chicago.suntimes.com
After six months in ICE detention, a Chicago tamale vendor rebuilds her life
<p>Through the window of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle as it pulled away last September, Laura Murillo could see her tamale stand near the busy Home Depot on 47th Street and Western Avenue. A folding table held coolers, containers and supplies beneath a striped umbrella next to her silver minivan. Only minutes earlier, Murillo, an immigrant from Mexico, had been waiting for her customers.</p><p>The night before her arrest, Murillo had made the tamales in the kitchen of a brick building she rented on the Southeast Side. Before sunrise, she and a worker packed them into her van and she drove to set up her stand.</p><p>For years, Murillo arranged much of her life around this routine. The tamale business allowed the mother of two to care for herself, support her daughters and offer work to other women. While it was grueling work, it was central to how Murillo understood herself: as an independent provider, a business owner and someone others could depend on.</p><p>“Everything was work,” Murillo says now in Spanish, speaking with the confidence of someone accustomed to running things on her own. “It was happiness.”</p><p>But the 55-year-old is now questioning the life she had built around constant work. She <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/09/27/tamale-vendor-arrested-back-of-the-yards-ice-immigration" target="_blank" ><u>was arrested</u></a> during last fall’s aggressive Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign and spent six months in federal immigration detention.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-ba0000" name="image-ba0000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/113d67b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1418x796+0+135/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F15%2Fa8%2Fc0d08710479d90e4408e4ae50607%2Fscreenshot-2025-09-27-at-3-29-44-pm.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bc559c2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1418x796+0+135/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F15%2Fa8%2Fc0d08710479d90e4408e4ae50607%2Fscreenshot-2025-09-27-at-3-29-44-pm.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/80a05df/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1418x796+0+135/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F15%2Fa8%2Fc0d08710479d90e4408e4ae50607%2Fscreenshot-2025-09-27-at-3-29-44-pm.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="A cell phone photo image of Laura Murillo’s tamale stand after she was arrested by immigration agents in September 2025." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/80a05df/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1418x796+0+135/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F15%2Fa8%2Fc0d08710479d90e4408e4ae50607%2Fscreenshot-2025-09-27-at-3-29-44-pm.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1bdc8e0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1418x796+0+135/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F15%2Fa8%2Fc0d08710479d90e4408e4ae50607%2Fscreenshot-2025-09-27-at-3-29-44-pm.png 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/80a05df/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1418x796+0+135/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F15%2Fa8%2Fc0d08710479d90e4408e4ae50607%2Fscreenshot-2025-09-27-at-3-29-44-pm.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>A cell phone photo image of Laura Murillo’s tamale stand after she was arrested by immigration agents in September 2025.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Provided</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Murillo returned to Chicago in March, among the small number of immigrants who have been released as a result of a court order rather than deported. She says she’s in the process of obtaining legal status.</p><p>In the meantime, Murillo is making more room for her daughters and accepting their growing independence. And she’s trying to rebuild a new identity around a newfound appreciation for her city, a slower pace of life, her faith and the people she loves.</p><p>“My life is different now. I take it day by day,” Murillo says.</p><h3>The work of caring</h3><p>Murillo first arrived in Chicago in 2005 from Tamaulipas, Mexico, with her then-partner, expecting to stay only a few years. Instead, they found work, raised their daughters, Génesis, now 20, and Daniela, 17, and built a life in the city.</p><p>The young mother first worked in factories before learning the tamale business.</p><p>In 2013, her close friend Gina Otamendi had separated from her husband and was raising four young children when she came to Murillo looking for work.</p><p>Murillo hired her, taught her to make and sell tamales and arranged her hours around her children’s school schedules — giving Otamendi the flexibility she needed as a single mother.</p><p>“She let me leave to feed my children and take them to school because I had to work to pay for everything they needed,” Otamendi says in Spanish. “She gave me food. She always helped me.”</p><p>Otamendi, 50, remembers long hours of making tamales, but also music and laughter. The women competed to see who could make the most tamales in an hour. They sang and danced while they worked.</p><p>“[It was] a very beautiful friendship,” Otamendi says.</p><p>Years later, Otamendi would help Murillo’s daughters while their mother was in detention.</p><p>Otamendi checked on Génesis and Daniela, brought groceries and arranged meals.</p><p>She also connected the family with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, an immigrant workers’ rights organization where they found an attorney who took Murillo’s case.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-bb0000" name="image-bb0000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/eed618f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F89%2Fad%2F7ed681414823b228f24216815b35%2Ftamalevendor-2608160082.