The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments.”

For months, the Trump administration has justified its dramatic midnight raid on a Chicago apartment complex by saying that it had intelligence that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But officials have provided no evidence to back up the claim.

Now, new documents confirm in the government’s own words that what prompted the raid was more pedestrian: allegations that immigrants were squatting in the complex. And the landlord had given federal officials, who were already targeting immigrants in Chicago, the blessing to search the building.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260206123130/https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-raid-landlord-tren-de-aragua

  • WHARRGARBL@lemmy.world
    8·
    2 days ago

    My first thought, too. Then I looked at this Trinity Flood, who is either a person (unlikely) or a property developer/investment company. That’s a murky fucking pit. It has a history of not paying on loans and declaring bankruptcy - the trump model of business. Is it a shell company?

    Meanwhile, Corey Oliver, the property manager, has been in cahoots with a PAC that appears to be bribing Chicago aldermen. It’s all a giant shitshow of corruption and sleazy business dealings.

    • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
      4·
      2 days ago

      So, SOP for Chicago?

      In all seriousness, I remember Adam Davidson saying that he was looking into the Trump real estate shenanigans with the Russian oligarchs. When he talked to a prosecutor about why the obvious corruption wasn’t being pursued the response was that basically all major construction in every American city was at least partially a vehicle for money laundering. I would be truly stunned if that criminality didn’t flow into the landlord business.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      2 days ago

      Wasn’t the owner of the building underwater on it and it all needed asbestos remediation and after the raid it became an insurance write off. That’s what I have heard anyway.

      • WHARRGARBL@lemmy.world
        4·
        2 days ago

        I didn’t see anything that specifically mentioned asbestos, but yes to being underwater, which can be advantageous in shady property developments. Trinity Flood seems to have a long history of slumlord behavior in its Illinois, Georgia, and Arizona properties, and while the insurance angle isn’t apparent, there’s certainly a pattern resembling exploitation and scammy business practices.