What we know after officials say ICE detained a US citizen and left him injured in Chicago suburb

Days after local police said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a US citizen in Evanston, Illinois, and left him injured on the ground, questions are swirling about what happened during the targeted enforcement operation gone awry — and the circumstances under which federal immigration officers can detain people.

The Evanston Police Department said the man, whom police have identified only as an Evanston resident, resembled someone federal agents were seeking. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the man “was given lawful commands but was not cooperative and refused to identify himself.”

The man was later released, local police said, after agents determined he was not the person they were looking for and learned he was a US citizen.

At the time of Sunday’s incident, five federal agents were operating in separate vehicles as they searched the area for their target, one agent told an Evanston officer.

The incident is the latest instance of a US citizen caught up in the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown, which has featured highly visible enforcement operations and aggressive tactics that have prompted nationwide protests, legal battles and political backlash.

Here’s what we know so far about the incident .

Around 9:49 a.m. on September 20, Evanston officers were called to the area after receiving reports of two men arguing, police said in a statement. When officers arrived, they found the man on the ground with several bystanders helping him, police said.

Officials called an ambulance after the man reported injuries to his head, neck and teeth. Witnesses told officers they believed ICE agents were attempting to detain him, according to police.

While responding to the scene in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, one officer encountered two SUVs near an intersection and spoke with an individual in one of the vehicles, who identified himself as a federal agent conducting a “fugitive investigation,” police said. The person was dressed in plain clothes and wearing a vest marked “POLICE” with federal law enforcement markings, according to police.

A DHS spokesperson told CNN, “ICE encountered an individual who resembled the target. ICE approached the individual and immediately identified themselves as law enforcement,” but said the man did not identify himself.

The ICE agents “later left the scene without further incident once the individual finally identified himself,” the statement continued.

Evanston police said they are continuing to investigate the incident, and officers are preserving available body camera footage and interviewing witnesses.

Evanston’s police chief met with the man at a local hospital, and an evidence technician photographed and documented his injuries. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said in a statement on X that the wrongfully detained man was treated for minor injuries at Saint Francis Hospital.

DHS said the man refused assistance from ICE agents — but did not address the man’s injuries in its statement.

Evanston police said its officer reported seeing blood on hands of the agent in the SUV, which the federal official said resulted from an injury he received while trying to detain the man. The agent declined medical treatment.

No further information is known about the man who officials say was mistakenly detained or the agents involved.

Surveillance video obtained by CNN provides another perspective of the encounter, which appears to show two agents and the man in an upright struggle before federal officials take him to the ground.

As the confrontation draws the attention of several people nearby, at least three drivers pull into the nearby parking lot and exit their vehicles, joining other bystanders, some recording.

Cellphone video recorded by a witness, which begins as the confrontation is already underway, shows the man being held on the ground.

Two agents are seen standing behind a black SUV, with one appearing to hold the man down, in the video obtained by CNN.

A man’s voice is heard saying, “I’m a f**king US citizen.” The officers, one of whom was masked and wore a hood, then appear to release him and step away from the man.

The man can be heard telling the officers not to touch him as they move away from him.

Moments after releasing the man, the two agents return to their vehicles and leave the scene, while the man continues to lie face down on the ground in the street. A man wearing a cap kneels beside the man, gently placing a hand on his back and appearing to call for help. Several other people can also be heard trying to assist him.

One witness, Miguel Olivares, told CNN affiliate WLS he was taking a break while helping out at a nearby Mexican restaurant when he noticed vehicles parked outside and a confrontation unfolding.

“It looked like police vehicles until I started hearing, ‘I’m a US citizen. I’m a US citizen,’” Olivares said, at which point he began filming.

“They were being rough with him; they had him pinned against the floor, and it looked like one of the agents hit him in the face,” Olivares said. He and others tried to comfort the man after agents released him.

In response to a CNN request for comment, a DHS spokesperson said, “ICE has authority for lawful arrests where authorized under 8 USC 1357. Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the statute and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Kate Huddleston, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project, told CNN that under the statute, ICE has limited authority to make civil immigration arrests — with two qualifications.

Agents must first have probable cause to both believe a person is undocumented and the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained, she said.

Huddleston explained that, for agents to have probable cause to believe a person is likely to escape, they must have reason to believe the individual could not be found in the future, which could include having few ties to the community, no family members in the area or no permanent place of employment where the person could be located.

“For a person who’s merely walking down the street or driving in a car, whom ICE happens to see, there’s not necessarily anything about an individual whom they encounter in the community that would give rise to reasonable suspicion, absent someone affirmatively stating something like ‘I’m undocumented,’ or ICE having some sort of evidence that that individual is undocumented,” she said.

Huddleston added that a person who is detained in violation of the Constitution can seek relief, including under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows individuals who have been injured by the “wrongful or negligent act” of a federal employee to file a claim for reimbursement.

DHS said its “enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence.”

“We know who we are targeting ahead of time,” the agency said. “If and when we do encounter individuals subject to arrest, our law enforcement is trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability.”

