On September 12, 2025, 38-year-old Silverio Villegas González was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Illinois. Silverio, a Mexican immigrant and father of two young boys, had just dropped off his children at school and daycare. He was on his way to work when agents in an unmarked vehicle pulled in front of him, got out, and approached both sides of his car.

Moments later, he was dead.

ICE claimed that Silverio tried to flee and dragged an officer “a significant distance,” prompting the agent to open fire. But bodycam footage from Franklin Park police officers, obtained through a public records request, tells a different story. The injured ICE agent, who was treated and released from the hospital the same day, is heard on video calling his injuries “nothing major.” No footage exists of the actual shooting—because the ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras.

This lack of evidence leaves only ICE’s version of events. And yet Silverio, a man with no criminal record beyond minor traffic violations, was shot multiple times and died from his wounds. He was removed from his car, unresponsive, with a bloody neck wound. A medical examiner later ruled his death a homicide. ICE agents say they rendered first aid, but by then it was too late.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has rightly said this incident leaves more questions than answers. A review by the FBI is reportedly underway, but that is not enough. The American public deserves a full, independent investigation into the circumstances of Silverio’s death. That includes the decision not to use body cameras, the use of lethal force during what was described as a civil immigration stop, and whether ICE followed its own protocols. We also need to know if broader failures in federal enforcement contributed to this killing.

Silverio was a father. His children are now without a parent. His family deserves transparency, and our communities deserve accountability. This cannot be another case where the truth is buried behind closed doors.

Add your name to demand a full and independent investigation into the killing of Silverio Villegas González.