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.
Any vacant property should be considered a liability and the landlord should be charged with negligence and endangering the community. If a landlord can’t get enough tenants to occupy their property, and report on ongoing conditions, then they should be required to hire full-time (40 hrs/week) human community members to monitor and occupy a reasonable number of units, while providing daily reports on ongoing conditions.
Waived rent and utility costs would be an acceptable form of payment.