Armed ICE Officers Detain Preschool Teacher at Chicago Daycare

(CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES) Armed ICE officers chased and detained a preschool teacher inside the Rayito de Sol Early Learning Center in Chicago on the morning of Wednesday, November 5, 2025, setting off panic among children, parents, and staff who watched the arrest unfold inside the daycare’s vestibule around 7:15 a.m. Parents and elected officials said agents moved through multiple rooms while children were present at the facility at 2550 W. Addison St. in the North Center/Roscoe Village area, across from Lane Tech High School, prompting the daycare to shut down for the rest of the day.

The teacher, a woman from Colombia who works with infants and is also a mother, was detained in front of students and families as the school day was beginning. Parents arriving during the commotion kept their children in their cars to shield them from the scene, witnesses said, and some teachers fled with a young student to hide in a pickup truck. In interviews, community members described the encounter as chaotic, frightening, and deeply unsettling.

“For someone to take a preschool teacher who pours herself into these children is just not right,” said Adam Gonzalez, a parent at the center.

The arrest triggered immediate outcry from families and local officials, who questioned why enforcement agents entered a school setting and confronted educators with guns visible while children and staff were inside.

“Schools are supposed to be places of safety, of security and not places where we have to talk to our children about why their teacher is being abducted and screaming and running away from agents with guns and masks while she is trying to enter the school,” said parent Tara Goodarzi.

She added, “I am horrified by what has happened here today. Our community has been shattered. Our families have been traumatized. The children were crying; the parents were crying. It’s a scene that I don’t think any of us have ever witnessed before and will ever forget.”

Alderman Matt Martin of Chicago’s 47th Ward said agents were visibly armed while they moved around the childcare facility.

“You had agents with guns who were walking around the facility with teachers inside, with children inside, and so we are of course demanding that she be released immediately. We need this educator home, her family needs that, her students need that, her colleagues need that, we also need ICE to stop terrorizing our community,” Martin said.

He described footage from the scene as among the most disturbing he has viewed in his time in office.

“It’s some of the most chilling video footage I have ever seen, certainly in my time in office,” he said.

Witnesses said the episode began just after parents started drop-offs at around 7:15 a.m., when at least three agents wearing ICE jackets and carrying weapons pursued the teacher into the daycare. Several parents said agents entered multiple rooms and questioned staff while children were nearby, with one teacher escorted to her locker and told to “prove she has papers.” The sight of Armed ICE officers inside classrooms and hallways sparked fear among educators and families alike, according to those present. Some teachers left the building in tears, and at least one group, including a student, hid in a nearby pickup truck, “terrified of being found,” said parent Nathaniel Meadow, who added that parents arriving during the incident left their kids in their cars “to spare them from their teachers crying.”

Federal officials said the operation was focused on a specific individual and not the facility itself. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said: “ICE law enforcement did NOT target a Daycare. Officers attempted to conduct a targeted traffic stop of this female illegal alien from Colombia… The male driver refused to pull the vehicle over. Law enforcement pursued the vehicle before the assailant sped into a shopping plaza where he and the female passenger fled the vehicle. They ran into a daycare and attempted to barricade themselves inside the daycare—recklessly endangering the children inside. The illegal alien female was arrested inside a vestibule, not in the school. Upon arrest, she lied about her identity.” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the woman does not have legal immigration status.

Parents and local representatives disputed key parts of that account, pointing to video they said shows agents moving through multiple rooms while classes were beginning. U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez said,

“They didn’t just walk in chasing one person, they went into multiple rooms asking and looking for teachers while children were present. This is an agency that has gone rogue.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley questioned the agency’s priorities, saying,

“They’re supposed to be going after the worst of the worst, if they’re now trying to tell us that what’s left of the worst of the worst is someone with papers who’s educating kids at a daycare then I think everything they say comes into question.”

Quigley said the teacher had a pending asylum case and a valid work permit.

The scene that morning left parents and children shaken, according to interviews at the Rayito de Sol Early Learning Center. Multiple parents and staff were in tears during the arrest, witnesses said, and the facility closed for the day as a result of the turmoil.

“The idea of a child seeing their caretaker with whom they have a strong attachment to being taken away in distress, it’s going to impact every single child whether they saw it or heard about it,” said parent and school psychologist Abby Salat, who warned the emotional effects could ripple well beyond the day’s events.

Another parent, Sarah Wirth, said the fallout was already hitting classrooms: “Other teachers are not coming into work because they’re terrified.”

Community leaders framed the episode as a breach of what should be a predictable, calm environment for very young children. Parents repeatedly emphasized that the person detained is a preschool teacher whose daily work involves caring for infants. They said she is also a mother, and argued that Armed ICE officers should not have entered a daycare filled with children.

“We need this educator home,” Alderman Martin said, calling for her immediate release and demanding that immigration agents avoid actions that put families on edge in school settings.

Parents echoed those calls throughout the morning and into the afternoon, organizing rapidly to support the teacher’s legal defense and to demand accountability for the arrest inside the childcare center.

