Blitz Bureau
Chicago Public Schools said its officials erred when they claimed immigration agents had gone to a school, mistaken information that caused alarm amid fears of a new White House administration, reports NBC News.
The agents who went to Hamline Elementary School were actually with US Secret Service, and not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as district officials initially said. A spokesperson for the Secret Service said they were “investigating a threat to one of our protectees in reference to the recent TikTok ban,” and had gone to a home next to the school, and then to the school itself.
“Secret Service does not investigate or enforce immigration matters,” its spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, said in the statement. The two federal agents were not allowed in the school and left without entering, Chicago Public Schools said. The district said that “officials followed the established protocols to ensure student safety” and contacted Chicago Public Schools’ Law Department and Office of Safety and Security.
“While this was a misunderstanding in terms of the specific branch of DHS, the school’s response demonstrates that our system, in partnership with community organisations, is prepared and ready to keep our students and staff safe,” Chicago Public Schools said.
The mistaken report comes less than a week after President Donald Trump, who campaigned on deporting people who are in the country without authorisation, was inaugurated on January 20.
