{"id":85,"date":"2026-05-23T05:38:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=85"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:38:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:38:42","slug":"eviction-by-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=85","title":{"rendered":"Eviction By ICE?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<article>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Rodrick Johnson, <span>67<\/span>, had just returned home from a\u00a0trip to the hospital and was trying to get some rest. But in the early hours of September <span>30<\/span>, bright lights suddenly flooded his apartment. A\u00a0fleet of Black Hawk helicopters descended on his five-story building\u2009\u2014\u2009a <span>130<\/span>-unit apartment complex at <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive\u2009\u2014\u2009shortly before armed, masked men stormed past the doors of the ground\u00a0floor.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=82\">My Name is Mahmoud Khalil and I Am a Political Prisoner<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>The next thing I\u00a0knew, they were kicking my door in,\u201d Johnson says. He and dozens of his neighbors were marched outside at gunpoint during the multiagency raid carried out by some <span>300<\/span> federal agents in Chicago\u2019s South Shore neighborhood. Black and Latino residents were zip-tied, separated by race and detained inside cargo vans, as <em>South Side Weekly <\/em>reported in the raid\u2019s aftermath. Agents arrested <span>37<\/span> people who were nationals of Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, and Nigeria, according to a\u00a0Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement. U.S. citizens like Johnson were also held for hours, without explanation. Johnson was released, exhausted and traumatized, around <span>4<\/span>\u00a0a.m. that morning, and returned to a\u00a0ransacked apartment.<\/p>\n<p>The shocking, military-style siege made national headlines. DHS edited footage taken from that night into a\u00a0viral social media video touting its operations; meanwhile, a\u00a0constitutional law professor, Paul Gowder, told the <em>Chicago Tribune<\/em> that the raid was possibly \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>one of the most unconstitutional things the federal government has ever done.\u201d Nearly a\u00a0month later, residents, neighbors and advocates are still searching for answers about why the building was targeted\u2009\u2014\u2009and what it portends, as federal immigration agents expand their violent and increasingly indiscriminate crackdown in Chicago and other U.S.\u00a0cities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Locating those taken away that night has proved nearly impossible, since the raid happened under the cover of darkness, with no family members left behind to provide information on the missing\u2009\u2014\u2009a chilling precedent, immigration advocates\u00a0say.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>Why would you conduct this raid in the middle of the night, if not to disappear people?\u201d asks Brandon Lee, a\u00a0spokesperson for the Illinois Coalition on Immigrant and Refugee\u00a0Rights.<\/p>\n<p>The secrecy surrounding federal agencies\u2019 actions stands in stark contrast to an eerie reality Johnson and the building\u2019s other remaining tenants continue to grapple with: The agents involved appear to have received advance information about the building\u2019s occupants that led them to target certain apartments that night, and leave others\u00a0untouched.<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In the aftermath of the raid, Johnson told <em>In These Times, <\/em>he noticed that his door bore a\u00a0strange marking: the letters \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>PC\u201d spelled out in white duct tape, which he believes could be a\u00a0reference to \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>probable cause.\u201d But agents never presented him with a\u00a0warrant that night, despite his repeatedly asking why he was being detained, he\u00a0says.<\/p>\n<p>The morning after the raid, another tenant filmed a\u00a0video documenting this pattern on his floor. The video, obtained by <em>In These Times <\/em>and redacted to protect residents\u2019 privacy, shows five units on that floor all tagged in a\u00a0similar manner\u2009\u2014\u2009with tape above the door reading \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>PC.\u201d All five of the marked units were broken into by agents, according to the video and interviews with residents. Jonah Karsh, an organizer with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization who is working with residents in the building, says he knows of at least eight other units that fit the same pattern\u2009\u2014\u2009marked units had been raided, while unmarked units were not. While it\u2019s unclear exactly when the markings went up\u2009\u2014\u2009just before, during or immediately after the raid\u2009\u2014\u2009there\u2019s no indication that they had been applied earlier for some alternate purpose, according to\u00a0Karsh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n              Exclusive Video\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"1143\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UwyJCEd65iU\" title=\"Footage from 7500 South Shore Drive\" width=\"643\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<div><p>The morning after the raid, one tenant at 7500 South Shore Drive filmed a video documenting an eerie pattern on his floor\u2014apartments broken into by agents the night before had markings on the door, while unmarked apartments and their occupants were left alone. (Video provided to <em>In These Times<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Meanwhile, according to WBEZ and the <em>Chicago Sun-Times<\/em>, reporters recovered a\u00a0map of the building left behind after the raid, with units labeled as either \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>vacant,\u201d \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>tenant\u201d or as \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>firearms.