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Judge's Ruling Frees Chicago Daycare Teacher Detained by ICE

A judge's finding that her no-bond detention violated due process prompted her release.

Overview

  • Diana Santillana Galeano was released from ICE custody in Clay County, Indiana on Wednesday night and returned home to Chicago, her attorneys said.
  • Her attorneys say they will continue pursuing her immigration claims, and supporters plan a community reunion Friday tied to her return to the Rayito de Sol center.
  • She was detained Nov. 5 at the North Center daycare in an arrest captured on video, as local officials alleged agents entered without a warrant and DHS maintained the arrest occurred in a vestibule.
  • DHS and ICE said she entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and paid to smuggle her teenage children, and the agencies described the arrest as following a failed traffic stop; those details have been contested by witnesses.
  • A federal judge ruled her mandatory detention without bond unlawful and ordered a bond hearing, and she was initially held at Broadview before being transferred to Indiana.