当地警方称，移民和海关执法局特工在伊利诺伊州埃文斯顿拘留了一名美国公民，并将其受伤留在地上。几天后，人们开始质疑这次有针对性的执法行动出了差错，究竟发生了什么，以及联邦移民官员在什么情况下可以拘留民众。

埃文斯顿警察局表示，这名男子（警方仅透露其为埃文斯顿居民）与联邦特工正在追捕的一名嫌疑人外貌相似。国土安全部在一份声明中表示，该男子“已被依法发出指令，但他拒不配合，并拒绝透露自己的身份”。

当地警方表示，该男子后来被释放，因为执法人员确定他不是他们要找的人，并且得知他是美国公民。

据一名联邦特工向埃文斯顿一名警官透露，事发时，五名联邦特工分别驾驶不同的车辆在该地区搜寻目标。

这起事件是美国公民卷入特朗普政府大规模移民打击行动的最新案例。该行动采取了引人注目的执法行动和强硬策略，引发了全国范围的抗议、法律诉讼和政治反弹。

以下是我们目前对该事件的了解情况。

埃文斯顿警方在一份声明中表示，9月20日上午9点49分左右，警方接到报警称两名男子在该地区发生争吵。警员赶到现场后，发现其中一名男子倒在地上，几名路人正在帮助他。

该男子报告头部、颈部和牙齿受伤后，官员们叫了救护车。据警方称，目击者告诉警方，他们认为移民和海关执法局（ICE）的特工试图拘留他。

警方称，在芝加哥郊区埃文斯顿的一次行动中，一名警员在十字路口附近遇到两辆SUV，并与其中一辆车内的一名男子交谈。该男子自称是联邦探员，正在进行“逃犯调查”。据警方描述，此人身穿便服，背心上印有“POLICE”字样和联邦执法部门的标志。

国土安全部发言人告诉CNN，“移民及海关执法局（ICE）遇到了一名与目标人物相貌相似的男子。ICE人员接近该男子并立即表明了执法人员身份”，但表示该男子没有表明自己的身份。

声明继续说道：“在该男子最终表明身份后，移民执法局特工随后离开了现场，没有发生进一步的意外。”

埃文斯顿警方表示，他们正在继续调查这起事件，警员们正在保存现有的执法记录仪录像并采访目击者。

埃文斯顿警察局长在当地一家医院会见了这名男子，一名物证技术人员拍摄并记录了他的伤情。埃文斯顿市长丹尼尔·比斯在X电视台发表声明称，这名被错误拘留的男子在圣弗朗西斯医院接受了轻伤治疗。

国土安全部表示，该男子拒绝接受移民及海关执法局特工的帮助，但声明中并未提及该男子的伤情。

埃文斯顿警方称，其警员报告说看到SUV内一名联邦探员手上沾有血迹，该探员称血迹是探员在试图拘留该男子时受伤所致。该探员拒绝接受治疗。

目前尚不清楚这名被官方称为被错误拘留的男子以及涉事警员的更多信息。

CNN 获得的监控录像提供了此次冲突的另一个视角，录像显示两名特工与该男子发生站立搏斗，之后联邦官员将其制服在地。

这场冲突引起了附近几个人的注意，至少有三名司机将车开进附近的停车场，下车加入到其他旁观者的行列中，其中一些人还进行了录像。

目击者用手机拍摄的视频显示，冲突已经开始，视频中该男子被按倒在地。

CNN获得的视频显示，两名特工站在一辆黑色SUV后面，其中一人似乎将一名男子按倒在地。

可以听到一个男人的声音说：“我是个他妈的美国公民。”随后，几名警察（其中一人戴着面罩和兜帽）似乎放开了他，并走开了。

当警察离开他时，可以听到该男子告诉他们不要碰他。

两名警员释放男子后不久便返回车内离开现场，而男子仍面朝下躺在街上。一名戴帽子的男子跪在男子身旁，轻轻地将一只手放在他的背上，似乎在呼救。还可以听到其他几个人试图帮助他。

目击者米格尔·奥利瓦雷斯告诉 CNN 附属电视台 WLS，当时他正在附近一家墨西哥餐馆帮忙休息，突然注意到外面停着几辆车，一场冲突正在发生。

“一开始我以为是警车，直到我听到有人说‘我是美国公民，我是美国公民’，”奥利瓦雷斯说，这时他才开始拍摄。

奥利瓦雷斯说：“他们对他很粗暴，把他按在地上，看起来其中一个特工还打了他的脸。” 特工们把那名男子放开后，他和其他人试图安慰他。

针对 CNN 的置评请求，国土安全部发言人表示：“根据美国法典第 8 卷第 1357 条的规定，移民和海关执法局 (ICE) 有权进行合法逮捕。执法人员会根据‘合理怀疑’调查移民身份，并根据相关法规和美国宪法第四修正案，有合理理由进行逮捕。”

美国公民自由联盟移民权利项目的高级律师凯特·哈德尔斯顿告诉 CNN，根据该法规，ICE 在进行民事移民逮捕方面拥有有限的权力——但有两个条件。

她说，执法人员必须首先有合理的理由相信某人没有合法身份，并且此人可能会逃跑，才能获得搜查令。

哈德尔斯顿解释说，要让执法人员有合理的理由相信某人可能会逃跑，他们必须有理由相信此人将来无法被找到，这可能包括与社区联系很少、在该地区没有家人或没有可以找到此人的固定工作地点。

她说：“对于一个只是在街上行走或开车的人，如果移民执法局碰巧看到他，那么除非有人明确表示‘我没有合法身份’，或者移民执法局掌握了某种证据表明这个人没有合法身份，否则移民执法局在社区中遇到的这个人并不一定有什么特别之处会引起合理的怀疑。”

哈德尔斯顿补充说，被违反宪法拘留的人可以寻求救济，包括根据《联邦侵权索赔法》寻求救济，该法允许因联邦雇员的“不当或疏忽行为”而受到伤害的个人提出赔偿请求。

国土安全部表示，“其执法行动目标明确，执法人员会尽职尽责地开展工作。”

该机构表示：“我们事先就知道我们的目标是谁。如果遇到需要逮捕的人，我们的执法人员会接受过训练，提出一系列精心设计的问题，以确定其身份和是否可以被驱逐出境。”