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

  • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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    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
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      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.