Suburban Chicago dad headed to store with toddler says they were
pepper-sprayed by federal agents
[November 11, 2025]
By SOPHIA TAREEN
CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago father and his 1-year-old daughter
were pepper-sprayed at close range as they headed grocery shopping over
the weekend and happened upon federal immigration agents, the family
said.
Rafael Veraza said the incident happened in a Sam's Club parking lot in
Cicero on Saturday, amid escalating clashes that day between immigration
agents and frustrated area residents. The suburb shares a border with
the Chicago neighborhood of Little Village, a largely Mexican enclave
that has frequently been at the center of a federal immigration
crackdown that began two months ago in the nation's third-largest city.
Veraza said the family was in their car when they heard a helicopter and
honking, common signals in the Chicago area these days that federal
agents are nearby. They decided to leave.
That’s when a masked agent pointed a pepper-spray gun through their
vehicle’s open window and fired. A cloudy substance hit Veraza in the
face, which also affected his daughter, according to a video taken by
the family.
“My daughter was trying to open her eyes,” Veraza told reporters Sunday,
as his wife held their daughter nearby. “She was struggling to breathe.”
He said they were not protesting, honking their horns to warn others or
trying to interfere.
A longtime pastor in the area, the Rev. Matt DeMateo, arrived at the
scene to help and also recorded footage of Veraza struggling to open his
eyes and of their daughter, Arianna, crying while her mother tried to
comfort her.
“A family, and I shouldn't have to say this, but guess what? All U.S.
citizens attacked while shopping,” he said. “We need a better way.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security flatly rejected the family’s
account.
“There was no crowd control or pepper spray deployed in a Sam’s Club
parking lot,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement
sent to the Associated Press Monday.
A day of tensions
Saturday marked a day of chaotic encounters in the operation that has
seen more than 3,200 arrests of people suspecting of violating
immigration laws in the Chicago area. The aggressive tactics used by
agents from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement have repeatedly come under fire through legal challenges.
Agents have used chemical agents liberally across the city of 2.7
million and its many suburbs. They've also gone into a daycare to arrest
a teacher, targeted rideshare drivers at O’Hare International Airport,
thrown tear gas in a neighborhood preparing for a Halloween parade and
gone after landscapers.
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Rafael Veraza holds his young daughter, Ariana, during a press
conference decrying federal agents use of force in Little Village on
the Southwest Side, Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (Candace Dane
Chambers/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
But the area hit the hardest has been Little Village, a neighborhood
with one of the city's largest business corridors that's sometimes
dubbed the “Mexico of the Midwest.” Most restaurants and shops have
signs warning ICE agents to stay out while neighbors use whistles
and car horns to warn passersby of immigration agents who often
stage in an area behind the Sam's Club.
DHS said agents were conducting enforcement operations when they
encountered a “hostile crowd” and someone fired at federal officers.
Federal officials alleged protesters threw paint cans and bricks at
agents’ vehicles. Chicago police were called to respond to a call of
gunshots fired at federal agents. No one was injured.
“Make no mistake: Our mission will continue despite the violence,"
McLaughlin said.
Area residents, including DeMateo, said agents deployed chemical
agents, including tear gas and pepper balls, near his van without
being provoked.
Some protesters confronted Chicago police officers they viewed as
helping the federal agents. One police vehicle had its taillight
smashed and windshield damaged.
DHS said eight U.S. citizens were arrested, but the agency did not
say if they were charged. The agency did not respond to follow-up
questions Monday.
Agent tactics under scrutiny
The tensions unfolded as a federal judge in Chicago has issued an
extensive injunction limiting federal agents’ use of force, saying
that a top Border Patrol official leading an immigration crackdown
repeatedly lied about threats posed by protesters.
DHS appealed that ruling on Sunday.
The order restricts agents from using certain riot control weapons,
such as tear gas and pepper balls, “unless such force is objectively
necessary” to prevent “an immediate threat.” It also bars agents
from using physical force, including shoving protesters and
journalists to the ground, and it requires agents to give two
warnings before using riot control weapons.
Separately, ICE has been compelled to make improvement s at a
suburban processing center activists say functions as a de facto
detention center and is plagued by inhumane conditions.
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