Politics
Ald. Jessie Fuentes Sues Federal Government After Being Handcuffed by Immigration Agents at Hospital
Ald. Jessie Fuentes is put into handcuffs by ICE agents while asking about a warrant for a detained man on Oct. 3, 2025. (Credit: 26th Ward Office)
Chicago Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) sued the federal government Monday, alleging she was assaulted by two federal agents who handcuffed and briefly detained her at the heights of the aggressive immigration raids that swept Chicago this fall.
Fuentes, elected in 2023 to the Chicago City Council to represent Humboldt Park on Chicago’s Northwest Side, claimed that the agents acted negligently when they falsely arrested and falsely imprisoned her on Oct. 3 in the emergency room of the Humboldt Park Health Hospital.
The incident occurred at the peak of what the Trump administration called Operation Midway Blitz and the day before Border Patrol agents shot Marimar Martinez five times in Brighton Park, triggering a furious response from residents.
After federal agents armed with military-style weapons and combat fatigues fired tear gas and pepper balls at the crowd protesting Martinez’s shooting, Chicago police officers in their regular uniforms separated protesters and the agents. Twenty-seven officers were injured by that tear gas during that incident.
Martinez was charged with a felony after federal officials accused her of trying to ram agents with her vehicle. The case was dismissed after videos emerged that Martinez’s attorneys said showed an agent steering his vehicle into Martinez’s truck.
“Throughout Operation Midway Blitz, masked federal agents were terrorizing our communities, including using violence against this elected official,” Fuentes said. “We must stand up for our rights and demand accountability.”
“By filing this lawsuit, Ald. Fuentes is showing her community and her constituency the importance of standing up and holding accountable a government whose agents act as if they are above the law,” said attorney Jan Susler of the People’s Law Office.
The incident left Fuentes suffering from “physical, psychological and emotional injuries, including pain and suffering, trauma, shoulder pain, sleep difficulties and nightmares, anxiety and emotional distress,” according to her lawsuit.
Less than a month after the incident, Fuentes filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows those who have been injured “by the negligent or wrongful act of a federal government employee acting within the scope of his or her employment” to seek monetary damages in what can be the first step toward a lawsuit. The federal government never responded to that claim, according to the lawsuit.
Fuentes said she went to the hospital Oct. 3 at the request of its leaders, who told her that federal agents had arrived in the emergency room and were frightening staff and patients. Humboldt Park is home to a majority of Latino residents.
When Fuentes arrived, hospital staff told her the agents were there to detain an injured man, according to her lawsuit. Fuentes said she asked the agents, one of whom was masked, to identify themselves and asked if they had a signed, judicial warrant to arrest the man.
The agents refused to identify themselves and when Fuentes again asked if they had a warrant, told her to “get the f--- out of here” and shoved her, according to the lawsuit.
As a member of her staff recorded the incident, Fuentes told one of the immigration agents “We have constitutional rights.”
The agent repeatedly responded “no” and told her to leave the hospital, according to the video.
“I am gonna arrest you if you do not leave,” the agent told Fuentes, according to the video.
Before Fuentes could respond, the agent grabbed her, turned her around and placed her into handcuffs.
While being handcuffed, Fuentes demanded again to see a signed, judicial warrant for the arrest of the man being treated in the hospital and announced that she had not touched the agent, according to the video.
The agent tells Fuentes she is being arrested for “impeding.” Fuentes is led away by a second agent, according to the video.
The video of the incident quickly went viral, and Mayor Brandon Johnson condemned the actions of the agents.
Fuentes said she was released outside the hospital and told not to return.
The man being treated at the hospital broke his leg while trying to flee immigration agents, Fuentes told reporters on Oct. 3.
WTTW News' Matt Masterson contributed to this report.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
