Immigration news in Chicago

Hammond City Hall is located at Calumet Avenue and Highland Street. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune)

Hammond council urged to protect residents targeted by ICE

By Jim Masters

October 27, 2026 at 3:55 p.m.

Federal immigration enforcement agents are arresting people on the streets of Northwest Indiana and their...

FILE – A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

Documents support claim ICE has detained a mentally ill US citizen since January, AP investigation shows

By Ryan J. Foley

October 27, 2026 at 8:32 a.m.

For nearly a year, immigration authorities have detained and sought to deport a mentally ill...

An Aztec dance group will be among the highlights of the Dia de los Muertos Festival on Nov. 1 in Oak Park. “I think the community is ready to celebrate again," said organizer Alma Martinez. "The community is asking to get together to honor our ancestors.” (Daveed Holmes, Aperture Photography)

Oak Park Dia de los Muertos Festival returns a year after being canceled by immigration enforcement fears

By Myrna Petlicki

October 26, 2026 at 2:07 p.m.

Public ofrendas are returning to Oak Park for a Dia de los Muertos Festival that...

Carol Stream police say ICE agents appeared during traffic stop

By Caroline Kubzansky

September 11, 2026 at 3:47 p.m.

Carol Stream police were in the middle of a traffic stop Thursday morning when federal...

Court briefs: Daughter of couple taken by ICE pleads guilty to obstruction

By Meredith Colias-Pete

September 9, 2026 at 7:15 p.m.

Sarai Carrillo, 25, signed a plea deal filed Aug. 25 in the U.S. District Court...

FILE – President Donald Trump greets El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, left, at the Shield of the Americas Summit, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Temporary protections for about 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants are in limbo as deadline nears

By Gisela Salomon

September 9, 2026 at 10:51 a.m.

Temporary legal protections for about 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador was in limbo Wednesday as...

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, left, listens as Matthew D. Wilson, Senior Associate Director of University of Illinois’ Great Cities Institute, speaks during a press conference, Sept. 8, 2026, about a newly released report examining how heightened federal immigration enforcement changed commerce activity across Cook County. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Latin American-born residents ‘hunkering down’ before and during Midway Blitz cost economy $1.26B, report says

By A.D. Quig

September 8, 2026 at 5:02 p.m.

Latin American-born Cook County residents’ spending cratered as they stayed in their homes during Midway...

Karla Leon stands in front of a mural about immigrants obtaining access to higher education on the UIC Latino Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Chicago campus, Aug. 31, 2026. Leon is an undocumented senior at UIC majoring in accounting. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

‘Knowledge is free’: Students without permanent legal status navigate Illinois in-state tuition changes

By Kate Perez

September 8, 2026 at 11:41 a.m.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights estimates that 7,000 to 10,000 students across...

A tamale vendor sets up a stand at the intersection of South Archer Avenue and South Pulaski Road in the Archer Heights neighborhood on Aug. 28, 2026. This is the intersection where Leodegario Martínez Barradas, a flower vendor, was the first person detained in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Operation Midway Blitz, one year later: A changed Chicago forges on after the resistance

By Andrew Carter

September 6, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

For 64 days, the federal government carried out a militarized immigration enforcement operation under the...

Nury Ortega hugs Bianca Soto, 9, before practicing with members of her Atl-Ehecatl dance group in the Little Village neighborhood on Aug. 31, 2026. Ortega’s partner, Oscar Burciaga, was detained by federal agents in December while working at a construction site. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Nury Ortega’s partner was taken, then deported. Now she helps other families through dance and support.

By Laura Rodríguez Presa

September 6, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Nury Ortega’s partner, Oscar Burciaga, was arrested by federal immigration agents, along with four of...

Rafael Veraza holds his 1-year-old daughter, Arianna Sofia Veraza, next to his wife, Evelin Herrera, on Nov. 9, 2025, in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. The family was planning to shop at a Sam’s Club in Cicero when their vehicle was pepper-sprayed by federal agents. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

The Veraza family heard fireworks, flash bangs and blaring horns. Then a crying baby.

By Caroline Kubzansky

September 6, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Verazas had been headed to pick up diapers and eggs and milk when they...

Memorials to honor Silverio Villegas González, who was fatally shot in 2025 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Franklin Park, are seen on May 6, 2026. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)

Family of Silverio Villegas González obtains attorney to begin legal process in adopting his children

By Laura Rodríguez Presa

September 6, 2026 at 6:46 a.m.

The family of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, who was killed by an ICE agent during Midway...

People watch as dancers from Ballet Folklórico Nacional de Chicago perform in the 25th annual Pilsen Mexican Independence Day Parade on West 18th Street, Sept. 5, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)

Pilsen turns out for Mexican Independence Day parade as immigration fears linger

By Lila Hempel-Edgers

September 5, 2026 at 5:34 p.m.

Crowds flocked to Pilsen for the 25th annual Mexican Independence Day Parade on Saturday, a...