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CHICAGO — <\/span>The family of a man shot dead by an immigration enforcement agent in the Chicago area last year moved to sue the government on Thursday for a shooting they allege was unlawful and could have been prevented, according to attorneys for the family. <\/p>\n Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for 18 years, was fatally shot last fall by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who stopped his car during \u201cOperation Midway Blitz,\u201d the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago. <\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security initially said the agent was dragged by Villegas Gonzalez’ vehicle and then shot Villegas Gonzalez in self-defense. A coroner\u2019s report determined Villegas Gonzalez was shot from behind, at close range.<\/p>\n \u201cThis horrific shooting was unlawful and wholly preventable,\u201d attorneys wrote in the claim.<\/p>\n The claim seeks compensation and gives the federal government six months to respond before a lawsuit can be filed. It comes days after lawyers filed a lawsuit against DHS on behalf of Marimar Martinez, who survived being shot five times in her car by an immigration agent in Chicago, less than a month after Villegas Gonzalez’ death. An independent analysis of the shooting found the agent<\/a> fired at her from behind, contradicting his statements to the FBI that he feared Martinez would drive into him, according to her lawyers.<\/p>\n Federal law does not allow for lawsuits against individual agents.<\/p>\n Jonathan Manes, an attorney for Villegas Gonzalez\u2019 family, declined to share the amount of compensation they are seeking, but told The Associated Press they plan to ask the judge for a \u201cvery large amount of damages at trial.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe way that the administration has reflexively sought to smear Silverio and call it justified doesn\u2019t suggest to us that they\u2019ll be willing to settle,\u201d Manes said. \u201cWe expect that, in six months’ time, we\u2019ll be in federal court where the government has to answer for this, where the truth can come out.\u201d<\/p>\n Illinois State Police announced<\/a> an investigation into the shooting in May.<\/p>\n Villegas Gonzalez, a line cook at a local diner, had just dropped off his two young sons at school and daycare on the morning of Sept. 12, 2025, in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, when ICE agents pulled their Jeep in front of his car, according to the claim.<\/p>\n As the two agents stood on either side of his car, leaning on the window frames, Villegas Gonzalez reversed about 50 feet (15.24 meters) and started to drive away into the open traffic lane. Surveillance video captured the sound of gunshots as one agent chased the car, which crashed into a parked delivery truck. The truck driver called 911, and Villegas Gonzalez was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later.<\/p>\n A medical examiner found that Villegas Gonzalez was shot downward, through the back of his neck. \u201cThe ICE officer was therefore standing alongside the driver\u2019s side of Silverio\u2019s vehicle when he fired the fatal shot, effectively executing Silverio at close range,\u201d attorneys wrote in the complaint.<\/p>\n Immediately after the shooting, DHS said in a news release that Villegas Gonzalez was in the U.S. illegally and had dragged the agent with his car as he tried to flee. The release said the agent was seriously injured and \u201cfearing for his life.”<\/p>\n The agent told police who responded to the shooting that his injuries were \u201cnothing major,\u201d according to police body-worn camera footage<\/a> previously obtained by the AP.<\/p>\n Attorneys wrote in the claim that the agent was not in the path of the vehicle, and chose to hold onto the windows.<\/p>\n Villegas Gonzalez had \u201cno criminal record and only a few minor traffic violations,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n DHS has not identified the agent. Neither of the ICE agents were wearing body-worn cameras when Villegas Gonzalez was shot. The Department did not respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear if DHS had received the claim.<\/p>\n Martinez and Villegas Gonzalez are among a growing number<\/a> of people shot in their cars by federal agents across the country amid the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement sweeps. DHS has characterized the shootings as self-defense against people using their vehicles as weapons.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n