ICE arrested two during Carol Stream traffic stop, authorities say

Federal immigration agents on Thursday arrested two people on the heels of a routine traffic stop by the Carol Stream Police Department, officials have confirmed.

Carol Stream police had originally pulled over a man and a woman early Thursday morning and were in the process of citing them for cannabis possession and driving on a suspended registration when people who identified themselves as ICE agents approached and informed the cops that they would be conducting immigration enforcement once the stop was concluded.

According to a statement from the department, Carol Stream police were unaware that ICE officers planned to take action against the pair they pulled over and said they cleared the scene, at the intersection of Army Trail Road and Gary Avenue, after issuing the citations. The statement did not discuss whether the arrests had actually occurred.

On Friday, a representative with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said both the occupants of the vehicles were Venezuelan immigrants without legal status.

Imar Nelly Villalobos-Hernandez, 30, had been in the U.S. since October 2022, according to DHS, and was ordered removed by a judge in January 2024 after she allegedly did not attend a scheduled hearing.

During the traffic stop Thursday, the federal agents reportedly told Carol Stream police they had a warrant for her arrest. DHS, which casts “Operation Midway Blitz” and continuing heightened immigration enforcement as a mission against “the worst of the worst,” did not make any claims about her criminal history, and a search of local court records returned no results.

DHS said the 24-year-old man, Imaer Enrique Villalobos-Hernandez, had been in the country since July 2023 and would have his case heard by an immigration Judge.

Court records show that Imaer Villalobos-Hernandez has been arrested a handful of times for traffic violations and cannabis possession in Cook and DuPage County. In addition, court records show he was arrested in November 2025 in New City and charged with aggravated unlawful possession of a semiautomatic handgun.

While on pretrial release for that case, court records show he had an arrest warrant issued for him after he didn’t show up to court and was arrested in Cicero for shoplifting less than $300 worth of merchandise from a store.

He pled guilty to that charge on Sept. 4, court records show, and was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 hours of community service. He and Imar Nelly Villalobos-Hernandez were pulled over less than a week later in Carol Stream. Federal officials didn’t describe how the two were related.

Carol Stream police said in their Thursday statement that the department was conducting an investigation into whether its officers complied with the TRUST Act, which bars local police from assisting federal immigration enforcement.