Border Patrol agents arrest 11 rideshare drivers at O’Hare Airport parking lot
By Victor Jacobo
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CHICAGO (WBBM) — Several rideshare drivers were arrested by immigration agents on Saturday at the O’Hare International Airport rideshare parking lot.
It was the second immigration raid targeting rideshare drivers at O’Hare in little more than a week.
The Department of Homeland Security said 11 people were arrested at the O’Hare rideshare parking lot on Saturday morning.
Citizen app video shows federal agents patrolling a lot designated for rideshare drivers near O’Hare and interrogating several people.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the incident, saying Border Patrol conducted a targeted operation near the parking lots at O’Hare, resulting in the arrest of 11 undocumented immigrants from Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Venezuela.
DHS did not provide names for the people who were arrested, but claimed they had criminal histories including domestic battery, DUI, and overstaying a visa. Officials also said some had a final order of removal requiring them to be deported.
Groups representing drivers said they are concerned.
“These are drivers that are essential to every single one of our communities,” said Bailey Koch, a spokesperson for the Illinois Drivers Alliance, which represents rideshare drivers.
Koch said the organization is working to help those impacted.
“We are trying to locate where they’re at, where their families are at, and try to get them as many resources as we can, on top of working to make sure that this does not continue to happen,” she said.
Federal agents conducted a similar operation detaining multiple people at the same lot on Oct. 10.
The Illinois Drivers Alliance said, after that incident, it has worked with the city of Chicago to put up signs and station personnel to prevent unauthorized entry into the lot in an effort to protect drivers.
“As of today, we have worked with the city to provide 24/7 security on that lot, and really enforcing that if you do not have the correct credentials to be in there, you’re prohibited from being in that lot,” Koch said.
Koch said the alliance is working to learn more information about how agents gained access to the lot on Saturday, and what other measures can be put in place in order to prevent unauthorized access.
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