The U.S. Department of Homeland Security informed the Evanston Police Department that an arrest was made involving a “criminal matter” Thursday morning near Evanston Township High School, according to EPD Commander Scott Sophier.
Sophier said the arrest took place near Church Street and Brown Avenue, the same area where immigration agents were seen the day before, Sept. 10. Sophier said DHS did not share the names, charges or additional deployments of the agents conducting Thursday morning’s arrest.
“There were no Evanston Police officers on-scene when this arrest took place, and the subject in custody was not transported to the Evanston Police Department. Evanston Police did not assist in this matter in any way,” Sophier wrote to Pioneer Press in email.
Immigration agents were near the same area on Wednesday to carry out a “criminal warrant” according to Sophier. DHS did not report any arrests that day, he said.
The city of Evanston announced on Monday, Sept. 8 that there is an increased likelihood that federal agents will be present in Evanston in tandem with renewed immigration enforcement efforts in the Chicago area. A state of Illinois official informed Mayor Daniel Biss of the possibility late Sunday night, he told Pioneer Press.
On Monday a DHS helicopter was reportedly tracked traveling between 80 and 130 mph along Evanston’s lakefront.
Days before President Donald Trump’s second term in office, the City Council approved strengthening its existing Welcoming City Ordinance, in compliance with the Illinois Trust Act barring local police departments from assisting the federal government in carrying out civil warrants.