Two of the Concordia Cemetery workers who were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last October joined a nationwide effort by the American Civil Liberties Union to hold the U.S. Department of Homeland Security accountable.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported last week that the two Forest Park cemetery workers had joined 54 other individuals nationwide who are filing claims against the federal government through the ACLU.
According to the complaints found by the Chicago Sun Times, Darren Eichler and Daniel Greer, along with the other two employees arrested that day, were working when they spotted ICE agents pursuing a man who was in the adjacent Des Plaines River. The four men told immigration officers to leave and to stop harassing people.
That is when the agents approached the men and demanded to be let into the cemetery. However, when the workers refused to let them in, immigration officers bolt-cut the lock, pepper-sprayed and tackled them to the ground, Eichler told WGN9 in October.
Once the men were in the hands of ICE agents, they were detained with zip ties for hours. After that, three of the workers were taken to a Homeland Security Investigations facility in Lombard; the other was taken to the hospital.
While detained, Eichler began complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath when he reportedly demanded to be taken to a hospital multiple times. It wasn’t until an hour later that agents took him to nearby Rush Oak Park Hospital. Greer experienced chemical burns on his face, but was never offered medical help, according to the complaints reported in the Sun-Times.
Eichler and Greer, both U.S. citizens, allege they were maced and wrongly arrested by immigration agents. They filed their claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act in March; this allows people to seek financial compensation for federal government employees’ wrongdoings.
The two men join 54 other individuals who are filing claims against the federal government with the ACLU.
Emma Bradford is an intern for NEWSWELL CHICAGO through Report for America’s Local News Internship Program.