\u201d The units labeled \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>vacant,\u201d which were color-coded in green, had clearly been broken into by\u00a0agents.<\/p>\n<p>To Karsh, that suggests \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>that the manner in which units were targeted was deliberate and\u00a0systematic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>It seems like [agents] knew which units they wanted to go to \u2026 and I\u00a0don\u2019t know how they could have known that without someone telling\u00a0them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Cheaper than eviction<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Who might have told them, and why? The raid coincided with an ongoing struggle by the building\u2019s landlord and management to evict unauthorized occupants and rent-delinquent tenants from the distressed property, which was hemorrhaging cash, according to court records and loan servicing data. Prior to the raid, an unnamed federal official told the <em>Associated Press, <\/em>the landlord tipped off federal authorities that dozens of Venezuelan migrants were living in the building, claiming they were squatters and had threatened other\u00a0tenants.<\/p>\n<p>Because the identities of those arrested remain unknown, <em>In These Times <\/em>could not verify those claims. DHS initially claimed that agents targeted the building because it was frequented by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. But in a\u00a0statement to <em>In These Times <\/em>this week, a\u00a0spokesperson for the agency said that just eight of the <span>37<\/span> people arrested had a\u00a0criminal record of any kind, with retail theft among those alleged crimes. Just two of the <span>37<\/span> were confirmed gang members, according to DHS.<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Raymond Corona, a\u00a0tenant whose apartment was not marked or raided, had gotten to know some of the migrant families who lived in the building, many of whom moved there in <span>2023<\/span> as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bussed tens of thousands of Venezuelan asylum-seekers into the city. But as already-poor building conditions worsened over the last year, Corona says, the apartments also became home to squatters, including young men seemingly involved in gang activity. When the building\u2019s current management company took over in <span>2024<\/span>, they got rid of security guards and the front door was quickly broken into, Corona told <em>In These Times<\/em>. The management company never fixed it, he says, leaving the building wide open to anyone who wanted to\u00a0enter.<\/p>\n<p>Still, residents and neighbors who spoke to <em>In These Times <\/em>recounted how the raid swept up children, parents and seniors\u2009\u2014\u2009and left them feeling less safe, not\u00a0more.<\/p>\n<p>One building resident described to <em>In These Times<\/em> how he sheltered two of his Venezuelan neighbors, a\u00a0mother and young daughter, who showed up at his door as the raid began. The man shut off all the lights in his apartment, and the mother tried to quiet her sobbing child as the agents\u2019 heavy footsteps grew\u00a0closer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>I didn\u2019t know that they weren\u2019t gonna come knock on my door,\u201d said the man, whose name <em>In These Times<\/em> is withholding to protect him from retaliation by federal authorities. Ultimately, agents left his unit alone. The mother and daughter moved out of the building a\u00a0few days later, the man said, but the girl\u2019s father was arrested in the\u00a0raid.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Eboni Watson, who lives across the street from <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive, spent more than three hours observing and filming the night of the raid after she was drawn outside by the sound of flash-bang grenades. She says she observed children being dragged, naked, from the building and asked agents, \u201c\u2018How would you feel if somebody dragged you out of your house? How would you feel if somebody did this to you, separated you from your\u00a0mom?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One agent replied that his children were citizens, according to Watson. She repeatedly asked if they had warrants; one agent told her they had five warrants, she says, even as they detained dozens of people\u2009\u2014\u2009far more than their paperwork seemed to\u00a0cover.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>DHS did not respond to questions from <em>In These Times <\/em>about the warrants obtained for the operation. An agency spokesperson said that individuals encountered during the operation were \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>securely held,\u201d a\u00a0practice that \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>protects all\u00a0involved.\u201d\u00a0<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Earlier this month, ranking Democrats on two congressional oversight committees to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pamela Bondi demanding details on the South Shore operation, including the warrants obtained. \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>Trump and Noem have emboldened DHS agents to become an unaccountable terror force,\u201d said Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, who joined the\u00a0letter.<\/p>\n<p>Corona questions, in particular, whether the show of force targeting migrants and citizens alike was primarily about residents\u2019 safety, as opposed to the landlord\u2019s bottom\u00a0line.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>It costs a\u00a0lot more money to evict someone than it does to call ICE on them,\u201d he says, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement<strong>,<\/strong> which launched a\u00a0sweeping enforcement operation in Chicago last month. Customs and Border Protection led the South Shore raid, with agents the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation also\u00a0participating.