Rueben Antonio Cruz was sitting with a friend in Rogers Park when ICE agents pulled up onto the street.
The immigration officers stopped their truck and went straight after them on Oct. 9, Cruz told the Tribune.
“They asked us if we have papers. I said I do but I don’t have them on me,” Cruz, a 60-year old man with heart problems originally from El Salvador, recalled in Spanish.
The agents stood Cruz up, put him in their truck, drove around in circles, and asked questions, he said.
Not defending the actions of these agents, but I’m so glad he only got a fine and not deported.
Btw, there are many enforced laws just like the requirement to carry greencard, for example, “legal weed” is a misnomer, weed is still federally illegal, so if you are a non-citizen or know someone who is a non-citizen, please know that: do not using weed or posessing weed until either (A) you get citizenship (remember: you aren’t officially a citizen until the oath ceremony and get the papers), OR (B) decides to abandon the US forever.
This has been the law even before current political shenanigans.
They could potentially retroactively revoke citizenship if they found out about your weed usage/possession before you got citizenship.
If you are a citizen, the first thing you wanna say when you get detained/arrested/workplace-raid is tell them you’re a citizen immediately, tell them your name and identifying info, A photo of your papers can help too.
The outcome all depends on whether you get the “standard” assholes who only mildly harass you, or get very unlucky and get the the MAGA assholes.