Despite fear and risk, Chicago advocates urge immigrants to keep court dates and ICE appointments
By Nell Salzman and Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune The Tribune Content Agency
Updated February 16, 2025 6:13 AM Briseida de la Cruz Morales, middle, with her children Edith and Christian Sanchez de la Cruz, after eating lunch at Three Happiness restaurant in Chicago’s Chinatown on Feb. 13, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS) Terrence Antonio James
TNS CHICAGO - Briseida de la Cruz Morales cried when she left her family's Waukegan home for immigration court Thursday morning and said goodbye to her husband for what she believed would be the last time.
The 37-year-old from Mexico was scared to attend her Chicago court hearing, part of the process for people seeking asylum, or a form of protection granted to foreign nationals living in the United States and unable to return to their country due to past persecution or a fear of being persecuted in the future.
Morales was worried that President Donald Trump's policy changes around immigration could mean she would get deported Thursday. But the family's pastor in Waukegan encouraged her to go to court, assuring her she had a strong asylum case and would be at greater risk of deportation if she skipped the hearing.
After weeks of buildup and hours of crying, she went to her hearing. And she left with a new court date for 2028 - not a deportation order.
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