<\/p>\n<p>The building\u2019s management had already filed nearly <span>20<\/span> eviction lawsuits against occupants this year, according to court records, with some cases still pending. Last year, the owner\u2009\u2014\u2009a limited liability company linked to Trinity Flood, a\u00a0Wisconsin-based millionaire whose family owns and operates mobile homes\u2009\u2014\u2009began attempting to sell the property, as revenue fell below the cost of property expenses and mortgage payments. Flood is currently battling simultaneous lawsuits from the City of Chicago and lender Wells Fargo, both alleging that she has failed to maintain the building in a\u00a0safe and livable\u00a0condition.<\/p>\n<p>Karsh says he is concerned that either Flood or the property management company she hired, Strength in Management, fed authorities information that led to the raid and left residents\u00a0traumatized.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>If that\u2019s not the case, they should go out and say it on the record,\u201d Karsh\u00a0says.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Flood nor Strength in Management responded to repeated requests for\u00a0comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>South Shore\u2019s real estate boom<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The brick courtyard building at <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive sits just a\u00a0block away from the glittering shoreline of Lake Michigan and a\u00a0<span>15<\/span>-minute drive from the new Obama Presidential Center, set to open next year. Residents of South Shore and other nearby neighborhoods have spent years organizing for protections against the gentrification and displacement they fear the center will fuel; last month, the Chicago City Council passed a\u00a0long-delayed ordinance aimed at protecting and expanding affordable housing in the\u00a0area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-84\" height=\"1021\" src=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/02205cad63bbf004ec3e5f20422cddc7-1024x1021.png\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/02205cad63bbf004ec3e5f20422cddc7-1024x1021.png 1024w, https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/02205cad63bbf004ec3e5f20422cddc7-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/02205cad63bbf004ec3e5f20422cddc7-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/02205cad63bbf004ec3e5f20422cddc7-768x766.png 768w, https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/02205cad63bbf004ec3e5f20422cddc7.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<div>South Shore residents speak about the impact of the Obama Center before a September 2024 meeting of the Chicago City Council.  <span>Credit: Not Me We<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>South Shore is a\u00a0predominantly Black neighborhood; before it became home to large numbers of Venezuelan asylum-seekers in <span>2023<\/span>, it also saw an influx of real-estate cash. During one four-month period in <span>2022<\/span>, investors scooped up nearly a\u00a0third of for-sale homes in the neighborhood, according to an analysis by the Illinois Answers Project. South Shore also has one of the highest eviction rates\u00a0citywide.<\/p>\n<p>The details of how the apartment building at <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive was purchased exemplify the kind of speculation residents have warned about. In <span>2020<\/span>, Flood purchased the building and two other nearby properties through limited liability companies for more than $<span>18<\/span> million, a\u00a0price that reportedly broke previous sales records for South Shore. After the deal closed, the brokerage involved issued a\u00a0press release heralding a $<span>6<\/span> million increase from the seller\u2019s purchase price just two years earlier. \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>Early investors are already enjoying the returns of the appreciating neighborhood,\u201d the press release\u00a0read.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=80\">\u201cIf I Must Die,\u201d A Poem by Refaat Alareer<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Little information about Flood is available publicly, but loan documents provide some details. A\u00a0<span>2020<\/span> Morningstar loan presale report for the commercial mortgage debt backed by her properties describes Flood as \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>a third-generation mobile home park owner and operator\u201d who spent eight years as the CEO of a\u00a0Wisconsin-based company that rents out manufactured homes and self-storage\u00a0units.<\/p>\n<p>As of <span>2020<\/span>, Flood had a\u00a0net worth of $<span>18<\/span> million, according to the report. She was a\u00a0small-dollar donor to Donald Trump\u2019s <span>2020<\/span> campaign, according to campaign finance\u00a0records.<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Flood reportedly bought the South Shore properties as part of a\u00a0<span>1031<\/span> exchange, which allows investors to avoid capital gains taxes on property sales by putting the proceeds towards further acquisitions. But by all indications, her big bet on the neighborhood otherwise failed to pay off. But she quickly came to regret the purchase, according to reporting in the business outlet <em>The Real Deal<\/em>, filing a\u00a0lawsuit accusing the seller and brokers of inflating the purchase price and failing to inform her of building issues including the need for expensive, on-site\u00a0security.<\/p>\n<p>Flood reached a\u00a0confidential settlement with the seller and brokers in <span>2023<\/span>, but problems persisted. Strength in Management stopped employing on-site security at <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive sometime last year, tenants recall, but rent revenue from the loan portfolio was still barely covering building costs and mortgage payments. In <span>2024<\/span>, Flood\u2019s three Chicago buildings, along with four others she purchased with the same loan, had a\u00a0shortfall of nearly half a\u00a0million dollars, according to loan servicing\u00a0documents.