For a year, Chicago has had a rule that city-owned parking lots are off-limits to federal immigration operations. New reporting shows ICE has kept using one kind of city lot anyway: the parking lots of Chicago police stations.
The independent news site Unraveled reported on September 29 that it verified at least seven times, between October 2025 and September 2026, when ICE agents used Chicago Police Department (CPD) parking lots in at least four police districts. Six of those happened after July 1. Agents met and parked in the lots and, in some cases, used them to move people in handcuffs from one vehicle to another. Records from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) show it has received seven complaints since March about ICE allegedly using police facilities.
What happened
- August 1, 25th District (Grand Central), Northwest Side. A woman who had been watching and filming ICE activity, identified by Unraveled with the pseudonym "Sara," said agents boxed in her car in the station lot, pulled her out, handcuffed her and held her for two to three hours in another lot nearby. When she was brought back, her car had been towed. City security video obtained by Unraveled shows at least six ICE agents gathering in the lot and a police car driving right past them. The video also shows the woman backing up and appearing to make contact with the SUV behind her just before agents grabbed her. About two hours of the requested video are missing. The city's emergency communications office said cameras "may have been out of service or experienced technical problems." A police surveillance log from that morning reads: "Feds auto crash our east lot."
- August 28, 25th District. Witness video and city video show agents moving a handcuffed man between vehicles in the same lot, according to Unraveled.
- September 2 and 3, 17th District (Albany Park). Observers recorded agents parking in and driving through the station lot. The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed videos showing federal immigration agents moving detainees from one vehicle to another at the Albany Park District lot. In one complaint to COPA, a family said they tracked a detained relative's phone to the lot, and that the desk sergeant on duty denied ICE was there.
- September 10, 14th District (between Logan Square and Humboldt Park). Witness photos show federal agents in a black SUV inside the station lot, Unraveled reported.
Two stations, the 25th and 11th Districts, share space with Cook County courthouses. Unraveled reports that public defenders have recorded ICE agents near those courthouses at least six times since February.
Why this matters
On October 6, 2025, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an "ICE Free Zone" executive order. It says no city-owned, leased or operated parking lot may be used "as a staging area, processing location, or operations base for civil immigration enforcement." Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance also bars Chicago police from helping with civil immigration enforcement.
CPD's own rules, updated in July 2026 after the mayor's "ICE On Notice" order, say officers may not let immigration agents use police facilities for investigative interviews or other investigative purposes. When a member of the public reports apparent law-breaking by federal agents, officers must write a report and give that person the report number. But when Unraveled asked for the reports district commanders are supposed to complete after incidents involving outside agencies since July 1, CPD said no records exist. CPD also told Unraveled it has no records showing which of its lots have the "no immigration enforcement" signs the mayor's order called for.
"Illinois has made a commitment that our state and local resources would not be used to facilitate federal civil immigration enforcement," state Sen. Graciela Guzman told the Sun-Times. "We deserve the facts. We deserve transparency."
What officials say
In a statement to the Sun-Times, CPD said it "upholds the City of Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance, which includes not participating in civil immigration enforcement operations or assisting in the civil enforcement of federal immigration law." It did not comment on the parking lot accusations. The mayor's office said senior officials met with district commanders and reminded them that "when violations occur, CPD personnel must take action to direct federal immigration personnel to leave City property and comply with local law." Neither news report included a response from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security about the parking lots.
Since March 2026, COPA has had clear authority to investigate whether Chicago police officers helped federal immigration agents, after a unanimous City Council vote.
What this means for you
- Do not assume a police station parking lot is off-limits to ICE. City rules say agents should not operate there, but these reports show they have.
- Chicago police are not supposed to help ICE. Under CPD policy, officers may not stop, arrest or hold anyone only because of a suspected civil immigration violation, may not hold people for ICE, and may not set up traffic perimeters for ICE operations. CPD policy also says officers serve everyone, regardless of immigration status. You can still call 911 in an emergency.
- If you see ICE using city property, write down the date, time, place and vehicle descriptions, and take photos or video from a safe distance. You can report it to a CPD officer, who must file a report and give you the report number. If you believe a Chicago police officer helped ICE, you can file a complaint with COPA at (312) 743-COPA (2672). You can also report ICE activity to the ICIRR hotline below.
- If you film ICE, the ACLU says the First Amendment protects your right to record agents in public, as long as you do not interfere with or obstruct them. Keep your distance, never block or touch their vehicles, and stay calm. If you are not under arrest, you do not have to hand over your phone unless agents have a warrant signed by a judge, and no one may delete your recordings. If you are arrested, stay silent and ask for a lawyer. The ACLU also warns that some officers retaliate against people who record.
- If you have court in Cook County, a court order in effect since October 2025 bars civil arrests, including immigration arrests, of parties and witnesses going to, attending or leaving court, unless there is a judicial warrant or order. A state law signed in December 2025 also bans civil arrests at Illinois courthouses and within 1,000 feet. The U.S. Justice Department has sued to overturn that law, and the case is still in court. Do not skip a court date without talking to a lawyer first.
Get free help in Illinois
If someone is detained, or you see ICE activity, call the ICIRR 24-hour Family Support Hotline at 855-435-7693. For legal help, call the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) at 312-660-1370. Only work with a licensed attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative, never a "notario."