ICE agent knelt on neck of citizen teen Evelyn; DHS falsely denied involvement
Evelyn, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen, was pulled from a car and detained by ICE agents on October 10, 2025, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Video showed an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer throw her to the ground and kneel on her neck and upper back as she screamed that she was a citizen and not resisting. According to her aunt, Evelyn and two friends had been following and honking at agents' vehicles to warn neighbors of ICE activity before being chased and detained. She and her friends were held for hours in the Hoffman Estates Police Department parking lot without explanation before being released without charges; Evelyn was later taken away in an ambulance. Her parents, Jazmin and Gerardo, said officers ignored their daughter's pleas of citizenship, with Gerardo saying 'I couldn't protect my child.' Evelyn told the Chicago Tribune, 'I don't like the way they're treating everybody... it's not about race or ethnicity — we're all humans.' A DHS spokesperson falsely claimed the video showed a year-old, unrelated Chicago burglary arrest, a claim PolitiFact rated False after confirming the footage depicted the October 10 incident. The family is considering legal action.
