The arrest of an unlawful migrant who was dropping college students at college in Chicago earlier this week sparked native fury and a rally, however Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have since revealed the suspect is a violent gang member with an extended rap sheet.
Francisco Andrade-Berrera, 37, a Mexican citizen, was picked by ICE on Wednesday close to a Southside Chicago college, resulting in activists and native leaders holding a rally condemning the transfer. Video obtained by Fox Information exhibits two brokers handcuffing Andrade-Berrera close to the college.
In response to the arrest, two close by faculties activated “Neighborhood Wellness Protocols” and notified mother and father that extra social work help could be obtainable to assist college students address the “aggravating and upsetting” nature of the occasion.Â
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The arrest of an unlawful migrant, left, who was dropping college students to high school in Chicago earlier this week sparked a protest, however ICE have since revealed the suspect is a violent gang member with an extended rap sheet. (ICE/WFLD/Fox Information)
In the course of the rally, which befell outdoors the Chicago Public Colleges, Chicago alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez requested: “When mother and father are being grabbed from our faculties, we should ask, what’s Chicago Public Colleges doing to guard our kids?”Â
Hilario Dominguez of the Chicago Lecturers Union additionally blasted the detention and launched a tirade in opposition to President Donald Trump.
“His youngsters watched as their daddy was put in handcuffs by brokers finishing up the orders of a tyrant president,” Dominguez mentioned.Â
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers, together with different federal regulation enforcement companies, attend a pre-enforcement assembly in Chicago, Illinois on Jan. 26, 2025. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)
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However the outbursts erupted earlier than the total information of the case got here by, with ICE telling Fox Information that Andrade-Berrera is a member of a violent road gang with prison convictions for drug trafficking, gang loitering and injury to property.
He has been faraway from the U.S. twice, in 2005 and 2013. He has at the least 4 youngsters, in response to prior reviews.
The 2 college students who had been within the automobile had been taken to their faculties after the arrest however brokers didn’t try to enter both Victoria Soto Excessive College or Jovita Idar Elementary, ICE and college officers confirmed. It’s unclear if the scholars are his youngsters.
Andrade-Berrera pleaded responsible in 2023 to buying roughly 5 ounces of cocaine that federal prosecutors in Chicago mentioned he deliberate to promote, in response to the Chicago Solar-Occasions.Â
He was sentenced to 3 years of supervised launch and given credit score for 2 weeks spent in custody.
Andrade-Berrera described himself as a husband and the “father of 4 stunning youngsters,” in a letter to a decide explaining that he labored as a chef and dreamed of opening his personal restaurant, per the outlet.
“I’ve labored onerous to help my household all these years and made certain they’ve an excellent life,” he wrote. “If I might return in time I might with out hesitation.”
His spouse informed the decide he’s a devoted father, noting that she and the youngsters “want him with us” and that her greatest worry is him “going away and leaving us.’
This incident follows an analogous scenario only a month in the past, when Chicago Public Colleges wrongly reported that ICE brokers had tried to enter a distinct college within the space.
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Tom Weitzel, a former police chief in Riverside, Illinois, mentioned that native Democrats are attempting to politicize the arrests and make ICE out to be a boogeyman.
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“They’ll put out something that advantages their agenda, advantages their narrative, or advantages their political agenda… So they simply have a look at this as a President Trump initiative to simply go across the nation and simply scoop individuals off the sidewalks and out of our faculties. And that is not the case.Â
“There hasn’t been one single case in the USA the place ICE has gone into a college and eliminated anyone forcibly from the college. That’s utterly false.”