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b64178a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F89%2Fad%2F7ed681414823b228f24216815b35%2Ftamalevendor-2608160082.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b911165/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F89%2Fad%2F7ed681414823b228f24216815b35%2Ftamalevendor-2608160082.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Laura Murillo and Gina Otamendi stand in front of Murillo's old tamale stand." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b911165/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F89%2Fad%2F7ed681414823b228f24216815b35%2Ftamalevendor-2608160082.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9aaef4e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F89%2Fad%2F7ed681414823b228f24216815b35%2Ftamalevendor-2608160082.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b911165/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F89%2Fad%2F7ed681414823b228f24216815b35%2Ftamalevendor-2608160082.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Laura Murillo (left) and Georgina Otamendi (right) have helped each other through difficult times, first when Otamendi needed work to support her kids 13 years ago, and in the past year when Murillo was in immigration detention.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Manuel Martinez/WBEZ</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Génesis took on more work to pay the bills while attending college. She also became the main point of contact with the attorney handling her mom’s case.</p><p>“Currently, I am a full-time college student doing my best to keep everything together, but my salary cannot cover all the sudden legal and household expenses we are facing,” Génesis wrote on a GoFundMe page in September 2025.</p><p>“I would talk with her,” Otamendi says. “And the poor girl would become desperate and say, ‘Gina, how am I going to do this?’”</p><p>Daniela, whom Murillo describes as having special needs, learned to wash dishes, take out the trash and handle more of her own personal care.</p><p>The community stepped in, too. The morning after Murillo was detained, neighbors and organizers <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/09/27/tamale-vendor-arrested-back-of-the-yards-ice-immigration" target="_blank" ><u>took over her usual spot</u></a>, selling more than 300 of her tamales in about an hour to raise money for her family.</p><h3>Inside detention</h3><p>Murillo was nearly 1,500 miles away at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Tx.</p><p>She met women in detention whose lives outside were beginning to fall away.</p><p>There were older women whose husbands had stopped answering their calls. Some said their children no longer sent money. There were mothers separated from their families, a woman who walked with a cane and another who used a wheelchair.</p><p>One woman, Murillo recalled, had been arrested while watering the yard outside her home.</p><p>“What crimes did they supposedly commit?” Murillo still asks. “They were at their homes.”</p><p>Immigration officers twice asked Murillo to sign voluntary departure papers, but she refused and waited while her attorneys challenged her detention.</p><p>Other women eventually signed, she says, because they had become desperate and no longer believed anyone was coming for them.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-b10000" name="image-b10000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bd9d912/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+158/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2Faf%2F67c49edd43aebcd7bd0a91ef725b%2Fimmigration-detention-conditions.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b79f1b3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+158/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2Faf%2F67c49edd43aebcd7bd0a91ef725b%2Fimmigration-detention-conditions.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2bf37c9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+158/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2Faf%2F67c49edd43aebcd7bd0a91ef725b%2Fimmigration-detention-conditions.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="A sign marks the entrance to a series of hardened tents at the Camp East Montana immigrant detention center in the desert at a U.S. Army base on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2bf37c9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+158/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2Faf%2F67c49edd43aebcd7bd0a91ef725b%2Fimmigration-detention-conditions.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fa52a66/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+158/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2Faf%2F67c49edd43aebcd7bd0a91ef725b%2Fimmigration-detention-conditions.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2bf37c9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+158/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2Faf%2F67c49edd43aebcd7bd0a91ef725b%2Fimmigration-detention-conditions.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Murillo was held at the Camp East Montana immigrant detention center, housed at a U.S. Army base on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas. The facility includes a series of hardened tents in the desert.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Morgan Lee/AP</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Murillo lost 36 pounds during her six months there. She says her faith helped her endure the uncertainty and what she describes as psychological abuse from the guards. A woman from a nearby Catholic shelter visited and read passages from the bible.</p><p>Guards, meanwhile, often reminded the women how little control they had, she says.