involved in any protest or related activity and I intend to seek justice for how I was treated.” 
Figueroa’s encounter with agents came on Oct. 10 and was covered by the Chicago Tribune on Nov. 3. 
The woman’s account of her detainment comes just days after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters at a news conference in Gary, Indiana, that no U.S. citizens had been detained in connection with the blitz crackdown.
Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident or on Noem’s comment. 
The Figueroa family is raising funds for legal and medical fees associated with the incident. The woman says the encounter came after a recent kidney surgery and that afterwards she went to the hospital “because of the excessive force used during her detention.”
Video published on YouTube by the Figueroa family shows immigration agents detaining a man on a city street while a handful of passersby protest the arrest.
Federal agents put the man in a minivan and begin driving away. Agents in a second vehicle attempt to follow and swing back into traffic, appearing to collide with Figueroa’s car. 
Agents stop their vehicles, get out with weapons drawn and surround Figueroa’s car. 
“You guys hit her, what’s wrong with y’all,” the man filming says. “She’s trying to go to work.”
Gov. JB Pritzker has urged Illinoisans to record videos of immigration agents as they conduct their duties. Pritzker has established a commission to catalogue potential abuses.
Agents wrestle Figueroa from the vehicle and detain her on the ground. Her shoes fall off as they pull her from the car. She yells at them to stop and to get off of her. 
“You guys have no heart,” the man taking the video says. 
Court filings, videos and news reports show Figueroa isn’t the only U.S. citizen to wind up being detained by immigration agents carrying out the White House blitz.
John Cerrone is a military veteran who was briefly detained inside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, according to federal court filings. He was arrested at a demonstration outside the facility. 
The site has become a hotbed of protests amid reports of inhumane conditions inside the boarded-up building. Cerrone gave sworn testimony in a lawsuit about the state of the inside, saying that there was “blood, other bodily fluids, and hair in the sinks and on the walls”; agents bragged about shooting him in the head with rubber bullets; and he was denied access to an attorney. 
“Even in Afghanistan, we had very clear rules of engagement,” Cerrone told The Guardian. “The conduct of these agents was such that if it occurred in Afghanistan, they would be removed from the frontline. They would be court-martialed.”
Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes is attempting to bring a lawsuit against federal agents after they briefly detained the alderperson on Oct. 3, according to court documents shared with USA TODAY. 
Arnoldo Carrillo Jr., a U.S. citizen and resident of Northwest Indiana, which has also been impacted by the blitz, told USA TODAY that federal agents arrested his sister and brother, also citizens, during a raid on Oct. 23. Agents also arrested Carrillo’s parents, both from Mexico.  
“I just want my family back,” Carrillo said. “I want my mom back, I want my dad back, I miss my mom’s cooking, her advice, I took it all for granted.”

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