A Skokie resident told the Village Board at its Tuesday meeting that while driving in neighboring Evanston, she was intimidated and threatened with arrest by two U.S. Border Patrol agents when she stopped her car to film their actions on her phone.
Kimberly Polka, who has been civically active in Skokie in advocating for voter representation and affordable housing, told the Board during the public comment portion of its meeting Oct. 21 that while she visited a pet store in the 2200 block of Oakton Street in Evanston, she observed individuals she thought were federal immigration officers parked near the Home Depot store.
In a prepared statement to Pioneer Press, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote that U.S. Border Patrol arrested four people from Mexico and Venezuela on Tuesday.
McLaughlin did not disclose the names and charges against or criminal histories of the four people, but said that individuals in the group had prior convictions of domestic battery and larceny.
Evanston Police were aware of two arrests on Tuesday, one of them occurring inside the Home Depot, according to prior reporting.
Polka told the Village Board that the two immigration officers she encountered were also seen in a Facebook post detaining and tackling someone in the Home Depot store that day.
One of the two U.S. Border Patrol agents who accused Skokie resident Kimberly Polka of “impeding” their operations when she video recorded them in Evanston Oct. 21, 2025 is shown. They threatened her with arrest. (Kimberly Polka)
When Polka began to film the agents’ actions Tuesday morning, two agents approached her, in separate interactions, and both threatened to pull her out of her vehicle and arrest her. Individuals have the right to film law enforcement officers in plain view as long as they do not interfere, according to information from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Polka provided a video of the encounter to Pioneer Press, showing two men wearing Border Patrol uniforms accusing her of “impeding” in their operations. Polka followed the agents to the 300 block of Dodge Avenue, near the Levy Senior Center and Dawes Elementary School, where she was pulled over.
The agents did not further identify themselves to her, she said.
One agent, who did not cover his face or head, told Polka if she did not stop violating a specific U.S law, he would place her under arrest.
“Can you show me the ordinance?” Polka can be heard asking the agent.
“I’ll arrest you and take you to jail, and then your lawyer can see it after the fact,” the agent said.
“I have the right to record you,” Polka said.
“You do not have the right to impede a federal agent in the course of their duties,” the agent said. “You’re violating traffic codes, you’re following a federal vehicle.”
Polka later told Pioneer Press that she followed all of the rules of the road, going the speed limit and stopping at stop signs and red lights. She said the agents went over the speed limit in school zones and ran red lights.
A federal Border Patrol agent told Skokie resident Kimberly Polka he would arrest her for following his vehicle and filming. Polka recounted the incident to the Skokie Village Board Oct. 21. (Kimberly Polka)
A second agent, wearing the same uniform as the first agent but also covering his face and wearing a baseball cap, accused Polka of impeding.
“You’re following us, ma’am,” the masked agent said.
“I happen to be going this way,” Polka said. “I took pictures of you (the agents), I wasn’t hiding from you.”
The masked agent said, “If you follow us again, I’m going to pull you out of this vehicle and arrest you.”
After those words, Polka replied, “Okay” and the masked agent turned away and jogged back to his vehicle. The video ended after the exchange, but Polka was not arrested. Polka continued to follow the agents, but after they turned into a industrial part of Skokie by turning left from the right lane, she stopped following them.
Polka said she didn’t want to commit the same traffic violation as the agents had, and that she did not feel safe going into a less populated area compared to when she was following them in residential areas of Evanston.
The unmasked agent accused Polka of violating Title 18 U.S. Code 111. The code is titled, “Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.” The code’s definition is for anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties.”
Section 1114 applies to federal officers and employees, per the code.
DHS did not reply to Pioneer Press’ inquiries on what constitutes an impediment.
Polka told Pioneer Press that she was not impeding in their operations and that throughout the duration of her following the agents she did not honk, blow a whistle or do anything to draw attention to the agents because she was on the phone with a friend. Polka said she was following the agents to hopefully get a chance to document their next arrest.
“I wanted to record it,” Polka said. “I didn’t want somebody else to disappear, and when I saw them (the officers) hiding in the corner of a parking lot watching Home Depot, it was pretty clear to me they were waiting to take somebody while nobody was watching.”
Polka said she did not tailgate the officers so as to avoid a car accident.
Kimberly Polka poses for a photo in the 300 block of Dodge Avenue in Evanston on Oct. 24, 2025. A few days earlier, Polka was pulled over by federal immigration authorities who accused her of impeding in their operations. (Richard Requena/Pioneer Press)
Only after agents pulled her over did other people in Evanston realize federal agents were in the area, she said. When she took the video, whistles could be heard, a growing effort from some immigration activists to warn others that immigration officers are nearby, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
At the Village Board meeting, Polka brought up the incident in part to put pressure on the Village Board to enact “ICE-free zones” as similarly seen in Evanston, Chicago, Cook, Will and Lake Counties. The resolutions passed by those units of government have so far largely been symbolic, as the Illinois Trust Act already prohibits federal immigration officers from using local police resources in civil immigration enforcement.
“My heart is broken,” Polka said. “Skokie, don’t be like Home Depot. Silence is complicity. Do not give these kidnappers places to lay and wait, hiding in the shadows of village-owned property, just waiting to abduct a hardworking member of our community.
“Please make it crystal clear that ICE is not permitted to use our village property in their campaign of cruelty and terror,” Polka said.
Elsewhere in the Chicago area, many incidents of ICE agents arresting people filming or just observing them have been reported. In Oak Park, Attorney Scott Sakiyama was arrested outside Lincoln Elementary by ICE agents and taken to the Broadview federal detention center for allegedly impeding a federal officer, according to the Tribune. Sakiyama told the Tribune the charges are a “complete fabrication.”
In Chicago’s Albany Park, State Rep. Hoan Huynh also said he was intimidated by agents during a rapid response shift. Rapid response volunteers respond and report on agents’ activity in neighborhoods.
Huynh said he was surrounded by six agents, including one who pointed a gun at him, while he was sitting inside his vehicle on the passenger side. He also accused an officer of trying to bash in his car windows. A video he posted shows the agents but not the gun. Huynh said the agent withdrew the gun when his colleague started recording.
