A legal Chicago resident spoke exclusively with NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago after receiving a $130 fine from immigration agents during recent Border Patrol raids in Rogers Park.
The document shows that immigration agents imposed the fine for not carrying identification, a rare occurrence in the city.
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Rubén Antonio Cruz, 60, an El Salvador native, said he was sitting with a buddy near Clark Street and Lunt Avenue last Thursday when immigration authorities abruptly pulled up in front of them.
“I was looking at my phone when they got out and asked, ‘Do you have your papers?’” he said in Spanish. “I told them yes, but that they were at home…. that I could show them if they wanted, but they said no.”
Cruz, who has heart problems and lives in a government-subsidized apartment, claims that agents put him in their vehicle, drove around the neighborhood, and questioned him before they validated his identity.
The authorities eventually determined that he was legally in the country, fined him $130 for not having his documents, and then let him go.
Under federal law, all lawful permanent residents “eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him.” It also says that failing to comply with this provision results in a misdemeanor and be fined “not to exceed $100.”
However, legal experts observe that this provision has rarely, if ever, been implemented – until now.
“The fines have always existed, but the problem is we’ve never heard of a case where someone was actually fined for not having their papers.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier this year directing the Department of Homeland Security to enforce all immigration laws as a top priority, altering a long-standing policy that afforded agents enforcement discretion.
The fine represents an expansion of the Trump administration’s immigration efforts.
Cruz stated he doesn’t like carrying his green card since he has lost it multiple times. Replacing a lost or stolen Green Card costs $415 and can take months to process.
