This is the first in our #WeProtectUs series, focused on the clients, attorneys, staff, and volunteers of Immigration Law & Justice of Northern Illinois (formerly Northern Illinois Justice for Our Neighbors).
Staff Attorney Ricardo Torres shares this story of a client caught up in ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz” campaign against the immigrant communities of Greater Chicago.
An Abduction in Broad Daylight
On a sunny day in early October, Tobías—called Tobi by his friends— had just finished fueling up his employer’s van. He and his cousin were eating a quick breakfast before heading out to their drywall job when two SUVs with dark-tinted windows suddenly peeled into the gas station and blocked their way. Four heavily built ICE agents got out and pulled up their masks.
Tobi and his cousin ran.
His cousin made a desperate gamble and rushed into a nearby apartment building, where, miraculously, he found sanctuary with a pair of Good Samaritans.
Tobi was not so lucky.
Hiding behind a window curtain in his rescuers’ apartment, the cousin watched in terror as two agents tackled Tobi and threw him to the ground. They pressed their knees into the small of Tobi’s slender back and pushed his head into the pavement.
Tobi is 5’6” on a good day and 130 pounds soaking wet. There was no reason or need for them to use so much force.
There was nothing Tobi’s cousin—or anyone else—could do. ICE agents were acting as a law unto themselves. They did not have a warrant. They did not have probable cause. On that morning, Tobi was exactly where he was supposed to be, yet it was the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Tobi is squeaky clean,” says Ricardo, his attorney. “He doesn’t have so much as a parking ticket—here or back in his native Honduras. He is 27 years old and plays in a summer baseball league. He goes to church when he can. And he is extremely hard-working. Tobi supports his 5-year-old daughter and is the primary breadwinner for both his mother and younger sister.”
Most importantly, however, Tobi still has a pending asylum case.
“He’s never missed a check-in or a hearing. He’s followed every rule, instruction, and directive ICE has ever given him,” explains Ricardo. “Tobi should never have been on their radar. And he should never have been treated this way.”
In Prison
Tobi was first sent to Broadview ICE Processing Center—a short-term holding facility outside of Chicago, and the scene of many protests and allegations of inhumane conditions. He was then sent to a private prison in Baldwin, Michigan, now operating as one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the Midwest.
Their first conversation was hard. Tobi’s ribs were bruised, and he was having difficulty breathing. Ricardo tried to gauge the severity of his pain, but Tobi just waved it away. He only wanted to know when—and if—he could go back home.
“I told him it was a long process,” says Ricardo. “But we would pursue every avenue available to us to get him out.”
Building Tobi’s Case
As an immigration attorney, Ricardo is authorized to practice law in the Immigration court system and in Illinois state courts, but he would first need to register with the Federal District of Illinois to continue representing Tobi. He would then need to seek admission pro hac vice (one-time only), a process that allows an out-of-state lawyer to appear in a specific case without full admission to that federal district’s bar. With guidance from Katie Taylor, Legal Director of our ILJ site in Kentucky and an expert ILJ Network Consulting Attorney, he began to prepare a habeas petition on Tobi’s behalf to challenge his unlawful detention and seek his release.
He also submitted Tobi’s information to an ongoing class action suit brought by the National Immigration Justice Center and the ACLU of Illinois, with the support of immigrant justice organizations throughout the Chicago region, including ILJ of Northern Illinois. The lawsuit argues that DHS is in violation of the Castañon-Nava Consent Decree of 2022, which prohibits ICE from arresting people without warrants or probable cause.
For the entire time he has been imprisoned at the Michigan ICE Facility, Tobi has maintained a brave face, insisting he is fine and that his living conditions are adequate. To his mother, Corina, however, he would reveal the truth of his fear, loneliness, and worry for his daughter.
“What will happen to her if I have to go?” he asked, and Corina did not know how to answer him. She could only cry with him over the phone.
“She felt helpless,” says Ricardo. “She needed to do something.”
Ricardo started giving Tobi’s mother action items during her daily phone call. In the weeks that followed, Corina collected birth certificates and testimonials and began the process of obtaining Tobi’s spotless record from the Honduran Consulate in Chicago. As her son’s fiercest advocate, Corina became the keeper of Tobi’s files, and Ricardo’s de facto assistant.
A Roller Coaster of Events
On November 12, Judge Jeffrey Cummings of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered the Trump administration to release hundreds of people from ICE detention centers who had been arrested without warrants or probable cause. The release of these 614 detainees was slated to begin on Friday, November 21.
Tobi’s name was on the list of these 614 immigrants.
“He was excited and happy and very grateful,” recalls Ricardo. “Our entire office erupted in cheers. Finally, some good news to share.”
But that immense joy was short-lived. Late on Thursday, November 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit temporarily blocked the release of the 614 detainees to allow the government’s appeal to proceed.
Oral arguments before the appellate judges are scheduled for December 2.
We are deeply disheartened by this decision and its implications for Tobi and hundreds of other law-abiding immigrants who are valued members of their communities.
The DOJ’s own records show that only 16—2.6%—of the 614 Chicago-area detainees have a criminal history or are considered a threat to public safety. Yet all of them will now languish in what are essentially prison conditions and face the risk of deportation without receiving their due process rights.
Meanwhile, as we await the ruling on the administration’s appeal, Ricardo is already preparing the next steps in Tobi’s case.
“Remember, I had already drafted the habeas petition,” he says. “And there is an ILJ site in Michigan. I think I’ll ask them to stay on standby just in case I need their help with filing it.”
That is the strength of our ILJ Network. Our clients are never left to fend for themselves, and neither are our attorneys.
Ricardo takes a deep breath and turns back to Tobi’s file.
“From the very beginning,” he continues, “I promised Tobi we would pursue every avenue available to us to get him home and reunited with his family.
“And that’s a promise we intend to keep.”
Editor’s note: Names and some identifying details have been changed to protect Tobi and his family.
Staff Attorney Ricardo Torres, with Former Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jennifer Peyton.
Judge Peyton was fired without cause by the Trump Administration in July 2025.
She is currently fighting her wrongful termination.