CHICAGO — Three children stood in a dark living room, holding blue, star-shaped balloons, a stuffed bunny and a handwritten sign in Spanish that read, “We missed you, Dad!” As José Luis Téllez Fernández walked through the door, his family turned on the lights and shouted, “Surprise!” Téllez Fernández gasped and moved through the room, embracing his siblings and nephews. When he hugged his mother, tears rolled down her face. His father watched with glassy eyes, awaiting his hug. His children cried; his 15-year-old later said he’d been worried he would not see his father again. “You’ve grown so much,” Téllez Fernández told his 6-year-old daughter, taking her into his arms. “I guess it’s been over four months.” On Oct. 6, federal agents arrested Téllez Fernández while he was at his job as a landscaper in Little Village, his family said. They kept him in detention for months, holding him — away from his children, his job, his dog — even weeks after telling a judge they planned to release him. Jose Tellez-Fernandez, center, embraces his mother during an emotional reunion at his sister’s home on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, following his release from federal custody. Tellez-Fernandez was reunited with his family for the first time since being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during an immigration raid . Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago Téllez Fernandez’s family is one of thousands separated because of Operation Midway Blitz, in many cases leaving American children without their parents or splitting mixed-status families as parents or caregivers were detained and later deported. Federal officials said Midway Blitz’s aim was to “target” undocumented immigrants with serious criminal histories — but a Block Club analysis of arrest data from Jan. 20 through mid-October shows the majority of immigrants arrested by ICE agents in the Chicago area did not have criminal records. Federal agents arrested over 4,500 noncitizens in the large-scale operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and thousands of those arrests could have been in violation of a decree that prevents warrantless arrests, attorneys with immigrant justice and civil rights groups said. While thousands of people who were likely unlawfully arrested are no longer in the country, dozens remain detained as attorneys challenge their arrests and the federal government reviews arrest records in each case, attorneys with the National Immigrant Justice Center said. As of Friday, 16 people who the Department of Homeland Security admitted were likely unlawfully arrested were still in detention, attorneys said. The department is still reviewing another 40 people who were likely arrested in violation of the law, and attorneys identified an additional 30 people they believe were also unlawfully detained. But the exact number of people still in detention despite unlawful arrests could be in the hundreds, attorneys said. The federal government has not shared information about all arrests made by Customs and Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during Midway Blitz nor has it shared records of all arrests after Oct. 7, NIJC attorneys said. For these families, the operation is not over. An Awaited Return The agents did not show a warrant when they arrested Téllez Fernández in October, he said. That meant, from the start, the arrest appeared to be unlawful. But the agents brought Téllez Fernández to ICE’s center in Broadview, where he spent a few days in terrible conditions, “a true nightmare,” he said. Weeks later, civil rights groups sued the federal government for keeping people in “horrific and inhumane” conditions at the facility. Téllez Fernández was later moved to another facility in Michigan. He was only able to talk to his family via brief phone calls, limited by the cost. Occasionally, he talked to his children through video calls. J*, reunited with his family for the first time on Monday, Feb. 15, 2026, after being released from custody. J*, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during an immigration raid. Family members gathered to welcome him home at his sister’s house, as he lost his place while being in custody. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago For months, Téllez Fernández’s family worked to bring him home. They raised money for an attorney. The family hoped he’d be released at the start of December, but an immigration judge in Michigan denied him bond on his first court date because of a Trump policy that has since been rolled back. At the same time, Téllez Fernández’s case was among hundreds the National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Union Liberties Union of Illinois brought to federal court. The civil and immigrant rights groups said that in numerous cases, including Téllez Fernández’s, federal agents violated the Castañon Nava consent decree, which limits agents from making arrests without warrants or probable cause. The 2018 lawsuit that led to the decree stemmed from an ICE enforcement operation in the Chicago area where agents made over 100 arrests without a warrant. But as the National Immigrant Justice Center and ACLU’s case moves slowly through the courts, families and individual noncitizens have been forced to make difficult decisions: sign a deportation order to escape detention — or stay detained while fighting lengthy and costly cases, attorneys said. Even after a federal judge ruled dozens of people were unlawfully detained in violation of the Castañon Nava decree, the federal government has moved slowly to release those people from detention