Nell Salzman

Nell Salzman is a former Tribune reporter with a specialty in immigration and education.

Juan Luna fights back tears while Alma Moreno comforts him following his graduation ceremony from Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School on June 3, 2025. Moreno is a staff member at the high school. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

At Albizu High School, migrant grads confront a future shaped by US policy

June 27, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

While many graduating seniors face doubts about jobs and the future, three students at Albizu High School in Humboldt Park carry additional burdens inherent to their immigration status.

Following her kindergarten graduation, Gabriela Pineda, 6, swings outside her home in Chicago on June 11, 2025. Pineda's mother, Wendy Sarai Pineda, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 4, 2025, and is now in a detention center in Kentucky, awaiting deportation to Honduras. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

ICE took her mother. Now, a 6-year-old is left without a guardian or legal path back to reunite in Honduras.

June 22, 2025 at 3:50 p.m.

On June 4, her mother was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside an office in downtown Chicago during what was supposed to be a routine check-in.

Boys play soccer outside the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel, where some migrants were housed, on June 27, 2024. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)

Embattled Kenwood shelter housing migrants and homeless Chicagoans to close in coming months

June 20, 2025 at 6:57 p.m.

A shelter in Kenwood housing both migrants and Chicagoans experiencing homelessness will close in the coming months, according to an email update from State Sen. Robert Peters.

Protesters hang a banner and blockade a vehicle entrance to immigration court at 55 E. Monroe St. in the Loop on June 17, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

ICE field director defends agents after ramped-up enforcement, arrests of US citizens at Chicago immigration court protest

June 18, 2025 at 6:19 a.m.

The head of Chicago’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Tuesday defended the conduct and decorum of federal agents who have ramped up arrests of undocumented immigrants.

Natalia Cardenas, 28, center, after learning her father had been detained after reporting to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on June 15, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

Two people detained on Father’s Day at Broadview immigration center

June 15, 2025 at 6:39 p.m.

Multiple people told to come in for a check-in appointment over Father’s Day Weekend; most left wearing ankle monitors.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez speaks at the eighth grade graduation ceremony for Walsh Elementary School at Benito Juarez Community Academy in Chicago on June 10, 2025. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

‘I am a product of this system’: Pedro Martinez reflects on his tenure as CPS chief

June 14, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The outgoing schools chief emotionally recounted his passion for Chicago Public Schools and for the city where he found home as the child of Mexican immigrants. He urged the next...

A protester chants while marching down Michigan Avenue in Chicago during a protest against ICE on June 12, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

Chicagoans continue protests against Trump and ICE Thursday as demonstrators rally across US

June 13, 2025 at 11:49 a.m.

Protests over ICE raids continued Thursday in Chicago, part of the demonstrations across the country against President Donald Trump.

School board picks Macquline King as interim CPS chief

June 11, 2025 at 6:01 p.m.

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday approved Macquline King as interim schools chief, replacing outgoing CEO Pedro Martinez as the search for a permanent leader continues.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and then-Principal Macquline King greet students and parents as they arrive on Aug. 30, 2021, for the first day of school at Mary E. Courtenay Language Arts Center. King is under consideration for the CPS interim CEO position. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

CPS narrows interim CEO search as negligence allegations surface in top candidate’s record

June 5, 2025 at 6:29 p.m.

The Chicago Board of Education has narrowed its list for the interim schools' chief down to three candidates in recent days, one of whom has a history of alleged negligence...

Ald. Anthony Quezada, 35th, is knocked down alongside Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, while confronting federal agents June 4, 2025, as the agents approached a Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove detainees from the South Loop. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Aldermen call for hearing into Chicago police response to ICE demonstration

June 5, 2025 at 6:10 p.m.

Aldermen will hold a hearing “to examine the extent of ICE’s misconduct and determine whether the Chicago Police Department played any role in (Wednesday's) actions."

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