Kenny Holston/Pool via CNP/Sipa USA/Alamy Live NewsJaime Jr.’s father was arrested and taken to Mexico during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, leaving him to care for his teenage siblings.
Sitting near the top of the historic House Chamber in D.C., peering down at the president and lawmakers screaming and shouting during the State of the Union address, all Jaime Jr. could think was: Let my father come home.
Jaime Jr. and his attorney have been trying to get his father back since federal immigration agents reportedly coerced him into signing a “voluntary departure” agreement. Jaime Jr. asked Borderless to only use his first name to protect his family’s privacy.
Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois invited Jaime Jr. to the president’s State of the Union address as someone impacted by Trump’s deportation efforts, detention facilities, family separation, and the ripple effects on immigrant communities.
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In his State of the Union address, Trump defended his immigration record, arguing his administration was “deporting illegal alien criminals at record numbers.” Most immigrants detained or deported during the last year, however, have had no criminal conviction. A New York Times analysis of immigrants arrested during the height of Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area found that 66% of those arrested had no criminal charges.
During the State of the Union, Trump also criticized Democratic leaders for not voting on a bill that would extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Tonight, I’m demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the border security, Homeland Security of the United States,” Trump said. “If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
In his second term, Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders, made sweeping changes to immigration court procedures, and increased the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) budget to $85 billion, making it the biggest U.S. law enforcement agency. These all have made way for Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
In the last year, the number of detention centers has increased, with more to come across the country to make room for the record-high number of people, including children, in detention.
Trump’s return also marks the deadliest year for people ICE detention in 2025. Most recently, ICE officers have killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during widespread actions in Minnesota.
Trump’s sweeping changes and ICE’s deadly tactics have sparked a movement of resistance to immigration enforcement operations across cities in the U.S.
In Chicago, aggressive tactics used by federal immigration agents to detain immigrants resulted in the death of a Mexican immigrant in Franklin Park, large protests, and a fear in immigrant communities to commute to school or work. DHS detained over 4,500 people in the Chicago area during the height of Operation Midway Blitz between September and November last year, according to the federal agency.
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Jaime Jr.’s father, Jaime, was among the thousands of noncitizens detained by federal immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz in Illinois. Jaime was detained outside his home in suburban Mount Prospect.
“He lost his status due to a small paperwork error,” said Jaime Jr., reflecting on his father’s case. For years, “we tried to fix his status many times.”
It’s an example of “how broken the immigration system is in our country,” he said.
Jaime Jr.’s father was held at the suburban Broadview ICE Processing Center for four days before being taken to Mexico. His father was the family’s main financial provider; his mother had died from a rare cancer in January 2025.
Since his father’s detention, Jaime Jr. has been looking after his younger sisters, who are 17 and 13.
Detainees like Jaime’s father accuse workers at Broadview of pressuring them to sign a form for voluntary departure, waiving their right to appeal or to pursue other protections from removal.
In October, Jaime’s case was discussed by U.S. Rep. Krishnamoorthi during a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement field hearing.
“Coercing people to give up their rights isn’t just illegal, it’s morally wrong,” said Krishnamoorthi, who is running for U.S. Senate to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, at the October hearing.
Krishnamoorthi invited Jaime Jr. to Tuesday’s State of the Union address, noting the 21-year-old family’s case was “part of a broader pattern of detainees being held in inhumane conditions, coerced into signing away their rights, and denied due process.”
After the address, Krishnamoorthi issued a statement saying that Trump could “try to rewrite his record… but communities across America are living with the consequences of militarized immigration operations that have terrorized families and left Americans dead.”
Inside the halls of Congress, Jaime Jr. listened to it all.
He was struck by the deep divisions between the House of Representatives.
He thinks Republicans are using some extreme cases to paint a broad brush about people who are undocumented.
“When we say that we should look after even those who are undocumented, we are not saying forget U.S. citizens,” Jaime Jr. said. “The fact is, my dad, being an undocumented immigrant, has affected three U.S. citizens.”
