By: Hanna Guerrero

April 10, 2026 – For more than two decades, Maria**, a client of The Resurrection Project’s Immigrant Justice department, worked hard to make a better life for herself and support her family abroad. She was detained by ICE in October, during Operation Midway Blitz, and held for over 100 days at a detention center in Kentucky. She felt terrified and alone—until multiple communities stepped in to help her.  

Maria recalls the day she was detained as an ordinary one. She had worked several different manual labor jobs, from janitorial work to painting houses. On that October day, Maria was standing outside a Home Depot looking for work when, seemingly out of nowhere, a white SUV pulled up. 

“Some men got out, and I got scared. I tried to leave, but one of them managed to grab me.  He asked me where I was going, and honestly, my reaction in that moment was to feel afraid because I really thought, ‘This is a kidnapping, they’re kidnapping me or something,’ so that’s when they started asking me questions. I only answered, ‘I want a lawyer, I want a lawyer.’ They responded, ‘We are from ICE. If you don’t talk, things can go badly for you,” Maria recalled.  

Maria was convinced the ICE agents were kidnappers because they were masked. They also kept insisting she was a “bad person,” and she thought they had mistaken her for someone else. Amid confusion and terror, she managed to remember her rights. She would only respond to their questions by asking for a lawyer or remaining silent. 

With Maria in the SUV, the agents drove around for hours, leading to more confusion and alarm.  

“I thought that when [ICE] grabbed you, it was more like a process where they would take you straight to the place, but they stayed there, like, stopped for about three, four hours … it was a long time until they took us somewhere else,” Maria said. 

From Broadview to Kentucky

Maria finally arrived at the Broadview processing center. She was quickly processed and transported to a detention center in Kentucky. She was able to call a friend in Chicago and let them know what had happened.  

Maria describes life at the detention center as “extremely difficult.”  

“It isn’t easy to survive in that place. Everything is very precarious, like the food, the way people are treated, the guards. There is a terrible sense of oppression for many different reasons. It is not easy to live under that kind of constant pressure and lack of freedom. I believe that for anyone who goes through it, being there for five months feels like five years,” Maria said. 

Alone in detention and facing possible deportation, Maria’s friend in Chicago was able to secure her help through TRP’s Immigrant Justice Legal Clinic.  

Fighting for Maria’s release was a joint effort by the Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance (MIDA), a network of organizations including TRP, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), The Immigrant Project (TIP), and the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender (CCPD).  

Fighting for Maria’s Freedom

In Maria’s case, she had two lawyers: one from NIJC’s Habeas Project and the other from TRP, Alycia Jameson. Alycia recalls the difficulty of communicating with Maria while she was detained in Kentucky.  

“The detention center she was at allowed very limited calls. We could schedule a call for 30 minutes max, and you had to wait for that call to be over to try to schedule another one, which could be four days away. Then you need funds to make the phone calls. It’s so hard, and it’s designed that way,” Alycia said.  

Maria’s legal team submitted a motion to suppress evidence obtained during her arrest. The immigration judge agreed that her arrest had been egregious and terminated the proceedings against her. 

Maria should have been released following the termination of proceedings, but she was kept in detention.  

During this time, Maria recalls an escalation of mistreatment.  

“They put me in a cell for about three months,” Maria recalled. «They isolated me.” 

Maria was isolated, but in Illinois, her attorneys were continuing to fight for her release.  

“It made the perfect moment to file habeas,” Alycia explained. 

A petition for a writ of habeas corpus asks a federal judge to review why someone is being detained. In Maria’s case, a federal judge reviewed her detention and questioned why she was still being held. The federal judge found that her due process rights had been violated and ordered her release. 

The Journey Back to Chicago

Maria was finally free, but she was far away from home. TRP worked with a local rapid response organization, Calor Humano, to transport Maria back home to Chicago. In addition to providing transportation, Calor Humano advocates for improving the poor conditions of detention centers and raises money for commissary and phone accounts. So far this year, Calor Humano has transported 29 people back home.  

Calor Humano volunteer Reece and his son drove Maria home. Reece spoke what he described as “break room Spanish,” but he remembers finding ways to communicate with her. 

“She was mostly confused and disconnected,” said Reece. “But she seemed to have a positive attitude and was incredibly grateful.” 

For Reece, volunteering to transport Maria felt like “the right thing at the right time.” His late father had lived in Chicago and was politically active. 

“I was thinking about how much of my life, and his life, was about making others feel safe,” Reece said. “It is an honor when you get that kind of opportunity.” 

Back in Chicago, Maria felt relieved, with a restored sense of safety and connection with her loved ones. For her, the best part of her release was reuniting with her family.  

“Even if not all of them are physically with me, it was very emotional. We stay in close contact, and just knowing that I am free, that I am not locked up anymore, is a huge relief,” Maria said.  

Although a federal judge ordered her release, DHS filed a motion to reconsider the immigration judge’s decision to terminate her proceedings. This resulted in her immigration case being reopened. Maria’s lawyers were able to change the immigration court proceedings to Chicago. Her next hearing isn’t until 2028.  

Her lawyers filed a U-Visa application for her. Congress created the U-Visa to further law enforcement’s objectives in securing assistance from immigrant victims of crime. An immigrant is eligible for a U-Visa if they assist law enforcement in the investigation of a crime.  

Maria currently lives in a women’s shelter and, despite everything she has endured, she remains determined to keep working hard for herself and her family.  

“Now that I am out, I hope to move forward and build a better future. My dream is to have my own cleaning company one day,” Maria said.  

Maria’s story is a reminder that no one facing detention should have to endure it alone. In her darkest moments, organizations in Illinois and Kentucky fought for her release and helped bring her home safely. 

There are others in ICE detention still waiting for that same chance. Supporting The Resurrection Project and Calor Humano helps provide legal aid, transportation, and critical support to people facing detention right now. 

**Due to the client’s request for privacy, we refer to her as “Maria” in this story. 

To learn more about the Resurrection Project’s Immigrant Justice Legal Clinic, go to www.trpimmigrantjustice.org.

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About The Resurrection Project

The Resurrection Project (TRP) builds trusting relationships to educate and propel individuals, immigrants, and families to achieve their social and economic aspirations, stable homes, and equitable participation in their community. TRP is a leading provider of affordable housing, financial education, and immigration services on Chicago’s Southwest side.

During the past three decades, TRP has worked to improve the lives of individuals and families by creating wealth, building assets, and engaging residents to be catalysts for change. Rooted in the Pilsen community, TRP’s impact now extends across the City of Chicago and through the State of Illinois; we are making steady progress towards leveraging and preserving more than $1 billion in community wealth.