ICE agents use tear gas in Elgin as hourslong standoff ends in man’s arrest

A man was detained at an Elgin apartment complex after an hourslong standoff with federal agents Saturday that sparked clashes with protesters and saw tear gas deployed.

Protesters at the scene say the standoff began shortly before 10 a.m. in the 1600 block of Maple Lane when someone being pursued by federal agents ran into a second-floor unit of an apartment complex and was pushed onto the balcony by residents inside.

Around 3 p.m., agents could be seen escorting the man from the second floor of the complex.

Elgin-born state Sen. Cristina Castro was among those present Saturday afternoon as agents detained the man.

“Some folks were throwing him blankets and food, and ICE had all this region surrounded [and] eventually broke in, grabbed him, and yanked him out,” Castro said.

Several dozen protesters were in the neighborhood providing supplies to the man as he stayed on the balcony, witnesses said.

Several canisters of tear gas were deployed by agents and some protesters threw snow and water bottles back at agents.

Mikey Calderon has lived in the area where the standoff occurred for five years and woke up to the sound of cars with their horns blaring down the street.

He said tear gas was deployed earlier in the day because of an altercation between a protester and an agent, but he chose to stick around to help support his community.

“It’s kind of amazing to see the community come together and try to minimize the situation and see what we could do to make a difference,” Calderon, 20, said.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Calderon added. “There’s other ways to go about it than to tear these families apart by force.”

Castro, the state lawmaker, urged onlookers to continue to record federal agents as they conducted raids.

“They are obviously facing their own challenges in courts, but they still want to antagonize people, antagonize my city,” Castro said.

“A lot of people who live in this city, live in this city because they want to live the American Dream,” Castro added.

She says that federal agents are “striking fear in this community, and it’s unacceptable.”

With the possibility of agents returning at greater strength in the spring, Castro recommends staying vigilant but to also check in on neighbors.

“If you know anyone that might be afraid right now, offer to bring their groceries [or] offer to take their kids to school,” Castro said. “It means a lot to them that there are a lot of good people in the community and in others that care.”