GAGE PARK — A Gage Park family is raising money for their patriarch’s legal defense after federal immigration agents arrested the father of three last week.
About 9 a.m. Oct. 6, federal agents arrested José Luis Tellez Fernández while he was working his landscaping job near Roosevelt Road and South Kedzie Avenue, his sister told Block Club. She asked not to be named because she fears federal agents will target her.
The family launched a GoFundMe to raise $10,000 to pay for legal costs for Tellez Fernández’s defense. The family had raised about $2,600 as of Tuesday night.
“José Luis is a kind, hardworking, and dedicated person — especially to his three children, aged 15, 12 and 6. Together, they were building a beautiful life here, surrounded by friends and family,” the family wrote on GoFundMe.
Tellez Fernández’s family searched for free legal aid but turned to a private attorney after failing to get a call back from organizations that could represent him at low or no cost, his sister said. Hiring a private attorney could cost at least $9,000, not counting potential bond payments.
“We know time is key to his defense,” she said.
Unlike other bonds, immigration bonds must be paid in full for a person to be released from custody, often leaving families struggling to raise thousands of dollars, immigration law experts have said.
The 38-year-old father — originally from the state of Michoacán in Mexico — has lived in Chicago for over 20 years, working hard to provide for his family, his sister said. He is undocumented and has no criminal history, she said.
“He came pursuing the American dream that is now over,” she said.
An ICE vehicle parked outside an ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview on Sept. 19, 2025. Credit: Vincent D. Johnson/Block Club Chicago
This summer, Tellez Fernández lost all his furniture and belongings after his Gage Park basement apartment flooded due to heavy storms, his sister said. He worked hard to replace some of the basics – mattresses for him and his children, clothes, some furniture. Soon after, his apartment flooded again, and he was working hard to replace lost items, his sister said.
“He does everything for his kids; they’re everything for him,” she said.
While details about Tellez Fernández’s detention have been scarce, his sister learned two federal agents quickly surrounded him while he was doing yard work on a property and they took him into custody, she said. A coworker who was there called their employer, who called Tellez Fernández’s family to let them know federal agents had arrested him.
On Oct. 7, Tellez Fernández called his ex-partner and said he was being held in ICE’s Broadview processing center. He was worried about his kids, his sister said.
That day, Tellez Fernández was notified he would be moved to Oklahoma, but he was instead moved to a detention center in Michigan, his sister said. As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan, ICE records show.
A few days after Tellez Fernández was detained, his sister realized he briefly appeared in a video posted by the Department of Homeland Security.
The video shows clips of Border Patrol agents chasing and detaining people, in some cases with guns drawn on them or after throwing them to the ground. In the short clip showing Tellez Fernández, he is in handcuffs as federal agents move him into a car. A few seconds later, bold letters that read “Bag it,” “Tag it” and “Take it down” appear as background footage shows federal agents detaining, zip-tying and moving three men into a car.
Tellez Fernández’s arrest shook his family, leaving them worried about the conditions he could face under detention, the uncertainty of not knowing where he was and fears about him possibly being deported to Mexico, his sister said.
“We were afraid because of the way we [immigrants] are being treated,” she said. “Some people say we came here to take away from them, but all we’ve ever earned has been by working hard. We’re a hardworking family; we haven’t taken anything from anyone.”
In the hours after Tellez Fernández was taken, his sister contacted local groups offering free legal aid as a family member tried to find him within the ICE locator database, she said.
She had a hard time sleeping, and Tellez Fernández’s kids — all U.S. citizens — are struggling, often asking to see their dad, she said. He hopes to be released so he can stay united with them and they can grow up in their home country, while his family hopes to raise enough money for his defense, she said.
“His kids need him,” she said.
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