Law enforcement officers met with resistance outside a Chicago elementary school on Friday were actually with the Secret Service, not ICE as previously believed.
Chicago Public Schools officials had said that at least one immigration officer approached Hamline Elementary School on the city’s Southwest Side late Friday morning, but was not allowed to enter.
“We will not open our doors for ICE, and we are here to protect our children and make sure they have access to an excellent education,” principal Natasha Ortega said at a news conference.
However, federal officials later confirmed that the officers involved were in fact Secret Service agents who were investigating a threat at a nearby home. They said they went to the school after being told the person they wanted to speak to was there, but confirmed they never entered the building.
“In the course of their investigation, agents first visited a residence in a local neighborhood and then made a visit to Hamline Elementary School,” the Secret Service said in a statement to the Daily News. “Agents identified themselves to the school principal and provided business cards with their contact information. The agents left without incident. The Secret Service investigates all threats made against those we protect, we do not investigate nor enforce immigration laws.”
It’s unclear who the agents were looking for or what threat they were investigating.
Officials with Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union reiterated Friday that should actual ICE agents attempt to enter a school, they will protect their students in accordance with local laws requiring federal officials to present valid judicial warrants.
The Trump administration said Tuesday that it wouldn’t stop immigration officials from apprehending undocumented people in the U.S. at sensitive places like religious and educational institutions.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
A Justice Department memo obtained by CNN indicated Trump’s proposed deportation plan will largely target “sanctuary cities” by pressuring local officials who are uncooperative with the administration’s federal crackdown.
ICE boasted Thursday evening that its officers made 538 arrests that day. It’s unclear how many of those detainees had committed crimes after entering the country.
With News Wire Services
