On their youngest son’s 10th birthday, federal immigration agents detained a couple who immigrated from Mexico and have lived in Cicero for 18 years, family and lawyers said Tuesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Moises Enciso Trejo, 41, and Constantina Ramírez Meraz, 43, during a traffic stop Sunday at Cicero Avenue and Pershing Road on the Chicago-Cicero border. They had been driving with one of their four children, their eldest son, to his university to drop off school materials and later meet the rest of the family in church.
“The children are heartbroken and devastated by these arrests,” said Shelby Vcelka, managing partner at Victory Law Office, which is representing the Enciso-Ramírez family. “They are deeply concerned about the well-being of their parents and want them to come home.”
The son, 22, was also detained but released two hours later, according to Vcelka. Citizenship requests for the eldest son and a daughter, 19, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are currently pending approval, the family said.
A spokesperson for ICE did not confirm when the couple would be deported, citing “operational security.”
“What we can tell you though is that both are in the country illegally, in violation of federal immigration law and are expected to remain in ICE custody, pending immigration proceedings,” the spokesperson said Wednesday.
Viral videos shared on social media showed the daughter and two underage siblings — both U.S. citizens, according to the family — on the scene as well. Lawyers later clarified that the three of them had not been in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop, but rather showed up shortly afterward when they received a call with “the unthinkable news” about the arrests, Vcelka said.
According to a family statement, the ICE agents pressured the younger siblings, 12 and 10, with questions and, without verifying her age, they handed the car keys to the older sister, leaving her and the children with two abandoned vehicles on the side of the road.
“Their 10-year-old son watched helplessly as his parents were taken away on his birthday — a day meant for joy, not fear,” the statement reads. “Moises Enciso and Constantina Ramírez do not have a criminal background. They are beloved parents and valuable members of the community.”
A search of court records for Cook and collar counties did not turn up any criminal history for anyone with matching birthdays named Enciso Trejo and Ramírez Meraz.
Family said that Ramírez, the mother, works at a local restaurant, and that Enciso, the father, is a construction worker known to be friendly and outgoing among neighbors. He was anxiously waiting to reunite with his mother, who was going to visit from Mexico for the first time in two decades, this coming Sunday — plans that, like his son’s birthday celebration, were also put on hold when Enciso was taken into custody.
“The uncertainty and fear of not knowing when their parents will be released has been agonizing,” the family statement said.
According to lawyers, the children are currently under the care of relatives.
“Our office will pursue every available option to fight for Moises and Constantina’s release and to protect their rights under the law,” Vcelka said.
Chicago Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky contributed.
