Lakeview Homeowner Sues Federal Agents Over Warrantless Immigration Raid at His Home

A Lakeview homeowner has sued the federal government over an October raid at his property, arguing that Customs and Border Protection agents had no legal right to enter his land, chase construction workers through his yard and use tear gas on neighbors who came outside to ask what was happening.

Leo Feler and his attorneys announced the lawsuit Tuesday outside his home in the 3300 block of North Lakewood Avenue, the same property where the raid happened on Oct. 24. The suit, filed in federal court, alleges agents violated Feler's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure by entering and searching his property without a warrant while pursuing four subcontractors who were installing windows and siding on his house. The operation was part of Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration's immigration enforcement campaign in Chicago.

Feler was in Toronto running a marathon when the raid happened. He watched it unfold in real time after his Ring cameras were triggered by a doorbell press from one of the workers. Footage shows masked, armed agents jumping his fence, climbing onto a balcony and grabbing for a worker who had scrambled through a window opening to get inside the house. Feler's tenant can be heard on the recording asking the agents for a judicial warrant and telling them to leave. Feler said he also spoke to the agents through the camera's loudspeaker, demanding they get off his property.

"At no point did they show a warrant or even identify who they were," Feler said.

Of the four workers on site, agents detained one. He was later ordered released by a federal judge. Before withdrawing, agents deployed tear gas on neighbors who had gathered near the scene.

When Feler got home later that day, he said the house looked like a crime scene. One of the workers had apparently cut himself while running through the site, and blood had splattered across walls and the ceiling. Feler said he couldn't sleep and spent the night cleaning the blood himself before bringing his dog back inside.

Feler and his neighbors raised roughly $25,000 to pay for the detained worker's legal representation, and Feler covered the worker's medical costs since he was injured during the raid. In the months since, Feler canceled travel plans, delayed the construction project and said he has hesitated to bring workers back to finish the job, worried that another raid could happen.

Dylan Moore, an attorney with the Institute for Justice representing Feler, said the case is not an argument against immigration enforcement itself.

"This isn't really a case about whether the government can enforce immigration law," Moore said. "It's a case about whether they have to follow the Constitution when they do."

Moore said suits like this one are rare because it has become difficult to hold federal agents personally accountable for alleged constitutional violations in court. Most plaintiffs are instead limited to the Federal Tort Claims Act, which lets people sue the federal government for the actions of its employees but requires months of administrative review before a lawsuit can move forward. Feler's legal team filed claims with Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security late last year. ICE responded only to confirm the agents involved were Border Patrol personnel. Border Patrol and DHS never responded. After the required six-month waiting period passed, the lawsuit was filed Tuesday.

"There has to be some way to get a court to say this shouldn't have happened," Moore said. "It was unconstitutional, and you're entitled to a judgment in your favor."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the federal government and the individual agents involved, along with a court declaration that the raid was unconstitutional. Moore said the property damage from the raid ran into the tens of thousands of dollars.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson responded to the lawsuit with a written statement defending the agency's conduct. "Enforcing immigration law is the mission of the Department of Homeland Security and is essential to protecting America's national security, public safety, and economic strength," the statement read, adding that operations are "conducted within the authority granted to immigration officers under Title 8" and that officers "act in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and other applicable laws when investigating immigration status and making arrests."

Feler said he weighed whether to take on the federal government publicly before deciding he had an obligation to.

"The easy thing to do in life is to sit back, relax, drink wine, have fun with friends, not bring a lawsuit against the government," Feler said. "But it seems lazy not to seek accountability, especially given that I have the privilege to be able to do this."

He said he hopes the case sets boundaries on how federal immigration agents can operate in residential neighborhoods going forward. "If anyone should be doing this, it should be me," he said. "If I weren't doing it, how can I expect others to stand up for what our country stands for?"

The federal government now has 90 days to respond to the lawsuit or ask a judge to dismiss it.