A local DJ and his husband have returned home after they were released on bond from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last week.
Omar David Panqueva, known as DJ TUNJO, and Santiago Paez were detained by federal immigration agents at Midway Airport on Aug. 2, where they were set to depart on a flight to Washington D.C. to start a series of Karol G afterparties following her tour around the country.
Panqueva performed at Sueños Music Festival in Grant Park in May and the couple founded the Chicago-based Latin music and community event organization La Mesa Presents.
The couple, from Colombia, were released on bond Aug. 12 after proving they are not a flight risk and have no criminal history, their attorney Enrique Espinoza told the Sun-Times.
“The government tried to argue that they are a flight risk, but the reality is that they’re not. They have fully cooperated with the government and completed all their requirements,” said Espinoza.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Panqueva, 26, and Paez, 27, applied for asylum after fearing persecution in Colombia because of they are LGBTQ+. Despite their pending asylum case, DHS said the couple was detained for overstaying visas they obtained in 2021 that expired in 2022.
Though they’ve been released, their legal fight to remain in the country is far from over, said Espinoza. Their detention also has forced them to miss an important step in the asylum process.
The men applied for asylum through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which determines whether an applicant meets the requirements for asylum. If that federal agency determined they did not qualify, their case would typically be referred to an immigration court, where a judge would make the final decision.
But because the men were detained, their case will now go directly to immigration court, where it could be years before they have the opportunity to appear before a judge.
Espinoza said it’s become common to detain people regardless of their immigration status under the Trump administration.
“The government seems to be detaining anyone, regardless of their background and whether they have a criminal record or not,” he said. “These are not the worst of the worst, as they describe it. These are individuals that have complied with all the requirements provided by the government.”