The actions of a Chicago woman who was briefly detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week shows how civilians are increasingly interfering with immigration enforcement, CBP says.
Chicago resident Dayanne Figueroa was arrested on October 10 after reportedly trying to track a car used by federal officers to haul off a suspected illegal migrant.
Video shows CBP agents loading a suspect into a red car as a white SUV blocked off West Hubbard Street, keeping Figueroa from continuing down the street. As the video continues, the red car rolls off and the white SUV makes a wide turn to follow.
But Figueroa accelerated as she tried to follow the red car through the brief gap between the turning SUV and the cars parked on the right-hand side of the two-lane road. But she was not fast enough, and the turning SUV hit the left-hand side of her car.
Before she got very far, the CBP agents in the white SUV stopped her and several agents pulled her out of the vehicle and arrested her. She clearly resisted their efforts to get her to vacate the car.
Activists immediately claimed that Figueroa was innocent and that agents ran into her and arrested her without cause.
Video shows that there is more to the story than just a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, though, has a different story on Figueroa’s actions.
“CBP was conducting a targeted enforcement arrest when this woman, a U.S. citizen, used her Mercedes Benz to block in agents and then rammed the agent’s vehicle. In fear of public safety & for law enforcement, officers attempted to remove her from the vehicle,” McLaughlin wrote on X on November 4.
“She violently kicked 2 two law enforcement officers, causing injuries. This agitator was arrested for assault on a federal agent,” McLaughlin added. “This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of illegal aliens and agitators ramming cars into our law enforcement officers.”
McLaughlin also accused the Tribune of acting like “a full-time PR firm for criminals & violent agitators who assault law enforcement.”
The incident does highlight the growing problem of Chicago citizens interfering with immigration officers during the pursuit of their duties.
Federal agents have faced a lot of interference since the president launched “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The story was publicized by the Chicago Tribune several weeks after the incident and noted that Figueroa was released with no charges. The Tribune also claimed the woman was innocent and mistreated by the federal agents.