<\/p>\n<p>The same year, Flood listed the three South Shore buildings for sale for roughly the same price she purchased them. No sale has occurred, but a\u00a0listing for the \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>Jackson Park Portfolio\u201d\u2009\u2014\u2009a reference to the stately park abutting the Obama Center\u2009\u2014\u2009remains posted\u00a0online.<br\/><\/p>\n<p>When residents of <span>7500<\/span> South Shore went without gas for more than a\u00a0month in the summer of <span>2024<\/span>, Karsh attempted to work with them to organize a\u00a0tenants\u2019 union, but said the effort hit a\u00a0wall after Flood and property managers refused to work with\u00a0them.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Flood\u2019s companies have run into legal trouble with both the city, which sued over building code violations last year, and Wells Fargo, which filed a\u00a0foreclosure suit in\u00a0April.<\/p>\n<p>Wells Fargo alleged that Flood\u2019s companies had failed to make loan payments and maintain the building, according to court documents. The bank asked the judge to take the building out of Flood\u2019s hands and put it into receivership, a\u00a0process through which a\u00a0court-appointed third party manages the improvement and potential sale of a\u00a0distressed building.<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>This September, after months of fighting the bank\u2019s request, Flood\u2019s attorney made the unusual suggestion that Strength in Management should be appointed as receiver, according to court documents. Just days before the raid, Flood\u2019s legal team filed a\u00a0motion consenting to receivership but disputing the contention that the building had been neglected, writing that Flood\u2019s companies had spent more than $<span>100<\/span>,<span>000<\/span> on eviction fees, while Strength in Management spent hundreds of hours \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>working with law enforcement in an attempt to prevent illegal squatters and criminal elements in the area from entering the\u00a0building.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of Flood\u2019s ownership, the city has repeatedly cited the building at <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive for damaged exterior doors that do not close, a\u00a0violation of municipal code. The doors remained open and unsecured when <em>In These Times <\/em>visited in\u00a0October.<\/p>\n<p>Strength in Management is a\u00a0Chicago-based company that manages some <span>500<\/span> units on the city\u2019s South and West sides. The company\u2019s CEO, Corey Oliver, who co-chairs the political action committee of the real estate lobbying group Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, according to campaign finance records, occasionally appears on real estate podcasts to offer his thoughts on subjects like \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>taking on opportunity in Chicago\u2019s toughest\u00a0neighborhoods.\u201d<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>At a\u00a0real estate forum in <span>2023<\/span>, Oliver quipped that out-of-state investors were over-paying for buildings on the South and West sides, and that there would be opportunities to purchase the buildings \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>as some of these people who have come in speculating are going to start losing their properties over the next <span>18<\/span>\u00a0months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sometime the following year, his company began managing Flood\u2019s properties. At an October <span>17<\/span> court hearing in the foreclosure suit, city inspectors described ongoing hazards in the building from two recent inspections, including a\u00a0broken elevator, electrical fire hazards, flooding and the smell of human\u00a0feces.<br\/><\/p>\n<p>Flood did not attend the court hearing, which <em>In These Times <\/em>observed. Oliver attended and told a\u00a0Cook County Circuit Court judge that the inspectors made \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>gross characterizations\u201d of the building\u2019s conditions during the most recent inspection and that the company was working to obtain the permits to make necessary improvements. The judge ruled that Strength in Management could remain the property manager for now, but ordered the company to complete a\u00a0list of repairs in time for another inspection scheduled for\u00a0November.<\/p>\n<p>Before the hearing concluded, Oliver asked the judge what to do \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>if there was any issue\u201d with the owner\u2019s ability to pay for the ordered\u00a0repairs.<br\/><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>There shouldn\u2019t be an issue with her ability to do this,\u201d the judge replied, \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>if she wants to keep this property out of the appointment of a\u00a0receiver.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Chicago Alderperson Greg Mitchell, who represents the ward where the raid occurred, also attended the hearing after weeks of public silence on the\u00a0matter.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell, who told the judge that his office had worked with the ATF and local police to address problems at the property, expressed doubt that \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>the ills that plagued that building can actually be addressed in a\u00a0manner that will keep those residents safe,\u201d calling for all occupants of the building to be relocated. Mitchell did not respond to questions from <em>In These Times <\/em>about whether his office coordinated with federal agencies or received advance notice of the\u00a0raid.