Teacher ‘Violently Dragged’ Out of Chicago Daycare by Armed ICE Agents, Says Alderman: ‘The Most Chilling Footage’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents removed a Chicago daycare worker from a Spanish immersion preschool on Wednesday, Nov. 5, according to local Alderman Matt Martin.

The Rayito de Sol employee was taken into federal custody just after the school opened at 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday, parents and city officials told NBC News.

Alderman Matt Martin tells PEOPLE that the teacher was “violently dragged out of the facility, as there were other educators, parents and children inside.”

Bystanders and interior building cameras captured the incident on video, Martin told NBC News, calling it “the most chilling footage I have seen certainly in my time in office.”

In one video, the employee, who has not been publicly identified, is seen speaking to ICE agents in Spanish, telling them that she has proper documentation, according to NBC. Martin noted that the agents were armed and “walking around the facility with teachers inside, with children inside,” according to the outlet. “We are, of course, demanding she be released immediately.”

Martin tells PEOPLE that as the ICE agents questioned the teacher, another agent “walked through room to room, talking with adults, asking at least one person to show their own documents.”

“It’s going to take a very, very long time for that feeling of safety to come back, to put the pieces back together again,” Martin tells PEOPLE. “What occurred was very traumatic, and something that the parents and educators are continuing to struggle with.”

He adds that “there’s no justification” for what occurred and that it “caused immense and incalculable harm” to both the daycare and the entire community. 

Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement on X claiming the daycare wasn’t targeted. Instead, she said the incident stemmed from officers conducting a “traffic stop of this female illegal alien from Colombia,” who the vehicle was registered to.

When officers tried to pull over the car, a man who was behind the wheel “refused” to stop, according to McLaughlin.

“Law enforcement pursued the vehicle before the assailant sped into a shopping plaza where he and the female passenger fled the vehicle. They ran into a daycare and attempted to barricade themselves inside the daycare — recklessly endangering the children inside,” McLaughlin wrote.

McLaughlin also said the woman was arrested “inside a vestibule,” not the daycare. No details have been shared about the male driver, except that the woman said she didn’t know him and “just picked him up from a bus stop.”

Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley later said in a Wednesday press conference that the teacher had a work permit and that agents did not have a warrant, but still followed her into the school, according to CBS Chicago. However, DHS said in a statement that her “work authorization does NOT confer any type of legal status to be in the U.S.,” adding that the Biden administration approved her authorization.

Martin claims to PEOPLE that the Trump administration and DHS’s response aligns with alleged previous behavior in which “they have spread lies and misinformation about many, many instances of ICE activity across Chicago.”

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Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez, who is on the House Committee on Homeland Security, said during the news briefing that the agents “went into other rooms asking and looking for teachers while children were present.”

“This is an agency that has gone rogue,” Ramirez continued. “An agency that believes that as long as they can cover their face, they can get away with anything.”

Ramirez also said they have contacted the Colombian consulate to help get her released. 

After the press conference, Ramirez released a video on Instagram, alleging she saw a 3-year-old boy waiting for his mom to pick him up and “his heart was beating so fast I thought it would come out of his chest from how scared he was.”

Several parents have expressed their frustration with the situation. “As a parent, I am horrified that the place that I’ve trusted my children with and their care is now a place of fear,” parent Maria Guzman said during the press conference. “A place where teachers are fearful and they cannot fathom being there safely.”

Adam Gonzalez, father of a 1-year-old student, said that when it happened, all he heard was crying. “It was just like a very guttural human just cry,” Gonzalez said, according to NBC. “It’s really heart-wrenching to know that someone who has poured herself into my child is no longer here.”

Tara Goodarzi, mother of a 3-year-old student, said, “I am horrified by what happened today. Families have been traumatized. The children were crying. The parents were crying. Its a scene that I don’t think any of us have ever witnessed before and will ever forget,” according to The Associated Press. 

The school was closed for the remainder of the day and will remain closed through the week. A rally was planned for Wednesday evening, and a GoFundMe page was created to help the teacher and her family with legal fees.