</p><p>When Murillo asked what time it was, she says they questioned why she needed to know. When she wanted clean socks, she says one told her, “What for? You’re not getting out.”</p><p>Unable to fill the role she had long held at home, Murillo could only speak to her daughters over the phone.</p><p>“What I missed most were my daughters’ little faces,” Murillo says.</p><p>“When they lock you up, you lose control. [My daughters] weren’t calling me anymore to ask me things or ask permission. My daughters were doing things on their own.”</p><p>By last spring, she didn’t have much hope that she would be released. But in late March, the federal government unexpectedly released Murillo after acknowledging that her arrest had violated the <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/02/27/judge-orders-32-detainees-released-over-ice-consent-decree-violations-unclear-how-many-still-in-custody" target="_blank" ><u>Castañón Nava consent decree</u></a>, a 2022 federal court settlement that limited immigration arrests without warrants.</p><p>Upon her release, officers took Murillo to a Catholic shelter in El Paso, where she spent the weekend. Murillo said it took time to understand that she was free. She initially remained inside the shelter until a woman there reminded her that she was allowed to leave. Murillo went for a walk and attended Mass the following morning.</p><p>Her daughters had planned to visit her in detention, and they decided to make the trip anyway to bring their mother home. They arrived that Sunday and flew back with her to Chicago.</p><p>“You know how, in movies, people come out of some ordeal, arrive home and kiss the ground? I almost wanted to do that,” Murillo says. “I swear to you, I truly experienced it that way.”</p><h3>A different life in Chicago</h3><p>Back home, Murillo does not want to rebuild the same life, but she knows she still needs — and wants — to work.</p><p>She has considered opening a small tamalería without the demanding schedule she once kept. Murillo holds out her hands, showing the rheumatoid arthritis she says she has from repeatedly moving between heat and cold while cooking and selling tamales through Chicago winters.</p><p>“I no longer see life as killing myself trying to achieve things,” Murillo says. “Not anymore.”</p><p>Murillo's reluctance to return to her old pace and routine mirrors a similar withdrawal by other street vendors.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-d20000" name="image-d20000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/635007e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7969x4472+0+421/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe7%2F62%2Fb97af8c442e98e860b748ee1ec94%2Ftamalevendor-2608110056.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a39822e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7969x4472+0+421/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe7%2F62%2Fb97af8c442e98e860b748ee1ec94%2Ftamalevendor-2608110056.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/821acb8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7969x4472+0+421/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe7%2F62%2Fb97af8c442e98e860b748ee1ec94%2Ftamalevendor-2608110056.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Juan Gama, vice president of the Street Vendors Association, and Maria Ochoa, treasurer, stand outside their headquarters." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/821acb8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7969x4472+0+421/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe7%2F62%2Fb97af8c442e98e860b748ee1ec94%2Ftamalevendor-2608110056.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1d68adf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7969x4472+0+421/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe7%2F62%2Fb97af8c442e98e860b748ee1ec94%2Ftamalevendor-2608110056.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/821acb8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7969x4472+0+421/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe7%2F62%2Fb97af8c442e98e860b748ee1ec94%2Ftamalevendor-2608110056.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Juan Gama, vice president of the Street Vendors Association of Chicago, and Maria Ochoa, treasurer, have been checking on vendors who have lingering fears as many vendors continue to be targeted for deportation.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Manuel Martinez/WBEZ</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Nearly a year after Operation Midway Blitz began, leaders of the Street Vendors Association of Chicago said fear continues to determine when — and if — vendors go out to sell.</p><p>Vendors who continue working still risk immigration enforcement, even as <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2026/07/10/ice-arrests-increase-chicago-tactics-less-publicized-midway-blitz-back-yards-gage-brighton-park" target="_blank" ><u>ICE agents have carried out arrests more quietly</u></a> than during the height of President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign. Association leaders also said local police officers have increasingly scrutinized street vendors for selling without licenses or in prohibited areas.</p><p>Murillo says she’s in the process of obtaining legal status. She was not comfortable sharing specifics because of her recent detention. Her partner helps with the rent. Génesis started paying for her own phone and internet.</p><p>Murillo is proud of her daughters, though she says it was difficult accepting they had learned to manage much more on their own.</p><p>“I struggle with it a little bit,” Murillo says. “It’s like they don’t need me anymore.”</p><p>Murillo is spending more time with them, including trips to the park and the movies. For years, work came first. “Wait until tomorrow, wait until tomorrow,” she recalls telling them when they wanted to hang out.