Kristi Noem flew into Chicagoland for a made-for-camera immigration sweep, and the cameras caught the part she didn’t script. In a video the Homeland Security chief proudly posted from a pre-dawn raid in Elgin, Illinois, viewers can see multiple men in cuffs. Hours later, local outlets reported at least one of them was a U.S. citizen, undercutting the tough-on-crime victory lap Noem tried to take online.
The man at the center of the mess, 37-year-old Joe Botello, says he woke up to shouting, shattered glass, and armed agents flooding his home before sunrise. Per The Chicago Tribune, he and his roommates were marched out, zip-tied, and loaded up, and, he says, no one told him why. Botello, who was born in Texas, says one agent even questioned how he spoke English “so well,” prompting him to point out the obvious: he’s American. He was released after showing ID, but says the encounter left him shaken.
OMG. What @Sec_Noem isn’t telling you is that this guy in the video is a U.S. citizen named Joe Botello. They smashed in the doors, dragged him and his roommates out in handcuffs, then posted a video online suggesting he was a criminal, despite knowing he was released soon after. https://t.co/ZTDUUyxqwmpic.twitter.com/odRlbZbrNk…