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 and has lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, was detained near a BP gas station at 47th Street and Western Avenue, according to her fiancé, Jaime Perez. Murillo often sells tamales at that corner.
Perez said 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. He has since learned she is being held at ICE’s processing facility in Broadview.
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.
What we don’t know:
It is unclear how long Murillo will remain in custody or what comes next in her case.
Big picture view:
Immigration advocates say enforcement activity is now concentrated in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Just down the street from where Murillo was detained, witnesses told FOX 32 that ICE agents were also making arrests in the parking lot of a nearby Home Depot.
The Source: FOX 32’s Kasey Chronis reported on this story.