</p><p>After long defining independence as being able to care for herself and others without asking anyone for help, Murillo now understands how many people had stepped in while she was gone — bringing food, offering money, advice and helping her daughters navigate the months without her.</p><p>“Mami, you have no idea how much people love you,” Murillo recalls Génesis telling her. “You can’t even imagine.”</p><bsp-list-loadmore data-module class="PageListD" data-hide-authors="true" data-hide-categories="true" data-hide-dates="true" data-hide-descriptions="true" data-hide-reading-time="true" ><a class="AnchorLink" id="list-ef0000" name="list-ef0000"></a><bsp-listcarousel data-column-count=4 data-mobile-carousel="false"> <div class="PageList-header" > <div class="PageList-header-title-wrap" > <div class="PageList-header-title"> Deportations From Chicago </div> </div> </div> <div class="PageListD-items" data-list-loadmore-items> <div class="PageListD-items-item"> <div class="PagePromoB"data-align-top> <div class="PagePromo-media"><a class="Link" aria-label="Chaotic, crowded Chicago immigration mega court hearings are fueling record deportation orders" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/07/24/chaotic-crowded-chicago-immigration-mega-court-hearings-are-fueling-record-deportation-orders" ><picture data-crop="medium-4x3"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="328" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/feb1491/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7123x4768+25+0/resize/490x328!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F87%2Ff4%2F2ce036ee453d86989b8aa5a0cc85%2Fwatchmegamasters-260726-004.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="328" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fa0dcb5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7123x4768+25+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F87%2Ff4%2F2ce036ee453d86989b8aa5a0cc85%2Fwatchmegamasters-260726-004.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="A family joins others heading into Chicago's immigration court building in the Loop on Wednesday" width="490" height="328" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fa0dcb5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7123x4768+25+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F87%2Ff4%2F2ce036ee453d86989b8aa5a0cc85%2Fwatchmegamasters-260726-004.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> </a></div> <div class="PagePromoB-content"> <div class="PagePromo-category"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs" >The Watchdogs</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-title"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/07/24/chaotic-crowded-chicago-immigration-mega-court-hearings-are-fueling-record-deportation-orders" >Chaotic, crowded Chicago immigration mega court hearings are fueling record deportation orders</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-byline"><div class="PagePromo-date"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1784889000000 data-promo="true"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class="dot"></span></div> <div class="PagePromo-author"> <span>By </span><strong><span class="Link">Adriana Cardona-Maguigad </span></strong> and <strong><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/authors/lauren-fitzpatrick" >Lauren FitzPatrick </a></strong> </div> <div class="PagePromo-readingTime"> <span class="dot-divider"></span> <svg class="PagePromo-readingTime-icon"> <use xlink:href="#icon-clock-reading"></use> </svg> <span class="PagePromo-readingTime-text"> <bsp-time-to-read data-article-word-count="2077"></bsp-time-to-read> read </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="PageListD-items-item"> <div class="PagePromoB"data-align-top> <div class="PagePromo-media"><a class="Link" aria-label="A dissident family fled Russia after their home was set on fire. Trump's administration wants to deport them." href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/07/10/asylum-russia-ukraine-war-tiulenev-immigration" ><picture data-crop="medium-4x3"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="328" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2b6e969/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5802x3884+12+0/resize/490x328!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F38%2F9e%2F8450a3224c8983f4d37f4ae88140%2Frussia-260705-14.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="328" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/74a67b2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5802x3884+12+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F38%2F9e%2F8450a3224c8983f4d37f4ae88140%2Frussia-260705-14.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Dmitrii and Yelena Tiulenev sit at the dining room table in their home in the Chicago Suburbs on Thursday, June 18, 2026. | Giacomo Cain/For the Sun-Times" width="490" height="328" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/74a67b2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5802x3884+12+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F38%2F9e%2F8450a3224c8983f4d37f4ae88140%2Frussia-260705-14.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> </a></div> <div class="PagePromoB-content"> <div class="PagePromo-category"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration" >Immigration</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-title"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/07/10/asylum-russia-ukraine-war-tiulenev-immigration" >A dissident family fled Russia after their home was set on fire. Trump's administration wants to deport them.