Fernando has rarely left his home in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood since immigration enforcement intensified in the city this fall.
A U.S. citizen, he spends his days working on cars and household projects, avoiding even routine trips for groceries out of fear that he could be detained by federal agents.
The Chronicle is withholding his last name at his request because he fears being targeted.
Fernando became a U.S. citizen in 2008, 26 years after crossing the border from Mexico in 1982 in search of a better life. He has built that life in Chicago, he said, but now worries it could be taken away.
Fernando works on a car in his garage at home in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago on Sept. 26, 2025. Although he’s been a U.S. citizen for nearly 20 years, Fernando is afraid of being targeted by federal immigration agents becauase he is Latino.
TRANSCRIPT:
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It still haunts me, when they detained me.
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They stopped me at the border in 1982.
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You heard voices coming from a radio.
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I must have not heard them.
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It was an old man that detained me.
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He threw me on the ground, cuffed me
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and tossed me in his truck.
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I felt I wanted to cry.
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He asked me where I was from.
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I didn’t say anything.
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At 7 in the morning they sent us to Tijuana.
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I didn’t know any phone numbers from America
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or from San Julian.
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I had no money either.
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In San Julian there was only one phone on the corner.
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They grabbed someone else from my group.
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Good thing he had already been here.
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If it wasn’t for him I would have been lost.
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Where would I go?
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I can’t see with this eye.
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Learning to work
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is better than going to school
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that was my father’s theory.
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Because we lived on the farm
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there wasn’t many schools.
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Just a small one for everyone.
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I never went to school.
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I said to myself, “Why can I do everything but read?”
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If I would have learned to read and write
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I could have progressed more as a person
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but I had to rely on Claudia.
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That kind of thing kills your morale.
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I had many friends that teased me
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but I told them they can’t do the things I can do.
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Once I learned that I was skilled at what I did
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I didn’t feel so bad.
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One thing balances the other one out.
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I stunted my own growth.
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I had boyfriends before.
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But they were lazy. They weren’t hard workers.
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When he told me he wanted to marry me
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he said he would buy me my house.
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And that’s exactly what he did.
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A month after getting married
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he had already bought our house.
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We always had food on our plates.
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He would always find a solution to our problems.
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He did everything.
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He solved everything.
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They are members of the National Guard
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deployed by President Trump into Chicago.
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For now…
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they are stationed in a base
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60 miles away from the city.
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Some of them with heavy weaponry.
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It’s inhumane.
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It’s not fair.
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They wait for them in the grocery stores.
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Now they’re sweeping the flea markets.
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Obviously, they have the main target
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and the main target is us, the Latinos.
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And I feel that’s very unfair.
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I feel way safer with the gangbangers
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than having ICE around.
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Over the wall now.
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Over the wall or you go to jail.
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Yes.
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Get up!
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Without access to family
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or legal representation.
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What is not only unjust and illegal
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but it is immoral.
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While attacking peaceful protesters.
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ICE, Border Patrol
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we put you on notice.
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This is not L.A.
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and this is not D.C.
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This is Chicago.
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This is trash.
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I was going to buy new ones but
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I decided to sand them myself.
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That costs about $160.
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It is a complete violation of our human rights.
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What do I feel? I feel mad.
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On top of that, I feel powerless to do anything.
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It’s very tragic, what’s happening
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because this has never been seen before.
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I used to say, I have papers
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they won’t do anything to me.
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But it terrifies me because we don’t know them.
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They don’t identify themselves.
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They just see your skin color and they take you.
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In reality you don’t really know if they are ICE.
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Like you don’t know.
Copy edited by Brandon Anaya
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