CHICAGO — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent shot and wounded a woman during a confrontation in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Saturday, as federal immigration enforcement operations escalated across the city under the Trump administration.
Federal prosecutors on Sunday charged two Chicago residents — Marimar Martinez, 30, who was shot, and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, 21 — with forcibly assaulting and impeding federal officers. Prosecutors allege the pair rammed a Border Patrol vehicle in what authorities described as an “ambush” during a convoy protest.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Martinez and Ruiz used their vehicles to block and strike an SUV carrying three Border Patrol agents near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue. One agent fired approximately five rounds, striking Martinez several times. None of the agents were injured.
Martinez was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and taken into custody by the FBI after being released from the hospital. Ruiz was arrested nearby and remains in federal custody. Prosecutors did not file weapons charges, and court documents make no allegation that Martinez fired a gun.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Tricia McLaughlin, said on social media that agents were “rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars,” describing the incident as a coordinated attack by “domestic terrorists.” She also alleged that Martinez had previously threatened agents online and “doxxed” their identities.
However, defense advocates and local officials questioned the federal account. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said the state has been denied access to key information about the shooting, accusing DHS of spreading “propaganda” before local agencies could verify the facts. “They won’t let us access the facts,” Pritzker told CNN. “ICE puts out a press release before anybody else can speak with the press, and then it gets repeated everywhere.”
Community activists said federal agents deployed tear gas and chemical irritants during the ensuing protest in Brighton Park, which drew dozens of residents. Chicago police assisted with crowd control but said they were not involved in the shooting or investigation. Several officers were reportedly exposed to tear gas during the standoff.
The shooting occurred as the Trump administration continued its Operation Midway Blitz, a nationwide immigration enforcement surge launched in early September. The program has led to multiple violent clashes between federal agents and protesters in major cities, including Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Portland.
The incident also came a day after Gov. Pritzker said the Pentagon planned to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, following what he described as an ultimatum from the Trump administration. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor deploy troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the deployment during an interview Sunday, saying “special operations units” would reinforce agents in Chicago. “We will not allow domestic terrorists to attack law enforcement,” she said. “If you lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Saturday’s confrontation marks at least the second shooting by federal immigration agents in the Chicago area since September. In an earlier incident, Silverio Villegas González was killed by ICE agents in Franklin Park after allegedly resisting arrest — a case that also prompted criticism over the agency’s handling of evidence and public communication.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) condemned the weekend’s events, calling the federalization of the Guard and the use of armed agents in U.S. neighborhoods “dangerous and unconstitutional.” “Policing Americans is not the military’s job,” she said in a statement. “These actions erode trust between the public and the people sworn to protect them.”
Civil rights groups, including the ACLU of Illinois, have called for an independent investigation into both shootings and the broader deployment of federal forces. DHS officials, meanwhile, maintain that the operations are essential to maintaining “law and order” amid what they describe as escalating threats to immigration enforcement officers.
