Debunked: Viral Claim About ICE Agents Finding Missing Children in Chicago Warehouse Is False

Social media platforms have been flooded with claims that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rescued seven missing children during a warehouse raid in Chicago in October 2025. The viral posts, which garnered hundreds of thousands of interactions across multiple platforms, also alleged that authorities seized 83 unlicensed weapons during the same operation.

Investigation by fact-checkers has revealed these claims to be entirely false, based on a misrepresentation of actual events that occurred in Memphis, Tennessee.

The unfounded rumor gained significant traction amid President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts, including the deployment of National Guard troops to several U.S. cities, including Chicago. One Facebook post claiming “ICE raided a warehouse in Chicago and found 7 missing children! Why does the left hate this?” received approximately 100,000 combined reactions, comments, and shares.

Despite the widespread circulation, no credible news sources – including conservative-leaning outlets – reported on the alleged Chicago warehouse raid. Had such a significant discovery occurred during an ICE operation, it would have generated substantial coverage from local and national media organizations.

Instead, the viral claims appear to be a distorted version of actual events that took place in Memphis as part of the Trump administration’s “Memphis Safe Task Force,” an initiative aimed at reducing crime in the city. According to local Memphis news outlets, authorities in that city had recovered seven missing children and seized 83 firearms over several days in early October – matching the exact numbers cited in the false Chicago warehouse claims.

By mid-October, the Memphis operation had produced even more significant results, with updated Department of Justice figures reporting 173 seized firearms and 43 recovered children. At no point did reports indicate that ICE agents were involved in these recoveries, nor did they suggest the children were found in a single warehouse location.

The emergence of this misinformation can be traced to TikTok user @benhadthew, who appears to have been the first to post about the alleged Chicago raid on October 8. In videos shared that day, the user claimed authorities found “83 unlicensed firearms” and “seven missing children” – precisely matching the statistics reported by Memphis ABC affiliate ABC24 about the Memphis Safe Task Force just two days earlier.

Additional factors may have contributed to the rumor’s spread. On September 22, the U.S. Marshals Service reported finding a missing New York child “in the company of two adult men in the country illegally” in the Chicago area. Earlier that month, on September 8, Washington D.C.’s ABC affiliate WJLA reported that seven missing children had been rescued during a separate Trump administration crime reduction initiative in the nation’s capital.

The false claims about Chicago came during a period of heightened immigration enforcement activities in the city, with reports of increasingly aggressive tactics by federal agents, including the use of helicopters and chemical agents during operations.

This incident highlights the rapid spread of misinformation across social media platforms, particularly when claims align with existing political narratives. Despite the complete absence of evidence, the rumor spread unchecked across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Truth Social, and X (formerly Twitter), demonstrating how easily false information can be disseminated and accepted as fact.

The White House, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the false claims.