Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 1h

ICE killed their father. Now they’re in foster care.

Silverio Villegas, a single father, was fatally shot by fed agents after he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop in Franklin Park.

His family spoke to the Tribune of their grieve and their fight.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/12/s...

Family of Chicago-area man killed by ICE seeks to reunite with his children who are now in foster care in Idaho

The state of Idaho took custody of the children a few weeks after Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was killed by ICE agents in Franklin Park on Sept. 12.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 7h

Read this dispatch from 2025 America: Family of Chicago-area man killed by ICE seeks to reunite with his children who are now in foster care in Idaho. By @chicagotribune.com @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/12/s...

Family of Chicago-area man killed by ICE seeks to reunite with his children who are now in foster care in Idaho

The state of Idaho took custody of the children a few weeks after Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was killed by ICE agents in Franklin Park on Sept. 12.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

NPR @npr.org · 1d

Macario Martínez, the street sweeper who became a Mexican pop star, brings his evocative music and longing lyricism to the Tiny Desk. n.pr/48pIa3k

Macario Martínez: Tiny Desk Concert

Macario Martínez, the street sweeper who became a Mexican pop star, brings his evocative music and longing lyricism to the Tiny Desk.

n.pr

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 2d

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 1d

The family has not been able to locate the woman taken by ICE earlier.

“She’s someone who wakes up before sunrise every day to work, just to afford her insulin and medication that keep her alive,” they said.

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 2d

More street vendors taken by ICE today, according to rapid response team & neighborhood reports.

Masked men arrested one of Pilsen’s longtime tamal vendors near Damen and 21st Pl, by Chase.

Those ladies are very loved by the community. I bought tamales from her many times.

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 2d

The uncertainty deepened after legal protections were rolled back by the Supreme Court, allowing fed immigration agents to target people based on race, language, or the type of work they.

Advocates say agents are racially profiling vendors, approaching them w/o a warrant.

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 2d

Once fixtures of neighborhood corners, many street vendors are disappearing in silence — caught in the crosshairs of immigration enforcement due to their visibility and vulnerability.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/21/c...

A culture at risk: Chicago’s street vendors quietly disappear from familiar corners during ICE surge

Their quiet disappearance marks not just a loss of income for them, it’s also the erosion of a cherished culture by many in the city.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 2d

More street vendors taken by ICE today, according to rapid response team & neighborhood reports.

Masked men arrested one of Pilsen’s longtime tamal vendors near Damen and 21st Pl, by Chase.

Those ladies are very loved by the community. I bought tamales from her many times.

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 5d

If you think today's news media picture is grim, take stock of how Chicago's local journalists are getting at the truth despite Homeland Security's campaign of lies and intimidation.
My Stop the Presses newsletter.

The press steps up as Trump targets Chicago

Local journalism is under siege, but still makes itself indispensable

www.stopthepresses.news

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 5d

The presence of helicopters feels more ominous than usual.

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Amanda Kaschube @amandakaschube.bsky.social · 8d

Chicagoans say ICE agents responded to heckling with tear gas near a school on a busy Northwest Side street.

"It’s upsetting to see people being paid to attack our community for senseless stupid reasons.”

📝 @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social, @jake-sheridan.bsky.social and @tesskenny.bsky.social

Chicagoans say ICE agents responded to heckling with tear gas near school on busy Northwest Side street

The deployment of smoke canisters — some witnesses described it as tear gas — came as tensions boiled over on the city’s Northwest Side Friday afternoon.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 9d

Here’s the video that Andrew Denton took while he was getting lunch.

Denton said that agents had been stopped there for less than a minute and that aside from people yelling at them, “no one was attacking the agents.”

“There was no reason for them to that,” he said.

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 9d

ICE agents deployed gas from their vehicle at random people in Chicago’s Logan Square, across from Funston Elementary school, Rep. Lilian Jimenez confirms.

Here are some images:

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 10d

Breaking: Mother and children detained in Millennium Park released from ICE custody in Chicago, father flown to Texas detention center: ‘We’re praying for a miracle’ www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/01/m...

Mother and children detained in Millennium Park released from ICE custody, father flown to Texas detention center: ‘We’re praying for a miracle’

The move came after a federal judge ordered that Noemi Chavez and her 8 year-old daughter and 3-year-old are protected from deportation or removal from Illinois while the government responds to a h…

www.chicagotribune.com

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chip Mitchell @chipmitchell1.bsky.social · 13d

Today I spoke with Greg Bovino, a top U.S. Border Patrol chief, as he led dozens of feds in military gear through downtown Chicago.

