A daycare worker at Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center in North Center was taken by federal immigration agents early Wednesday morning, the school’s staff confirmed to the Tribune.
In a video circulating on social media, agents in vests can be seen dragging the woman out of the school building shortly after 7 a.m. The woman has a work permit, her colleagues told the Tribune, and in the video, the woman can be heard telling the agents she has papers.
Workers at the school told the Tribune that kids were not present when the arrest occurred. Still, concerned parents showed up afterward as word spread across group chats, parents told the Tribune.
Rayito de Sol means “little ray of sunshine.” The daycare opens at 7.
Tara Goodarzi, a part-time immigration attorney whose 3-year old son is a student at the school, was on her way to drop off when she heard the news that a teacher was taken.
After what Goodarzi called “the abduction,” everyone “was crying, terrified, huddled together.”
“To do it in a place where children are, with complete disregard for what children see, there’s no low these people won’t stoop to,” Goodarzi said.
Daycare was canceled for the day after the arrest. The school holds more than a dozen classrooms for children ranging in age from infant to 4-years-old.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment.
Goodarzi said she explained what happened to her son by telling him “that one of his teachers was taken by men who are doing things against the law and we all need to be careful about the safety of our neighbors.”
“We will all be on lookout now,” she said. “The parents in this community are excellent, we care so much about the teachers, and we intend to mobilize to get her back and prevent this from happening again.
This is a developing story. Please check back.