After more than a month away from home in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, a Farnsworth Elementary School custodian was reunited with his family on Aug. 28, family members confirmed.
Josue Pire Hidalgo was detained on the morning of July 17 during what his family believed would be a routine ICE appointment for their asylum case, an appointment they had waited more than three years to attend. They entered the United States in late 2022, applied for asylum, obtained work permits and secured jobs as Chicago Public Schools custodians.
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“It was a terrible day,” Pire Hidalgo said in Spanish. “We did not believe that I would be arrested because we are not criminals; we try to be exemplary citizens. We have been law-abiding. It was difficult in that moment because I felt like I had been treated like a criminal, though I am not.”
Pire Hidalgo was processed through the ICE facility in west suburban Broadview before being transferred to the Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana, about 200 miles south of downtown Chicago. He was incarcerated for six weeks.
“It was 42 very difficult days for our family; stressful, desperate and very costly, but always trusting in God and in his lawyer, Carla Espinoza,” his wife, Yulexis Padilla, said in Spanish.
Pire Hidalgo left Clay County Jail thanks to a successful habeas corpus petition and was released on bond. His next immigration court date is in January 2027, Espinoza told the Tribune.
Pire Hidalgo said that his incarceration is something that he “would not wish on anyone.”
“(The conditions) are not the best,” Pire Hidalgo said. “We would try to make ourselves somewhat comfortable, but it is not the same. As a person who has never done anything illegal or criminal, to be in these conditions is not ideal because we did not expect this.”
While detained, Pire Hidalgo had the support of his Lincoln Square community. Anna Duski, a friend of the family, said there was a group of parents helping out however possible. In addition, Duski said that the school received around 20 letters of support advocating for the beloved custodian.
“They’re truly a part of our community; we know their kids, we know them,” Duski said. “They are very valuable members of the community, and they’re part of it even more so than some people who might take it for granted.”
Pire Hidalgo, now home again in the Lincoln Square neighborhood with his wife and two kids, is set to resume his previous position at Farnsworth next week.
“CPS and the school community are pleased to see Mr. Hidalgo’s family reunited and look forward to his continued contributions to the community,” a CPS spokesperson said in a statement to the Tribune Friday.
“I am very happy and glad to be back at home with my family, with my wife and my kids,” Pire Hidalgo said. “I am very grateful to God and my lawyer for this opportunity.”