The Latino Union of Chicago, via its Adopt a Corner initiative, organizes patrols to watch for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents at intersections and landmarks where day laborers gather to look for work. One such spot is near the intersection of Lawrence and Pulaski, close to Gompers Park. Among the laborers gathered there the morning of October 29 was Theo, an unhoused man who lived in the area. His birthday was a day earlier.
“Theo came to this housing site [near Lawrence and Pulaski] because he saw camaraderie with the other folks who are trying their best to survive,” said Adam, a participant in Adopt a Corner. Adam was friendly with Theo (both Theo and Adam are pseudonyms). The two talked often over baked goods donated by a nearby restaurant. On the 29th, Adam was patrolling a few blocks away when, at approximately 10:30 AM, a black SUV pulled into an alley southeast of the Pulaski and Lawrence intersection. In footage viewed by the Reader, agents with U.S. Border Patrol patches jumped out of the SUV and grabbed Theo, shoving him to his knees in the street before dragging him to the vehicle and pushing him inside. The abduction took less than a minute.
“They did not appear to identify him in any way beforehand,” wrote L.M. over Signal, who, like Adam, was volunteering with Adopt a Corner and witnessed the abduction. “There were about seven other day laborers on the corner there that scattered, and [the agents] seemed to just grab the first person they could get their hands on.”…