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Authorities announced Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers did not target a Chicago daycare but were pursuing an illegal immigrant who fled into the building after multiple reports claimed a viral video shows a teacher being dragged outside.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said ICE officers arrested Colombian national Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano previously released at the border under the Biden administration in 2023 after she fled into the vestibule of a building following an attempted traffic stop Wednesday morning.

While the arrest drew public criticism, authorities said it did not occur inside the daycare itself and denounced Santillana Galeano for allegedly "recklessly endangering children" by entering the building.

The video shows two officers forcibly restraining Santillana Galeano as she screamed and struggled during her arrest outside Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center Rayito de Sol. Other apparent daycare employees could be seen trying to get to her after she was placed in an ICE vehicle, with one holding a small child.

Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill, said Santillana Galeano was a preschool teacher and was legally authorized to work in the country.

"ICE isn't going after the worst of the worst. This morning, they took a preschool teacher without a warrant IN FRONT OF CHILDREN in my district," he said in a post on X.

DHS has since condemned Quigley's claims as "deliberately misrepresenting the facts" and said similar reports have been "inaccurate and false."

"Work authorization does NOT confer any type of legal status to be in the U.S." the agency said. "The illegal alien's work authorization was approved by the Biden administration, which exploited this loophole to help facilitate the invasion of our country."

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