A mother and her two children who were detained in Millennium Park on Sunday by immigration agents were released from custody Wednesday, bringing a moment of relief and renewed hope for the Chicago-area family caught in the crosshairs of aggressive federal immigration enforcement.
The move came after a federal judge ordered that the family, including Noemi Chavez and their 8 year-old daughter and 3-year-old son are protected from deportation or removal from Illinois while the government responds to a habeas corpus petition filed by attorneys with the National Immigrant Justice Center. However, the children’s father, Jaime Ramirez, remains in a Texas immigration facility after being transferred from Illinois earlier this week.
“We are so grateful for all the people who have stepped in to help,” said Miguel Angel Mejia, a family member. “We’re praying for a miracle so that my Uncle Jaime is reunited with his family in Chicago. They should be together.”
On Monday, attorneys for the Ramirez-Chavez family filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Chicago seeking their release or a bond hearing. The legal filing challenges the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s current interpretation of mandatory detention, arguing that the family poses no danger to the community and is not a flight risk.
According to the petition, a new DHS policy — the legality of which is under ongoing legal scrutiny — allows for the detention of anyone who entered the U.S. without inspection, without providing opportunity for release on bond. Several federal courts have since rejected that interpretation.
The family’s arrest has drawn widespread attention after video surfaced showing the couple’s daughter Dasha clinging to a doll and crying as heavily armed federal agents detained her family during a Sunday outing to Chicago’s Millennium Park.
Their arrest came as dozens of federal immigration agents — most wearing camouflage uniforms marked with Border Patrol patches — patrolled downtown Chicago on Sunday, surprising onlookers and detaining construction workers near Tribune Tower, a street vendor and a passerby along with the Ramirez family.
The Tribune first reported that Chavez and the couple’s children had been detained at O’Hare International Airport awaiting transfer to a detention facility in Texas before deportation to Guatemala.
In a phone interview from O’Hare Sunday night, Chavez told the Tribune that 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,” Chavez said. “It’s not fair.”
The children had been playing near the Crown Fountain when agents approached their parents without warning. Despite repeated requests to see a warrant, the family was quickly placed into a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle parked along Michigan Avenue.
Chavez and her children were sent to O’Hare, while Ramirez was detained at the Broadview processing facility before being flown to Texas.
U.S. District Judge Sunil Harjani has since ordered that the family cannot be deported or removed from the Northern District of Illinois until the case can be heard. A hearing is scheduled for Monday.
The family’s case is being used as an example in a recent court filing tied to a 2018 class-action lawsuit that previously challenged ICE’s use of warrantless arrests.
Referencing the detention of the family — as well as what they say is “dramatically escalated” enforcement — attorneys now argue that federal agents in Chicago may be violating the terms of a settlement that prohibits arrests without probable cause.
“The family simply wanted to enjoy the warm Sunday afternoon in Millennium Park at their daughter’s insistence,” read a motion filed Tuesday.
Keren Zwick, an attorney with NIJC representing the family, said the ultimate goal is for the entire family, including Jaime Ramirez, to be released so they can pursue their asylum claim together. The family has an asylum appointment scheduled for October 2027.
“I’m hopeful that this family will be released from custody and afforded an opportunity to pursue their case,” Zwick said.
The family’s story has galvanized a grassroots support network at Dasha’s school in Albany Park. Lauren Rappold, a parent at Grover Cleveland Elementary School said she and other parents and teachers have been organizing food drives and financial support for the family.
“It’s hard to see how ICE is disappearing people,” Rappold said. “You feel hopeless. But in this case, you realize that due process still exists.”
For other families in similar situations, the road is often much darker. Zwick noted that many detainees are unable to contact legal help in time to fight their detention or avoid signing voluntary departure agreements.
“This family’s circumstances were very unique, and we were able to reach them,” Zwick said. “But now it’s really hard to find anyone in detention.”
While the family settles back home, there are still a lot of questions and uncertainty, Mejia said The last time he spoke to his uncle, Dasha’s dad, he asked him to take care of the children.
“At least they’re safe here now — for now,” Mejia said.
Nancy Guamangate, another mother detained at O’Hare with her 5-year-old, was recently transferred to Texas and signed a voluntary departure form out of fear of indefinite detention, according to her family.