<\/p>\n<p>At the next hearing in the case, set for November <span>7<\/span>, remaining tenants will have the chance to voice whether they want to stay in the building or be relocated. Just <span>35<\/span> known occupants are left in the <span>130<\/span>-unit building, according to\u00a0Oliver.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>A bleak reality for tenants<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In the days following the raid, maintenance workers at <span>7500<\/span> South Shore began disposing of garbage, broken doorways and belongings left behind by residents who were detained or who had fled. When <em>In These Times <\/em>visited the premises, a\u00a0man who identified himself as a\u00a0Strength in Management employee, but declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the company had been seeking to evict unauthorized occupants so that it could fix up the building\u2009\u2014\u2009but complained about the amount of time it takes to evict through the\u00a0courts.<\/p>\n<p>The weekend before the raid, Corona, the tenant whose apartment was not raided, says he saw a\u00a0maintenance employee taking photographs of the doors that were ultimately broken down\u2009\u2014\u2009fueling his suspicion that the company somehow tipped off federal authorities. Another tenant who was already in the process of moving out had his unit raided. According to Corona, who spoke with him, when this tenant called Strength in Management the next morning, he was told that the company had believed his apartment was vacant\u2009\u2014\u2009even though he still had\u00a0keys.<br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>At least some of the units raided that night were occupied by longtime residents\u2009\u2014\u2009including senior citizens\u2009\u2014\u2009who, for one reason or another, had not been paying rent or did not have current leases. <em>In These Times <\/em>is withholding their names to protect them from retaliation as the court case\u00a0proceeds.<\/p>\n<p>One senior citizen tenant fell disastrously behind on rent after they fell victim to a\u00a0scam. The building\u2019s property management has changed at least three times since Flood purchased it, and during a\u00a0period when the property was left unsecured, this tenant says, a\u00a0man began coming to their door claiming to be the current property manager. Because the elevators were frequently out, the tenant struggled to leave the apartment and began handing rent money directly to the man each month. The tenant only realized what was happening, they say, when a\u00a0new property manager informed them they owed $<span>7<\/span>,<span>000<\/span>\u00a0in back rent. The tenant was never able to catch up, and without anywhere else to go, moved in with a\u00a0friend in the building. That friend moved out before the night of the raid, perhaps leading management to believe the unit was\u00a0vacant.<\/p>\n<p>Illinois law requires landlords to take tenants to court in order to evict them; harassing or threatening tenants in order to get them to move out is illegal. A\u00a0new \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>anti-squatter\u201d law takes effect in Illinois next year, which proponents say will make it easier for local police to bypass the civil eviction process in order to remove unauthorized occupants, but that does not include tenants who owe back rent or have expired\u00a0leases.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago tenants need stronger protections, says the Metropolitan Tenants Organization\u2019s Karsh, but the existing ones provide a\u00a0critical baseline\u2009\u2014\u2009because \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>if landlords can just call the feds to get rid of who they want, then that\u2019s a\u00a0really bleak reality for tenants and their security going\u00a0forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Jake Marshall, staff attorney for the Chicago legal nonprofit Beyond Legal Aid, also notes that a\u00a0<span>2019<\/span> state law specifically prohibits landlords from weaponizing immigration enforcement against their tenants\u2009\u2014\u2009including to coerce them into vacating their units. Beyond Legal Aid is not working with the occupants of <span>7500<\/span> South Shore Drive and could not comment on their specific cases. But Marshall said that tenants should be fairly compensated for the harm they suffered if violations of these laws took\u00a0place.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>No matter their immigration status, every tenant in Illinois is entitled to formal, in-court eviction proceedings, even if they are living in their unit on an expired or verbal lease agreement,\u201d Marshall\u00a0says.<\/p>\n<p>Corona, for his part, is still shaken by the memory of agents with military gear storming his apartment\u2009\u2014\u2009particularly in light of Donald Trump\u2019s threatening suggestion that Chicago, already under siege by immigration agents, could also be used as a\u00a0military training ground. The sight of smoke in the hallways and Black Hawk helicopters on the roof were ominous, he says, and left him with a\u00a0chilling sense: that what had happened to his home \u200b<span>\u201c<\/span>was a\u00a0training exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Sarah Lazare contributed reporting for this piece. Jacob Udell contributed\u00a0research.<\/em><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=78\">I Went to Pedophile Island and All I Got Was This Lousy Shirt!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal immigration agents appear to have targeted Chicago tenants in \u201cdeliberate and systematic ways.\u201d They\u2019re still searching for answers about their landlord\u2019s role in the raid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Eviction By ICE? - Summit Relocation Timess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=85\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eviction By ICE? 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