Copyright Chicago Tribune
Following widespread backlash over the arrest of a Chicago day care teacher this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday released a statement alleging the teacher had illegally crossed the southern border in 2023 and last month, paid a smuggler to cross her teenage children over as well. In the statement, DHS said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, of Colombia, in a traffic stop as she and an unidentified male passenger were driving early Wednesday. It said she illegally entered the U.S. on June 26, 2023 and “was encountered by Border Patrol,” and that “the Biden administration released her into the U.S.” However, questions remain whether the woman had been targeted prior to the traffic stop. School officials said the Santillana had authorization to work in the day care and had undergone a background check. DHS did not respond to questions beyond its statement, which said Santillana and the male driver were in a vehicle registered to a “female illegal alien.” In the widely circulated video of Santillana’s arrest at Rayito de Sol, an early learning center and Spanish immersion school in North Center, agents can be seen pulling the screaming Santillana from the school vestibule. She is heard saying, “I have papers,” in Spanish as agents pin her against the officers’ car. The confrontation was reported in news outlets around the globe as agents in President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz — his immigration crackdown in Chicago — took the unprecedented step of entering the school. But DHS argued that, “Work authorization does NOT confer any type of legal status to be in the U.S. The illegal alien’s work authorization was approved by the Biden administration which exploited this loophole to help facilitate the invasion of our country.” Santillana’s attorney Naiara Testai, filed a habeas corpus case Wednesday and said Santillana is expected to have a court hearing next week. Testai declined to give more details on the case. The Colombian Consulate said they were aware of the situation and were working to provide assistance. The years surrounding 2023 — when DHS said that Santillana crossed over — saw record numbers of people trekking from South America to the United States, which prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to send migrants on bus and train to Chicago and other immigration-friendly U.S. interior cities as a political stunt to draw attention to strained resources in border cities. At a news conference Thursday, Maria Guzman, a parent of a child at Rayito, said: “It’s something that is out of a terror movie. I could not sleep last night thinking about the safety of my children. This is deeply, deeply personal.” Although parents said they did not have information on her immigration status, they continued their unwavering support of the teacher, who they called “Miss Diana.” “Our experience with her has been absolutely amazing,” said Sara Nepomuceno, 29, whose 5-month-old daughter has been attending Santillana’s class for around two months. “I’m a first-time mom,” she said and “going back to work can be a really hard experience but Diana made it so easy.” The arrest took place about 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, just after the school opened, officials, witnesses and school staff said. The agents had followed Santillana and the man into the school parking lot, 2550 W. Addison St., near Lane Tech College Prep High School. School staff told the Tribune that the agents went into the school without presenting a warrant before pulling her outside. Elected officials say video footage from inside the school shows the agents inside. “They went inside the day care center, questioned and took someone to her locker room to prove she had papers. We saw them run in and out,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Democrat, said Wednesday following the arrest. DHS accused Santillana of “barricading” herself at the day care with the unidentified male passenger, “recklessly endangering the children inside.” DHS further claimed Santillana crossed the border “illegally” and that she paid for “smugglers” to cross her two children, ages 16 and 17, last month through El Paso, Texas, to a Chicago-area shelter as unaccompanied children. “Facilitating human smuggling is a crime,” according to the DHS statement. Although parents at the school said they knew Santillana was a mother, it remains unclear if Santillana had been reunited with her children, and if so, how. According to Julie Contreras, a pastor and immigrant advocate at United Giving Hope who has worked to reunite unaccompanied children with their families and help them seek asylum for more than 30 years, unaccompanied minors are typically first introduced to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Border Patrol. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, also under DHS, then vets the reunification of the children with their parents or guardians, she said. She said it was unusual to accuse a biological mother of trafficking or smuggling her children across the border. Trafficking involves forced exploitation, and smuggling requires physically transporting someone illegally, which the mother could not have done if already in the U.S, Contreras said. “I don’t know her personally or the children, but how horrific this would be because she is only guilty of being a mother who loved her children and wanted to be reunited with them,” Contreras said. Parents at the school said Santillana cared for about six infants at the school. They described her as someone who was “always willing to go above and beyond” for her school community. “She would dress up in silly hats and unicorn costumes to entertain the children,” Laura Tober, whose 14-month old has been in Santillana’s class at Rayito since July. According to a “Meet the Teacher” brochure shared by a parent whose child was in Santillana’s class, Santillana has two kids and has worked with children in schools and kindergarten for 10 years. She holds a degree in early childhood education from San Buenaventura University in Medellin, Colombia, where she is from. “She is someone who likes to nurture and leave a mark on young ones,” the brochure stated
