Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 1d

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

12 220 550

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 1d

The presence of helicopters feels more ominous than usual.

3 10 70

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Amanda Kaschube @amandakaschube.bsky.social · 4d

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

1 14 21

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 5d

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.

1 3 10

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 5d

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:

1 4 8

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 7d

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

2 5

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chip Mitchell @chipmitchell1.bsky.social · 10d

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

91 680 1.4K

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 9d

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

15 210 570

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 9d

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

11 79 250

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 9d

“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.

2 4 17

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 9d

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

11 120 160

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

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...

2 17 25

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 9d

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...

58 520 940

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

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

3 5

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 15d

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

1 330 530

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 17d

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

4 18

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 17d

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

11 21

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Zareen Syed @zareensyed.bsky.social · 17d

Chicago's street vendors carry a cultural legacy that's slowly shrinking away from familiar city corners in the middle of the current ICE surge. "What they do is a dying art, born of love.” ✍️ An important story with @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social

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

1 1

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 17d

Street vendors quietly disappear during ICE surge. “People don’t really go out anymore. They’re scared of ICE. We’re scared too, but we have no other choice.”

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.

trib.al

4 22 32

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 17d

A culture at risk: Some Chicago street vendors quietly disappear from familiar corners during ICE surge. On the ground reporting @chicagotribune.com @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social @zareensyed.bsky.social t.co/Ngn42kEAPt

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/21/chicago-street-vendors-disappear-ice-surge/

t.co

1 15 60

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 22d

On their youngest son’s 10th birthday, federal immigration agents detained a couple who immigrated from Mexico and have lived in Cicero for 18 years, family and lawyers said Tuesday.

‘Heartbroken and devastated,’ children of couple arrested by ICE in Cicero traffic stop ask for their release

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Moises Enciso Trejo and Constantina Ramirez Meraz during a traffic stop Sunday as they drove one of their children to college.

trib.al

4 24 42

Laura Rodríguez Presa @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 26d

Our latest: I spoke to the family of the flower vendor arrested in Archer Heights last Sunday. He has become the face of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Chicago.

The father was deported to Mexico within 72 hours. No criminal history.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/12/f...

Flower vendor arrested at launch of Trump’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ deported to Mexico

Bystanders filmed federal immigration agents arresting the Leodegario Martinez Barradas last Sunday.

www.chicagotribune.com

4 4

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Amanda Kaschube @amandakaschube.bsky.social · 26d

A flower vendor arrested by federal immigration agents last weekend in Chicago’s Archer Heights neighborhood is now back in Mexico.

“He doesn’t understand how all of this happened. We don’t either.”

📝 @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social and @adrianaperez.bsky.social

Flower vendor arrested at launch of Trump’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ deported to Mexico

Bystanders filmed federal immigration agents arresting the Leodegario Martinez Barradas last Sunday.

www.chicagotribune.com

1 5 10

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

ProPublica @propublica.org · 29d

“It’s really everyone — not just noncitizens or undocumented people — who are in danger of having their liberty violated in this kind of mass deportation machinery,” said Cody Wofsy, the deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

(Published March)

Some Americans Have Already Been Caught in Trump’s Immigration Dragnet. More Will Be.

Federal immigration authorities have a history of wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens. Advocates warn that the Trump administration’s immigration policies mean that more citizens will get caught up in ...

www.propublica.org

8 200 550

Reposted by Laura Rodríguez Presa

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 29d

A conservative social media personality with a history of confrontations over immigration has returned to Chicago and is riding along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as they make arrests.
trib.al/yT7dFLP

Right-wing internet personality Ben Bergquam returns to Chicago for ride-alongs with ICE

As immigration enforcement is expected to ramp up under President Donald Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” Ben Bergquam posted a series of Instagram videos about ICE activity in Chicago and residents protesting federal agents’ actions.

trib.al

2 17 19