Law enforcement agents tried to enter a Chicago elementary school but were not allowed, Chicago Public Schools officials say – CNN

Fearing federal agents asking to search a Chicago elementary school Friday morning were from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, school officials denied them entry. But it turned out they were US Secret Service agents pursuing an investigation.

Around 11:15 a.m., the agents attempted to enter Hamline Elementary School, Chicago Public Schools’ Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova said. School officials initially said the agents were from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which ICE denied. The district said it later learned the agents who visited the school were from the Secret Service.

“This was not an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement encounter,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement to CNN Friday afternoon.

Two agents who showed up to the school presented identification from the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency that oversees both the Secret Service and ICE. School officials responded to the agents with the understanding that they were from ICE, “amid rumors and reports that the agency was in the community,” a district spokesperson told CNN.

“Regardless of which branch of Homeland Security visited this school, officials followed the established protocols to ensure student safety,” the CPS spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Friday night. “The agents were not allowed into the school or permitted to speak with staff or students.”

The US Secret Service approached the Chicago elementary school Friday morning as they were investigating a potential threat to a protectee, the agency told CNN. The agency would not name the protectee, as is common for investigations of this type.

A Secret Service spokesperson told CNN the agency’s Chicago office was “investigating a threat made against a government official we protect.”

“In the course of their investigation, agents first visited a residence in a local neighborhood and then made a visit to Hamline Elementary School,” Anthony Guglielmi said. “Agents identified themselves to the school principal and provided business cards with their contact information. The agents left without incident. The Secret Service investigates all threats made against those we protect, we do not investigate nor enforce immigration laws.”

School officials were on edge as they prepared for possible encounters with ICE agents since President Donald Trump announced a planned nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration and suggested Chicago could be a target for enforcement actions.

“Our original communication was a result of a misunderstanding, reflective of the fear and concerns in the community amid the new administration’s focus on undocumented immigrants,” the CPS spokesperson said.

Earlier this week, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced federal immigration authorities will be permitted to arrest people and carry out enforcement actions in and near places such as churches and schools, marking a departure from long-standing policy to avoid so-called sensitive areas.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the statement reads.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a policy in 2011 preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations. The Biden administration put out similar guidance. Immigrant advocates have shared concerns over stripping the policy, arguing doing so would stoke fear in immigrant communities and keep children from going to school or people from seeking care at hospitals.

“There’s no sanctuary for criminal aliens in this country, nor is there a sanctuary for child trafficking, for child smuggling or for child endangerment,” Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller told Fox News Friday in response to reports ICE went to a the elementary school.

“ICE officers will take the actions necessary to protect the lives and safety of our children and to identify individuals who are involved in the smuggling and trafficking of our children in order to conduct these investigations, in order to protect the safety and security of children all across America, federal law enforcement is unrestricted access to conduct basic investigations,” Miller said.

Meanwhile, school officials earlier explained their position and how they handled Friday’s incident.

“We will not open our doors for ICE, and we are here to protect our children and make sure they have access to an excellent education,” Hamline Principal Natasha Ortega said in a news conference Friday afternoon.

Chkoumbova emphasized the district’s commitment to protecting students and families in accordance with the Illinois Trust Act and Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance. The district does not ask for or share family immigration status with ICE, she said.

The district will only allow ICE agents into schools with a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge, and access will not be granted based on administrative warrants or detainers, Chkoumbova said.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Whiney Wild and Bill Kirkos contributed to this report.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/us/ice-agents-attempt-entry-into-chicago-elementary-school/index.html