Chicagoan rebuilds life after deportation
Good morning, Chicago. ✶
Below: One longtime Little Village resident tries to rebuild, after being deported, in a hometown that he hasn't seen in decades.
Plus: A Colorado program for people with mental illness draws interest in Illinois for both its successes and low price tag, Richard Roeper is back with Oscars predictions, and more.
Keeping score: Bulls fall to Kings, 126-110; Fire and Crew draw; Canucks trip up Blackhawks, 6-3.
????: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER
???? Sunny with some wind gusts and a high near 73.
TODAY’S TOP STORY ????
Labeled a gang member and deported, longtime Chicagoan tries to restart in Mexican hometown
By Adriana Cardona-Maguigad | WBEZ
End of the line: Francisco Gonzalez-Jasso, a longtime Little Village resident, didn’t know exactly how to make his way back to his childhood home in Torreón, a city in Mexico’s northern state Coahuila. He hadn’t been there in 33 years. "I kept asking people on the bus, 'Is Torreón next?'" Gonzalez-Jasso says in Spanish.
What happened next: Gonzalez-Jasso, 55, is trying to rebuild his life in Mexico after he was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in October in Little Village, in front of friends and neighbors. He was deported a few days later. WBEZ has been keeping up with Gonzalez-Jasso after visiting him in Mexico in December, not long after he arrived.
Rejects accusation: Gonzalez-Jasso is among hundreds of people swept up during Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration's deportation campaign aimed at clearing "violent criminals" off Chicago-area streets. He's also among those who say they were wrongly accused of being criminals or having ties to gangs. "It’s humiliating for me," Gonzalez-Jasso says. "I’m not a criminal. I never harmed anyone."
EDUCATION ????
Aspira will soon have no teachers or money while CPS struggles to close it
By Sarah Karp | WBEZ
Classroom quagmire: Chicago Public Schools is trying to transfer some 545 students out of a charter school network that has refused to officially close, even though it will run out of money next month. Advocates and officials are now debating the adequacy of charter schools' funding and raising questions about their accountability.
Education in limbo: CPS officials made it clear they think students should abandon Aspira. They sent letters to families saying students will be offered seats at a nearby school for the remainder of the year. Still, officials noted that Aspira’s charter is not being revoked "at this time."
'Very fine line': CPS interim CEO and Superintendent Macquline King said the school district was in a tricky position. "[Aspira has] to elect to self-close or CPS will be in violation of their contract," she said. "We are walking a very fine line to respond in a way that is humane and acceptable ... while honoring the contract.”
Network pushback: "Stability matters right now," officials from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools said in a statement. “Keeping both [Aspira] campuses open through the end of the academic year ... would avoid the obvious negative consequences of moving high schoolers to an unfamiliar school just weeks ahead of graduation."
THE WATCHDOGS ????
Illinois lawmakers look to Colorado program that, for $6, a day helps mentally ill people
By Stephanie Zimmermann and Frank Main
A way out: Decades of undiagnosed mental illness beginning when Lottie Elliott was 15 led her to homelessness, her children being taken away and repeated arrests. In 2022, Elliott was offered a way to stop that damaging cycle through Bridges of Colorado, which places mental health liaisons in courtrooms across the state to help defendants whose persistent mental illness has contributed to repeated arrests.
Results: Elliott says people from the Bridges program worked with her in jail until she was found to be competent to face criminal charges. The liaisons helped get her into a residential sober-living program with intensive therapy under the monitoring of a judge, who granted her probation. She’s now in her own apartment, has reunited with her son, is taking regular mental health medication and is helping others as a peer counselor.
Key context: An Illinois task force of legislators, law enforcement, judiciary officials and mental health professionals is looking at Bridges of Colorado as a potential model for Illinois. They've been working to figure out how to improve the handling of criminal defendants with severe, persistent mental illness.
Chance to thrive: "My life is incredibly humbling," Elliott says. "I want to share with people who were like me, who believed there was no hope and it was not possible. It is. We can recover."
MORE NEWS YOU NEED ????️
- Juneteenth opening: The Obama Presidential Center will finally open to the public June 19, five years later than planned.
- 30 hours in detention: A U.S. citizen from Skokie spent nearly 30 hours in the custody of federal immigration officials after she was detained at O’Hare Airport following a work trip Thursday.
- Federal rebates?: Businesses including some in the Chicago area are pressing for refunds after a federal court ruled that companies should be repaid for certain tariffs they’ve paid.
- Flat funding: Gov. JB Pritzker's proposed budget allocates $25.9 million for the Illinois Arts Council, up just slightly from $25.7 million in fiscal year 2026.
- Homegoing for an icon: Chicago came out in force to honor Rev. Jesse Jackson at public funeral services Friday.
- 3.5 stars for ‘Hamilton’: The musical about the "ten dollar founding father" is a lot to take in, and every moment of its return to Chicago remains stellar.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ????????⚾️
- All Ls: The Bulls' losing has us longing for mediocrity again, Scoop Jackson writes.
- Girls run the court: For Women’s History Month, the Bulls and Gatorade hosted 150 girls and 50 coaches for the third annual Girls’ Day of Play.
- Young and Turnt Crew: Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers headline a FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.
- Free-agency primer: Here's what to watch in Bears reshuffling news.
- Cubs preview: In many ways, this Cubs team has some resemblance to 2016 — without the zany morning stunts and gimmicks.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD ????
Today's clue:
The Flintstones pet
BRIGHT ONE ????
Richard Roeper’s 2026 Oscars predictions are here
By Richard Roeper
The 98th annual Academy Awards are a week away, so let’s look at some of the pressing questions about this year’s ceremony — and my picks in the four acting categories plus best picture.
I expect to see "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" split the evening with five total wins apiece, "Frankenstein" taking home as many as four Oscars in four craft categories, "KPop Demon Hunters" winning for best animated feature and original song, and nine other films/performances winning one Academy Award.
That so many of the major categories are still up for grabs this late should make for one of the most entertaining and unpredictable Oscars in recent years.
Here are my predictions for who will win — and opinions on who should win — in five major categories. (After clicking below, scroll to the bottom of the story for a complete, downloadable 2026 Oscars ballot, with Roeper’s picks in bold.)
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
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PICTURE CHICAGO ????
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