He said they were arresting folks based on “how they look.”

“How do they look compared to, say, you?” he said, referring to me.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Feds march into downtown Chicago; top border agent says people are arrested based on ‘how they look’

Immigration agents wearing tactical gear and carrying long guns made arrests in downtown Chicago and the River North neighborhood Sunday. “This is not making anybody safer — it’s a show of intimidatio...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 13d

The Broadview Police Department has opened a criminal investigation after an ICE agent allegedly shot a pepper ball at a WBBM-Ch. 2 reporter’s truck Sunday morning outside the agency’s holding facility, which has been at the center of heated protests from concerned citizens and politicians.

Police investigate after CBS Chicago reporter’s truck shot out with a pepper ball outside ICE facility in Broadview

The alleged shooting happened the same day a journalist was released after being detained by federal immigration agents while covering a protest outside the ICE facility Saturday.

trib.al

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 12d

Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, decried the immigration policies of President Trump’s White House, located just blocks away, likening them to an “assault” that “seeks to make life unbearable for undocumented immigrants.”

D.C. archbishop calls U.S. immigration crackdown a ‘governmental assault’

Hundreds gathered in Northwest Washington for a procession led by Catholic faith leaders to support migrants and refugees.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 12d

“Gregory Bovino, commander at large of the Border Patrol,” openly admits that they use racial profiling

Chicago Oribune
Gregory Bovino, commander at large of the Border Patrol who participated in the downtown operation, told a WBEZ reporter that agents rely on a person's appearance before detaining them.
"It would be agent experience, intelligence that indicates there's illegal aliens in a particular place or location," Bovino said.
"Then, obviously, the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look. How do they look compared to, say, you?" he said to the reporter - a tall, middle-aged man of Anglo descent.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court said federal agents could continue stopping people based on factors including race, language and type of work.

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 13d

Dasha Ramirez, 8, and her little brother were playing with the water at the Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park when federal agents approached their parents.

She ran toward her father, Jaime Ramirez, who was suddenly surrounded by a group of heavily armed agents in full camouflage.

Mother, children detained by ICE at Millennium Park Sunday held at O’Hare with other families: ‘We never imagined’

The mother said she felt her family was targeted because of their appearance. “There were a lot more people there, but the agents came directly to us because of how we look,” she said.

trib.al

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 12d

Dasha, 8, and her little brother were playing w/ the water at the Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park when fed agents approached their parents on Sunday afternoon.

The family is now detained at O’Hare w/ other mothers/children awaiting deportation.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/29/i...

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 13d

8-year old Dasha Ramirez was playing with her brother at Millennium Park when Border Patrol took them. They’re now awaiting deportation to Guatemala. “We never imagined our Sunday would end this way, mother Noemi Chavez said. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/29/i...

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 12d

Mother, children detained by ICE at Millennium Park Sunday held at O’Hare with other immigrant families.

Yesterday immigration feds were arresting people based on “how they look,” top U.S. Border Patrol official told WBEZ.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/29/i...

Mother, children detained by ICE at Millennium Park Sunday held at O’Hare with other families: ‘We never imagined’

The mother said she felt her family was targeted because of their appearance. “There were a lot more people there, but the agents came directly to us because of how we look,” she said.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 19d

Chilling dispatch from Mario Guevara, the journalist trapped in ICE detention for...doing his job.

Journalist Mario Guevara Speaks - Letter from ICE DETENTION FACILITY — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

The only journalist detained by ICE on US soil, sends a letter to The Bitter Southerner.

bittersoutherner.com

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Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 21d

A DePaul student bottled his own drinks and sold them to follow classmates. Now he’s building an agua fresca empire. blockclubchi.co/46v3DW2

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Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 21d

A culture at risk: Chicago’s street vendors quietly disappear during ICE surge

With legal protections rolled back by Supreme Court, most vendors face uncertainty as agents can now target based on race, language, or type of work.

My latest w/ @zareensyed

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/21/c...

A culture at risk: Chicago’s street vendors quietly disappear from familiar corners during ICE surge

Their quiet disappearance marks not just a loss of income for them, it’s also the erosion of a cherished culture by many in the city.

www.chicagotribune.com

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