An Indian-origin worker working within the Illinois division of transportation was stopped and questioned about his immigration standing whereas engaged on a Park Ridge development undertaking on Friday, in line with the Chicago Solar Occasions. The worker was additionally requested about incoming New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in line with Governor JB Pritzker’s workplace, which stated the incident raised issues over racial profiling.The worker was a US citizen engaged on the Busse Freeway resurfacing undertaking when three masked brokers reportedly approached him. They questioned him about his immigration standing, whether or not he had travelled to New York, and if he was conscious of Mamdani’s mayoral election, earlier than leaving the positioning.Governor Pritzker condemned the federal motion, calling it an instance of authorities questioning US residents “apparently primarily based on the color of their pores and skin.”“I’m appalled they’d cease and query a state worker working arduous on the job to assist enhance our state’s roads and infrastructure,” Pritzker stated in a press release. “Our state staff ought to be capable of go to work and do their jobs with out masked brokers concentrating on them for no legit cause.”The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) later denied that the brokers had been from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or US Customs and Border Safety. The incident fearful residents in Park Ridge. College students and lecturers within the native college district had been instructed to stay inside after studies of federal brokers within the space, WGN reported. Park Ridge-Niles Faculty District 64 Superintendent Ben Collins confirmed he was conscious of studies concerning federal immigration brokers close to among the district’s colleges.The episode comes after months of heightened federal immigration exercise beneath the Trump administration’s MAGA crackdown. It has raised issues amongst civil rights teams about potential concentrating on primarily based on race and nationality.The GOP authorities sought to deploy the Nationwide Guard in Chicago amid a wider immigration enforcement surge dubbed “Operation Halfway Blitz”. Illinois officers challenged the transfer as unconstitutional, and a federal appeals courtroom blocked the deployment final month.