As word spread, families and neighbors mobilized around the Rayito de Sol Early Learning Center. A GoFundMe launched by parents raised over $10,000 by Wednesday evening, according to organizers. Parents also planned a rally at Northcenter Town Square at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to protest the incident and to press for the teacher’s release, urging officials to intervene. Those who witnessed the arrest described the emotional toll on both staff and families as immediate and severe. Parents said young children cried as their classrooms were disrupted, and several educators left visibly distraught.

The clash over what happened inside the daycare shaped the political response in Chicago. Elected officials and parents said video footage and firsthand accounts contradict the federal framing that the daycare was not targeted and that agents stayed out of classrooms. They described agents in ICE jackets moving through rooms, questioning staff members, and escorting one to a locker to examine documents, even as students arrived.

“You had agents with guns who were walking around the facility with teachers inside, with children inside,” Alderman Martin said, arguing the images of armed, masked officers in a preschool would be hard for families to forget.

Ramirez and Quigley, both present in the neighborhood after the arrest, said they would push for the teacher’s release and scrutinize the operation. Ramirez said, “This is an agency that has gone rogue,” while Quigley said the teacher possessed a valid work permit while awaiting a decision on an asylum claim. The lawmakers’ comments added to a chorus of parents insisting the immediate priority is the educator’s return to the classroom and to her family. The Rayito de Sol Early Learning Center did not reopen for the remainder of Wednesday, and several parents said they feared long-term disruptions if staff remained too afraid to return.

For families with children at the daycare, the day began with routine drop-offs and ended with difficult conversations. Parents said they found themselves explaining why their kids saw adults in tactical gear and why a beloved caretaker was taken away.

“Schools are supposed to be places of safety, of security,” Goodarzi said, describing how parents struggled to reassure their children while they themselves were shaken.

Meadow said some parents “left their kids in their cars ‘to spare them from their teachers crying,’” a choice that underscored how quickly the morning deteriorated into fear and confusion.

In the hours after the arrest, the political and human narratives diverged sharply. DHS described a failed traffic stop, a pursuit, and two people entering a daycare to avoid arrest before agents apprehended one person in the vestibule. Community members described a school morning shattered by visible weapons, hurried searches, and frantic staff seeking refuge with a child. Alderman Martin said the “chilling” footage should force a reassessment of how immigration enforcement interacts with places where children are present. Quigley’s assertion that the teacher had work authorization and a pending asylum case added a layer of legal complexity that parents said deepened their frustration with the operation.

The location of the daycare, across from one of the city’s largest public high schools, meant the arrest unfolded in a heavily trafficked area as students and families arrived for the day. Lane Tech High School sits directly across the street from Rayito de Sol, and the morning rush of cars and buses framed the backdrop to a law enforcement scene that parents said they never expected to encounter at a childcare center. Several noted the address—2550 W. Addison St.—as they coordinated with other parents to pick up children and to share videos and information about how the arrest unfolded.

The debate over whether agents “targeted” the daycare quickly became a focal point, amplified by the DHS statement and the accounts of parents and officials. DHS said, “ICE law enforcement did NOT target a Daycare,” and insisted the arrest occurred in a vestibule, not in the school itself. Parents and officials countered that regardless of where the teacher was ultimately detained, Armed ICE officers were present in multiple rooms while young children and educators were inside.

“They didn’t just walk in chasing one person, they went into multiple rooms asking and looking for teachers while children were present,” Ramirez said.

By late afternoon, parents had set up fundraisers and coordinated statements calling for the teacher’s immediate release. The GoFundMe drew rapid donations, surpassing $10,000 within hours, as families and neighbors channeled anger and fear into financial support for legal representation. Parents said they hoped the show of support would help bring the preschool teacher home and send a message about keeping immigration enforcement out of spaces where children are learning and being cared for.

As night approached, organizers urged families to gather at Northcenter Town Square for a 6:30 p.m. rally to protest the arrest and press officials for answers. Parents said they wanted clarity on why agents moved through a childcare facility and what steps would be taken to prevent similar incidents.

“Our community has been shattered,” Goodarzi said earlier in the day, and others echoed the need to restore a sense of safety in a place where infants and young children spend their days.

For now, parents, teachers, and local leaders say their focus remains on the immediate needs of children and staff at the Rayito de Sol Early Learning Center and on the fate of the detained educator. Wirth said the shock is already affecting the workforce at the school: “Other teachers are not coming into work because they’re terrified.” Salat warned that even children who did not directly witness the arrest may carry the stress and confusion home.

“It’s going to impact every single child whether they saw it or heard about it,” she said.

Officials said additional details about the teacher’s legal status and the male driver referenced in the DHS account were still forthcoming. The Department of Homeland Security maintained that the operation was a targeted enforcement action that escalated when two people fled into a daycare. Parents and local representatives insisted the presence of Armed ICE officers inside classrooms made an already tense situation unacceptable. In a neighborhood where parents expect drop-off to be routine and calm, Wednesday’s arrest left a lasting image: a preschool teacher led away in front of the children she cares for, and a community now asking how and why it happened inside their school.