An Illinois Department of Transportation employee of Indian descent was stopped and questioned about his immigration status while working on a construction project in Park Ridge on Friday, the Chicago Sun Times reported. The employee was also asked about incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s office, which said the incident raised concerns about racial profiling.The employee was a U.S. citizen working on the Busse Highway resurfacing project when he was reportedly approached by three masked agents. They questioned him about his immigration status, whether he had traveled to New York and whether he knew about Mamdani’s mayoral election before leaving the site.Governor Pritzker condemned the federal action, calling it an example of authorities questioning US citizens “apparently based on the color of their skin.”“I am appalled that they would stop and question a public servant who works hard to improve our state’s roads and infrastructure,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Our public servants should be able to go to work and do their jobs without masked agents targeting them for no legitimate reason.”The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later denied that the agents were from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or US Customs and Border Protection. The incident has worried Park Ridge residents. Students and teachers in the local school district were ordered to stay inside after reports of federal agents in the area, WGN reported. Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Superintendent Ben Collins confirmed that he is aware of reports of federal immigration agents near some of the district’s schools.The episode follows months of increased federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration’s MAGA crackdown. This raised concerns among civil rights groups about potential racial and ethnic targeting.The GOP administration sought to deploy the National Guard to Chicago amid a broader immigration enforcement crackdown dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” Illinois officials challenged the move as unconstitutional, and a federal appeals court last month blocked the deployment.
