Chicago woman selling tamales detained by ICE in Back of the Yards, fiancé says

Chicago's Southwest Side ICE activity prompts community concern

Today, ICE agents seemingly zeroed in on the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood.

CHICAGO - A woman selling tamales on Chicago’s Southwest Side was taken into custody by federal immigration agents Thursday morning, her fiancé told FOX 32.

What we know:

Laura Murillo, who is in her 50s, was detained near a BP gas station at 47th Street and Western Avenue in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood, according to her fiancé, Jaime Perez. Murillo is originally from Tamaulipas, Mexico but has lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, Perez explained. 

He shared that Murillo often sells tamales on that corner, but on Thursday, he received a frantic call from her at 7:32 a.m.

"She was being detained and there was somebody behind her," Perez said. "I told her to hold on, that I was going to come to her, I’m only a few blocks away but traffic was so bad and all I kept hearing her saying was, ‘You’re hurting me, you’re hurting me.’"

Perez told FOX 32 that Murillo does not have a criminal record. Since her arrest, he learned she is being held at ICE’s processing facility in Broadview.

"She's a single mother and she just is out there trying to make a living," Perez said. 

Illinois officials say they are still in the dark about the federal government’s "Operation Midway Blitz," which ICE says has resulted in more than 500 arrests since Sept. 1.

"This is how our $150 billion that Congress and the president appropriated are being spent. To pick up tamale vendors off the street, to intimidate day laborers trying to earn a day's work, to detain landscapers driving to their next lawn to care for," said Lawrence Benito, executive director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). 

Murillo's arrest came just hours after U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks took to social media announcing his arrival in Chicago. 

Local rapid response teams say their phones started ringing soon after. 

"Community members started reaching out to us about a potential ICE sighting at 47th and Western near the Home Depot," said Jia Nan, volunteer, Southwest Side Rapid Response Team. "And I saw that there were six unmarked cars filled with ICE agents, they had military gear, which meant they had tactical helmets and large guns, so that's at least 20 agents."

What we don't know:

It is unclear how long Murillo will remain in custody or what comes next in her case.

FOX 32 Chicago reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to request specifics on how many people were detained by ICE in the city and suburbs Thursday but did not immediately hear back. 

Big picture view:

Downtown Thursday, Customs and Border Protection boats were spotted in the Chicago River. 

Still, immigration advocates say enforcement activity was concentrated in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood Thursday morning. 

Just down the street from where Murillo was detained, witnesses told FOX 32 that ICE agents were also present in the parking lot of the nearby Home Depot.

Later Thursday morning, around 10 a.m., Gregory Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's El Centro Sector in Southern California, was spotted in Belmont Cragin — riding in the passenger seat of a Chevrolet Tahoe. The vehicle was in a convoy of other enforcement vehicles. 

This week, fencing went up outside of the ICE processing facility in Broadview after recent clashes between protesters and ICE agents, but village officials are already demanding it come down, saying it's blocking emergency access.

According to a letter issued by Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson on Sept. 2, Operation Midway Blitz is expected to last approximately 45 days.

What's next:

The Street Vendors Association of Chicago has launched a GoFundMe account to raise money to provide emergency support to vendors who are too scared to work under these circumstances.

Organizers say it will allow them to support their families in the midst of uncertainty. 

Advocates recommend that any undocumented immigrants with questions or concerns reach out to the Family Support Network Hotline at 1-855-435-7693