facilities across the country. Federal officials agreed Téllez Fernández’s arrest was a violation of the decree after reviewing video footage of it, the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a Jan. 26 report submitted to federal court as part of the Castañon Nava case. In the report, the department said Téllez Fernández was being processed for release — but he remained detained for another two weeks. On Feb. 13, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered the Department of Homeland Security to release Téllez Fernández along with four other people by Feb. 16. He was released the day before. Attorneys with the National Immigrant Justice Center said there could be up to 200 more people arrested in October and November who could be released due to violations of the decree. A review of those cases is ongoing, with potentially hundreds more to be identified. ‘Now You Can Cry, Son’ Families like Téllez Fernández’s have been left to navigate the uncertainty, trauma and fear — often with little support — that comes from having a loved one detained. In the first months after Tellez Fernandez was detained, his family told his 6-year-old daughter her father was away for work. But as months went by and he was denied a bond hearing, then denied bond, they were forced to tell her the truth. “There was a possibility he’d be deported and we wouldn’t see him again,” said Téllez Fernández’s 15-year-old son, who asked not to be named. In the months after his father was detained, the boy grappled with the reality he could be “the only one left” for his siblings and his mother, he said Feb. 15. In school, the boy worked to improve his grades and even became student of the month, building toward “a bright future,” he said. “I wanted to be there for my mom,” he said. “But, it was hard. I thought my father might not come back.” Miles away from his family, Téllez Fernandez thought about what life would look like if he were deported. He thought he would not see his U.S.-born children again. When he talked to his son on the phone, Téllez Fernández told him to be there for the others, but not to “assume the role of an adult because he is still a kid,” he said. The calls left him devastated, he said. Téllez Fernández also worried about what life would be like in Mexico, a country he hasn’t been to since 2005. He left the small Michoacán town he came from in search of economic opportunity. He fears returning without anything to a state that, for years, has grappled with violence from local criminal groups that control entire industries, according to the L.A. Times. “I still can’t believe I’m out,” he said Feb. 15. J*, reunited with his family for the first time on Monday, Feb. 15, 2026, after being released from custody. J*, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during an immigration raid. Family members gathered to welcome him home at his sister’s house, as he lost his place while being in custody. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago And even when released from detention, people like Téllez Fernández face obstacles: Immigrants are often let out of detention centers without any money or way to get home, creating a logistical scramble, attorneys said. Volunteers have formed networks to help immigrants return home upon their release. But immigration authorities typically have not notified families or attorneys in advance of releasing someone, sometimes leaving immigrants out in extreme weather without any means to get home. On Feb. 13, Cummings ordered the Department of Homeland Security to give a 12-hour notice to attorneys before unlawfully arrested immigrants are released. Local organizer Rebecca de La Luz arranged for Téllez Fernández to be picked up in Michigan by organizers who brought him to the Illinois border, where other organizers met him and drove him to his sister’s home in the suburbs. As Téllez Fernández chatted with his family at his sister’s house, reality started to settle in. When he was detained, his sister, A, had to move his belongings and his mom out of Téllez Fernández’s apartment in Gage Park because they couldn’t afford rent if he was not working. His mother moved in with another family member as Téllez Fernández remained detained, unable to support her. A asked not be identified because she fears federal agents will target her for arrest. On Feb. 15, Téllez Fernández said he didn’t know when he would go back to work — or whether it was safe to do so. “I think I first need to heal from what I went through,” he said. He plans to spend as much time as he can with his family and his children. After the emotional reunion, the family sat down in the living room for a late dinner of carnitas and beans for the adults and McDonald’s for the kids, a special treat for the occasion. Téllez Fernández’s two boys spent the night with him at A’s house. That night, Téllez Fernández hugged his 15-year-old son, who was “very brave” throughout this process and had been strong for his siblings, the father said. “It’s time for you to cry, son,” he told him. For now, Téllez Fernández will live with his sister, as he figures out what is next and works through his immigration case to determine whether there is a pathway for him to stay in the United States. Support Freedom of the Press Independent journalism like this only exists because of readers like you. This World Press Freedom Day, help Block Club raise $20,000 to fuel high-impact investigations that hold Chicago’s institutions and leaders accountable. Make your tax-deductible donation here. Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: Search Results placeholder