Lakeview Homeowner Sues Feds Over Warrantless Immigration Raid At His Home

LAKEVIEW — Nine months after federal immigration agents stormed his Lakeview property, homeowner Leo Feler is suing the federal government, alleging the agents violated his constitutional rights by entering his property without a warrant during a chaotic immigration raid that resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

Feler and his attorneys announced the lawsuit Tuesday morning outside his home in the 3300 block of North Lakewood Avenue, where a chaotic immigration raid in October began when federal agents chased construction workers on Feler’s property without a warrant. The incident ended with one worker detained and with agents using tear gas on neighbors who confronted them.

The lawsuit alleges U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents violated Feler’s Fourth Amendment rights by entering and searching his property without a warrant while pursuing four subcontractors working on his home during Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s high-profile immigration enforcement campaign in Chicago.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the federal government and the individual agents involved, as well as a court declaration that the raid was unconstitutional.

Dylan Moore, an attorney with the Institute for Justice who is representing Feler, said the case is about more than the damage to one Lakeview home.

“This isn’t really a case about whether the government can enforce immigration law,” Moore told Block Club before Tuesday’s filing. “It’s a case about whether they have to follow the Constitution when they do.”

Lawsuits like Feler’s are relatively uncommon because it has become increasingly difficult to sue federal agents over alleged constitutional violations, Moore said. Instead, plaintiffs often must rely on the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to sue the federal government for actions taken by its employees but requires months of administrative review before a lawsuit can be filed.

Feler’s legal team submitted claims late last year to Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. ICE responded only to confirm the agents involved were with Border Patrol, while Border Patrol and DHS never responded, Moore said. After waiting the required six months, attorneys filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court.

“There has to be some way to get a court to say this shouldn’t have happened,” Moore said. “It was unconstitutional, and you’re entitled to a judgment in your favor.”

For Feler, the lawsuit is also about the lasting effects of the raid.

Feler was in Canada and watched the raid via Ring security cameras. When he returned home later that day in October, he found what looked like a crime scene, he said.

“There was blood all over the place,” Feler said Tuesday, recalling how one worker apparently cut himself while running through the construction site. “The blood had splattered on the walls and ceiling, and it really did look like a crime scene.”

Unable to sleep, Feler spent the night cleaning blood from the home before bringing his dog back. He also started contacting attorneys and trying to help the construction worker who had been detained.

Feler and his neighbors raised about $25,000 to pay for the worker’s legal representation, while Feler also covered the worker’s medical expenses because he was injured during the raid.

After the raid, Feler canceled travel, delayed construction for months and worried about hiring workers again, fearing another raid could happen if contractors returned to finish the project.

Feler said he debated whether to publicly challenge the federal government but ultimately felt obligated to do so.

“The easy thing to do in life is to sit back, relax, drink wine, have fun with friends — not bring a lawsuit against the government,” Feler said. “But it seems lazy not to seek accountability, especially given that I have the privilege to be able to do this.”

Feler said he hopes the lawsuit helps establish limits on how federal immigration agents conduct enforcement operations in residential neighborhoods.

“If anyone should be doing this, it should be me,” he said. “If I weren’t doing it, how can I expect others to stand up for what our country stands for?”

The lawsuit stems from a Oct. 24 immigration operation that unfolded in the 3300 block of North Lakewood Avenue, where neighbors said federal agents chased construction workers through Feler’s property before detaining one of them.

At the time, Block Club reported federal agents had been conducting immigration enforcement operations across Lakeview and Lincoln Park, including random stops and arrests throughout the neighborhoods. The Lakewood Avenue incident became one of the most visible confrontations in the area after neighbors gathered outside Feler’s home, filming and confronting agents.

Agents arrived in unmarked vehicles, jumped a fence surrounding Feler’s home and pursued workers who had been hired through a contractor to renovate the house, witnesses told Block Club at the time. One worker was detained by federal agents, who later deployed tear gas, leaving residents coughing and fleeing back into their homes.

Feler also alleged agents damaged parts of the home while climbing onto balconies and moving through the property.

“They stepped on materials in the garage that we were still using to put up the siding,” Feler said Tuesday. “The CBP officers appeared to have used one of the air conditioning condenser units to jump up onto a balcony, which also caused damage. One officer scaled a fence and used it to jump onto a balcony, damaging both the fence and the railing.”

The lawsuit alleges agents entered areas of the property protected under the Fourth Amendment, including Feler’s private backyard, balcony and detached garage, where the worker was arrested.

“Hiring workers to renovate your house is not an invitation for federal agents to raid it,” Feler said.