</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-byline"><div class="PagePromo-date"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1783714740000 data-promo="true"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class="dot"></span></div> <div class="PagePromo-author"> <span>By </span><strong><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/alma-campos" >Alma Campos </a></strong>, <strong><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/keenan-chen" >Keenan Chen </a></strong>, and 1 more </div> <div class="PagePromo-readingTime"> <span class="dot-divider"></span> <svg class="PagePromo-readingTime-icon"> <use xlink:href="#icon-clock-reading"></use> </svg> <span class="PagePromo-readingTime-text"> <bsp-time-to-read data-article-word-count="1945"></bsp-time-to-read> read </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="PageListD-items-item"> <div 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data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2b6710c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2988x2000+6+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fcb%2Ff3%2F87edf139432295714237f00cec50%2Fver1.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Photo illustration" width="490" height="328" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2b6710c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2988x2000+6+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fcb%2Ff3%2F87edf139432295714237f00cec50%2Fver1.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> </a></div> <div class="PagePromoB-content"> <div class="PagePromo-category"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration" >Immigration</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-title"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/07/07/chicago-man-deported-in-error-by-ice-struggling-to-adjust-since-the-feds-returned-him-to-the-u-s" >Chicago man deported in ‘error’ has been struggling to adjust since feds returned him to the U.S.</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-byline"><div class="PagePromo-date"> <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=1783420200000 data-promo="true"> <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]</template> <span data-date> </span> </bsp-timestamp><span class="dot"></span></div> <div class="PagePromo-author"> <span>By </span><strong><span class="Link">Adriana Cardona-Maguigad </span></strong> </div> <div class="PagePromo-readingTime"> <span class="dot-divider"></span> <svg class="PagePromo-readingTime-icon"> <use 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data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="328" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8092d91/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3585x2400+7+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3d%2F34%2F8d5fc0804ccc9faeba48dec33c05%2Fpanchito-duilior-dsc0004.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Panchito_duilioR_DSC0004.jpg" width="490" height="328" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8092d91/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3585x2400+7+0/resize/490x328!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3d%2F34%2F8d5fc0804ccc9faeba48dec33c05%2Fpanchito-duilior-dsc0004.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzMjhweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> </a></div> <div class="PagePromoB-content"> <div class="PagePromo-category"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration" >Immigration</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-title"> <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/03/08/deportation-francisco-gonzalez-jasso-panchito-gang-latin-kings-deported-ice-mexico-midway-blitz-little-village" >Labeled a gang member and deported, longtime Chicagoan tries to restart in his Mexican hometown</a> </div> <div class="PagePromo-byline"><div 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![On March 17, 2025, Eichorn was one of five Republican authors of a bill, SF2589, that would designate "Trump derangement syndrome" as an officially recognized mental illness in Minnesota.[7][8]
Arrest and resignation
On March 17, 2025, during a sting operation, Eichorn was arrested in Bloomington, Minnesota, on suspicion of soliciting a minor for sex.[9][10] The arrest occurred after he allegedly sexually solicited a detective posing as a minor.[11][9] His fellow Republican legislators, as well as Minnesota GOP chair Alex Plechash, called on him to resign.[11][12] On March 20, Eichorn submitted his letter of resignation, effective immediately.[13]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreiecjohl6sxfyfpyli6aj6qsi4rjvgg3copmezi3s6qp6ciqm5atvi)
![Screenshot from IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE by Sinclair Lewis, a novel set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to power to become the country's first outright dictator (in allusion to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany)]
P411
the duties of despotism along with his shoes and his fine new coat. He no longer went out racketing. His cabinet begged him not to clown in barrooms and lodge entertain-ments; it was not dignified, and it was dangerous to be too near to strangers.
So he played poker with his bodyguard, late at night, and at such times drank too much, and he cursed them and glared with bulging eyes whenever he lost, which, for all the good-will of his guards about letting him win, had to be often, because he pinched their salaries badly and locked up the spoons. He had become as unbouncing and unbuzz-ing a Buzz as might be, and he did not know it.
All the while he loved the People just as much as he feared and detested Persons, and he planned to do some-thing historic. Certainly! He would give each family that five thousand dollars a year just as soon now as he could arrange it.
https://archive.org/details/itcanthappenhere00lewi_0/page/412/mode/1up](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2kf2qj56o2vq7jfaq4x4ogp6/bafkreidprxoqo3eys5qhuyiyxqavsisa7bp7tbatljvbioc5wbbes3t5bm)
