The family of a Mexican father fatally shot by an ICE officer in a Chicago suburb last year took the first steps in a lawsuit against the federal government over misconduct they say led to his unlawful killing, according to the legal team representing the man’s estate.
Silverio Villegas González, 38, died during a traffic stop on the morning of Sept. 12, 2025, just after he had dropped off his 8-year-old son at school and his 4-year-old son at daycare. The ICE officers who pulled Villegas over and eventually killed him were conducting immigration arrests as part of the enforcement surge in Chicago known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The MacArthur Justice Center filed a complaint under the Federal Tort Claims Act on Thursday on behalf of Villegas’ estate.
The complaint, which was obtained by NBC News, cites the medical examiner’s findings that the ICE officer was standing alongside and not in front of Villegas’ car, thus shooting him downward into his neck. According to the claim, this resulted in the officer “effectively executing Silverio at close range” and killing him “unjustifiably, unnecessarily, and contrary to DHS policy.”
“There’s been zero accountability. It’s shocking. It’s been more than a year, and we don’t even know the name of an ICE officer who killed a person on our streets. This is not normal,” Jonathan Manes, senior counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, told NBC News. “So, we’re bringing this claim to demand accountability.”
Though federal agents cannot be directly sued, the FTCA claim allows private citizens to sue the federal government and seek damages. The claim is the first formal step before filing a federal lawsuit in the upcoming months against the U.S. over Villegas’ death, Manes said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment about the claims filed by Villegas’ family on Thursday.
At the time of Villegas’ fatal shooting, DHS said Villegas resisted arrest and attempted to flee — injuring the agent, who “fearing for his own life,” opened fire. The ICE officers involved were not wearing body cameras and no video evidence that emerged at the time showed the actual shooting or the ICE agent being dragged and injured.
Eventually, a combination of surveillance video from nearby businesses and body cameras from local police officers who responded to the shooting showed that two ICE officers approached Villegas’ car and leaned on his window frames. The videos show Villegas reversed about 50 feet and began to drive away into the open traffic lane. As one agent chased the vehicle, gunshots were heard before Villegas’ car was seen crashing into a parked delivery truck.
Based on the evidence from the medical examiner’s report and an investigation from the Illinois Accountability Commission, the officer who fatally shot Villegas “was standing alongside the vehicle. He wasn’t in the vehicle’s path, and Silverio was just trying to drive away,” Manes said.
“Whatever you think about driving away from a traffic stop, it does not allow an American police officer or immigration officer to shoot and kill a person. That is clear,” Manes said, adding that this is even contrary to DHS’ policy.
DHS policy states that deadly force should not be used against someone whose actions are only a threat to themselves or property. This does not apply if the person poses an “imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer” or anyone else, according to a 2023 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The policy also states that “firearms shall not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles.”
Under new internal guidance, ICE officers have been ordered not to engage in high-speed car chases and to make vehicle stops only if they have completed specific agency training courses.
Both the family of Renee Good, who was fatally shot in her car by an ICE officer during “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis in January, and Marimar Martinez, who survived being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago while driving, have recently sued the federal government seeking damages months after initially filing similar FTCA claims.
