Tree-cutting business owner arrested by ICE without warrant, detained six months facing deportation
Jan 26, 2025·Location: Lyons, IL
Country of origin: Mexico

Abel Orozco, a 47-year-old who has lived in suburban Chicago for 30 years and owns a tree-cutting business, was arrested by ICE on January 26 while driving home from picking up tamales for his family. According to his attorney, Orozco has no criminal record and arrived in the U.S. in the late 1990s under a legal work petition, though he was given a removal order in 2004 after visiting his father in Mexico. ICE officers apprehended him without a warrant, searching for his oldest son who shares the same name. Orozco has been detained in Kentucky for nearly six months facing expedited deportation. His family has missed mortgage payments and his younger son struggles to maintain his father's business while his wife fights breast cancer. Orozco is among 22 detainees alleging that immigration agents violated federal law and a 2022 settlement by arresting them without proper warrants or proof of flight risk, with a motion filed challenging the legality of the arrests.
Timeline
Sources
- Lyons father among 22 accusing ICE of arresting them illegally; son records encounter with agents
abc7chicago.com·Mar 17, 2025·archived copy
- immigrantjustice.org
- Lyons father arrested by ICE in immigration 'legal limbo' as case is continued
abc7chicago.com·May 28, 2025·archived copy
- Chicago father becomes face of lawsuit against ICE as judge hears challenge to warrantless arrests
Chicago Tribune·Jul 14, 2025·archived copy
delcotimes.com·Jul 15, 2025·archived copy
Yahoo News·Jul 14, 2025·archived copy
- swoknews.com
- herald-review.com
- newsnationnow.com
More incidents in Illinois
- Man mistaken for fugitive beaten and detained by ICE agents in Evanston, hospitalizedOct 4, 2026 · Evanston, IL
- ICE arrests eight men in Woodstock and Waukegan, Illinois enforcement operationsSep 25, 2026 · Waukegan, IL
- DACA recipient held by ICE for 7 months, son didn't recognize herSep 22, 2026 · Broadview, IL
- Federal agents repeatedly use tear gas, pepper spray on protesters at Broadview ICE facilitySep 19, 2026 · Broadview, IL
- Fear of ICE raids cost Chicago-area businesses $1.26 billion, study findsSep 8, 2026 · Chicago, IL
- Two men detained as ICE raids Illinois factory without warrantSep 3, 2026 · McCook, IL