'Pure Evil' ICE Sparks Outrage After 'Accidentally' Hitting 1-Year-Old Girl With Pepper Spray

On Saturday morning, 8 November 2025, Rafael Veraza says he was driving his family, including his one-year-old daughter Arianna Veraza, out of a car park at a branch of Sam's Club in Cicero, Illinois, when an ICE-operated vehicle pulled alongside and sprayed a chemical irritant into the car.

What Happened

Veraza recounted he had rolled down his window; a masked agent in a dark pickup truck pointed a pepper-spray device through the open window and fired at the driver's side, continuing to spray from front to back of the vehicle.

'Basically, I got sprayed all over my face', he said. He later discovered his daughter in the back seat was similarly affected.

'I'm asthmatic', Veraza told reporters. 'So the moment that it hit me, I couldn't breathe. My daughter was trying to open her eyes. She was struggling to breathe.'

The video of the incident, later posted on YouTube, shows an orange-coloured cloud of spray engulfing the parked vehicles, followed by panicked parents wiping their eyes and trying to comfort the child.

In a press conference held the next day, Veraza held his daughter and demanded accountability. 'My daughter didn't have to go through this', he said.

DHS Denials and Operational Context

In response to the allegations, DHS issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) saying, 'DHS law enforcement does not pepper-spray children'. The agency denied the incident occurred in the Sam's Club car park, and claimed the operation was part of a broader law-enforcement response to violent attacks against agents in the area.

According to DHS, the federal operation, labelled Operation Midway Blitz, occurred in and around the Chicago neighbourhood of Little Village, during which agents reportedly came under fire from a black Jeep and had bricks and paint cans thrown at them. Agents then deployed chemical crowd-control measures and eventually entered the Sam's Club parking lot.

A federal judge, Sara Ellis, on 6 November 2025, issued a preliminary injunction restricting the use of tear gas or pepper spray by immigration agents on protesters or bystanders who do not pose an immediate threat. The order cited admissions of misconduct by a senior commander.

Civil-rights advocates say the video appears to show a blatant violation of the injunction and the policies of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) use-of-force directive, which states that pepper spray 'should not be used' on small children, visibly pregnant persons, or drivers of motor vehicles in situations of no threat.

Public Outcry and Community Response

The incident set off a wave of condemnation from community leaders. State senator Celina Villanueva called it 'state-sponsored terrorism'. Chicago congressman Jesús 'Chuy' García warned that efforts to intimidate immigrant communities would only deepen mistrust of federal enforcement.

Footage has circulated widely on social media, with captions like 'This is what ICE does. This is what these terrorists do to babies'.

The case may force a closer look at ICE's tactics. The alleged targeting of a toddler and the apparent disregard for the safety of bystanders, many of whom were US citizens, could expose the agency to lawsuits and greater oversight.

'Operation Midway Blitz' has already resulted in more than 3,000 arrests since it launched two months ago in September 2025, according to DHS materials. However, the same documents report dramatic reductions in crime rates for the city, murders down 16 per cent, shootings down 35 per cent, carjackings down 48 per cent.

People argue that such statistics do not excuse rogue or unrestrained use of force. 'What we witnessed was not enforcement, it was intimidation', Veraza said.

This incident sharpens scrutiny of federal immigration-enforcement methods. Use of chemical irritants has historically been limited to mass-crowd control in riot contexts, not family shopping trips. It also raises serious legal and ethical questions, the alleged use of pepper spray against a one-year-old may violate CBP's own policy and the recent judicial injunction.

For immigrant-heavy communities in Chicago and across the United States, this episode underscores the chilling effect of enforcement operations that seem indiscriminate. What may have been billed as crime-fighting becomes, for many residents, an assault on daily life.

The questions now centre on accountability. Will DHS launch a full investigation? Will the agents responsible be identified and disciplined? Will there be reparations for the family?

For the toddler, Arianna, and thousands of families watching, the answer cannot come soon enough.