ICE agents were reportedly spotted at Gurnee Mills mall in Gurnee Friday morning after arresting a person in Waukegan, days after community members reported ICE arrests in Vernon Hills and Woodstock.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) said Friday morning that the Lake County Rapid Response Team confirmed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Lake County.
ICE agents “abducted” one person at 8th Street and Prescott Avenue in Waukegan around 9:01 a.m., the ICIRR said.
The vehicles observed included a gray Ford Explorer, black Nissan Armada, black Nissan Altima, black Ford Explorer, black Nissan Pathfinder and white Jeep Grand Cherokee.
“Agents might still be in the area today, please be alert. Remember: You have the right to film police activity, the right to remain silent, the right to speak to an attorney, and the right to refuse to sign anything,” the ICIRR said in an alert.
The ICIRR said in a subsequent alert late Friday morning, just after 11:20 a.m., that the Lake County Rapid Response Team confirmed ICE agents at the Gurnee Mills campus.
They were seen by the Kohl’s, 6150 Grand Avenue in Gurnee, around 10:45 a.m., the organization said.
The vehicles observed were a black Nissan Armada and a black Nissan Pathfinder.
Community members reported that ICE detained a person in the rear parking lot of Sam’s Club, 335 North Milwaukee Avenue in Vernon Hills, around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Community members also reported that ICE was seen on Railroad Street in Woodstock around 7:50 a.m. Thursday making an arrest of a driver in a vehicle.
The vehicles observed included a gray Dodge Charger, a black Nissan Pathfinder and a gray Ford Explorer.
A video taken around 12:30 p.m. Thursday showed some of the same vehicles in the area of Route 47 and Route 120 in Woodstock with one agent running across the road and getting into one of the cars as the agents left the area with their lights on.
Similar vehicles believed to be ICE were spotted in Harvard on September 15, community members said.
“Remember: You have the right to film police activity, the right to remain silent, the right to speak to an attorney, and the right to refuse to sign anything,” ICIRR said.
The organization said anyone who encounters federal agents is reminded to stay calm, remain silent and report the encounter to ICIRR’s Family Support Hotline at 855-435-7693.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the activity in Lake and McHenry counties.
The agency told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that it had previously arrested six “illegal aliens” in Woodstock on September 11.
ICE said one of those men, Alex Francisco Diaz-Quintanilla, 47, of El Salvador, had been convicted of a weapons offense in 2024.
McHenry County Rapid Response said one man was arrested by ICE in the parking lot of Woodstock Automotive Service, 725 Lake Avenue, the same business where an FBI SWAT team arrested a manager later that morning in a federal drug trafficking investigation, which a DEA spokesperson indicated was unrelated to the immigration enforcement.