ICE said its officers arrested four people, including a man previously arrested for domestic battery, in Woodstock Thursday and in Waukegan Friday, the same day agents were reportedly spotted at Gurnee Mills mall.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identified the four people in a statement to Lake and McHenry County Scanner Monday afternoon and said its officers encountered them during “targeted enforcement operations” in the two communities.
Community members 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.
ICE said its officers arrested Ketty Ximena Dominguez Lopez, 38, of Ecuador, and Dagoberto Mendez Ponce, 35, of Honduras, in Woodstock Thursday.
It was not immediately known whether either of them was the driver community members saw arrested on Railroad Street.
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Dominguez Lopez in 2023 for being unlawfully present in the United States and she was released on parole under the Biden administration, ICE said.
A Department of Justice immigration judge issued Dominguez Lopez a final order of removal from the United States in 2024 and she was arrested on Thursday on a warrant, according to ICE.
ICE said Mendez Ponce entered the United States on parole in 2024 and a Department of Justice immigration judge issued him a final order of removal in 2025 for failing to meet the conditions of his parole.
Mendez Ponce was arrested for being unlawfully present in the United States, ICE said.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) said Friday morning that the Lake County Rapid Response Team confirmed 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.
ICE said its officers arrested Mario Guadarrama, 31, and Pedro Serrano-Hernandez, 39, both of Mexico, in Waukegan Friday.
It is unclear whether either man was the person the ICIRR said agents took into custody at 8th Street and Prescott Avenue.
ICE said Guadarrama unlawfully entered the United States at an unknown time and location.
Illinois law enforcement arrested Guadarrama in 2019 for domestic battery causing bodily harm and domestic battery involving physical contact, according to ICE.
Officers arrested Guadarrama for being unlawfully present in the United States, ICE said.
Wisconsin law enforcement arrested Serrano-Hernandez in 2008 and Illinois law enforcement arrested him in 2011, both times for driving without a license.
ICE said officers arrested Serrano-Hernandez on a 2025 Wisconsin warrant for contempt of court.
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.
The agents were seen by the Kohl’s, 6150 Grand Avenue in Gurnee, around 10:45 a.m., the ICIRR said.
The vehicles observed were a black Nissan Armada and a black Nissan Pathfinder.
The ICIRR 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.
Community members also 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.
ICE’s statement did not address the reported arrest in Vernon Hills or the agents reported at Gurnee Mills.
The agency previously told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that it had 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 said was unrelated to the immigration enforcement.
Similar vehicles believed to be ICE were spotted in Harvard on September 15, community members said.
“The Trump administration is using all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, as President Trump promised,” ICE said.
“All individuals remain in ICE custody pending removal and will receive due process under federal law,” ICE said.