(CHICAGO) — Diana Santillana Galeano, the day care teacher detained by ICE officers last week, has been released from immigration detention, her lawyers said.
“We are thrilled that Ms. Santillana was released, and has been able to return home to Chicago where she belongs,” said attorneys Charlie Wysong and Naiara Testai in a statement. “We will continue to pursue her immigration claims to stay in the United States. We are grateful to her community for the outpouring of support over these difficult days, and ask that her privacy be respected while she rests and recovers from this ordeal.”
Her attorneys say she will be reunited with parents of the Rayito de Sol community on Friday.
“I am so grateful to everyone who has advocated on my behalf, and on behalf of the countless others who have experienced similar trauma over recent months in the Chicago area,” said Santillana Galeano in a statement. “I love our community and the children I teach, and I can’t wait to see them again.”
Local officials said Santillana Galeano was arrested at Rayito de Sol’s Spanish-language immersion day care with one claiming she was “abducted in front of her students.” The Department of Homeland Security maintained that she fled into the day care after an attempted traffic stop and lied about her identity. They also accused her of entering the country illegally in 2023 and claimed she “reportedly” paid a smuggler to bring her children to the United States recently.
A federal judge last week temporarily barred the Trump administration from removing Santillana Galeano from the U.S. and transferring her to any federal jurisdiction outside of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, court documents show.
Erin Horetski, a parent of one of the children Santillana Galeano teaches at the day care, tells ABC News she “burst into tears” when she heard the news of her release. She said “Ms. Diana’s” statement says a lot about the type of person she is.
“She’s thinking first about the kids, about all of us, even after everything she has been through. It’s moments like this when you’re reminded that people like Diana are the heart of this community, and even in the darkest circumstances, her instinct is to send love outward,” Horetski told ABC News.
Horetski launched a GoFundMe campaign for Santillana Galeano that has raised nearly $160,000.
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