Good afternoon, Chicago.
For one day in September, José Coronado Meza became the Trump administration’s poster child for why Chicago needed to be flooded with federal agents. Coronado Meza had been ordered deported. But the Biden administration let him live in Chicago, where he got arrested and was charged with murder. Democrats’ “sanctuary” ways had coddled a would-be killer. Or so the argument went.
But a deeper look at the case offers a window into the erratic nature of immigration enforcement — even in eras when administrations tout crackdowns. The case shows how someone like Coronado Meza can slip through the cracks of both Democratic and Republican administrations, once the facts get separated from the bluster and politics.
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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Adam slides down the stairs as he eats a banana in his host family’s home in Tinley Park on Sept. 4, 2025. Adam’s parents and siblings were killed in Gaza last year then he was evacuated with his grandmother by Heal Palestine. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
4-year-old evacuated from Gaza finds sense of normalcy in Tinley Park while being treated for amputation
Adam is one of six children temporarily living in the Chicago area after being medically evacuated by Heal Palestine, an organization founded in response to the destruction caused in Gaza by Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Downtown alderman wants teen curfew compromise after meetup shootings
Northwestern deal with Trump administration divides students and faculty
‘Extremely dangerous for the citizens’: Harvey Fire Department staffing low after new layoffs
Militza M. Pagan, then-staff attorney at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, talks during a news conference at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Feb. 26, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s Shriver Center on Poverty Law closing at the end of the year
The Shriver Center, which has spent more than 50 years advocating for economic, health care and racial justice, plans to close at the end of this year, it said in an email announcement. Read more here.
More top business stories:
Wheaton-based ‘buffer’ ETF firm Innovator sells to Goldman Sachs for $2 billion
Elon Musk is building out his next company town with science center, gym
Illinois coach Brad Underwood reacts during the second half against Connecticut on Nov. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Chicago basketball report: How the Illini aim to toughen up — and what’s sidelining Bulls rookie Noa Essengue
Illinois’ focus on toughness, the latest in the WNBA labor situation and a Bulls rookie’s injury lead the Chicago basketball report this week. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
Carter Hart, 1 of 5 acquitted players in Hockey Canada case, expected to make NHL return vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Today in Chicago History: Chicago Bears suffer only loss of 1985 season to Miami Dolphins
Photographer Steve Schapiro in Chicago in 2013. (Jason Marck/for the Chicago Tribune)
Column: An exciting movie about the legendary photographer Steve Schapiro
Steve Schapiro died three years ago in Chicago, where he had lived for some years, but he comes alive in a new documentary, the appropriately titled “Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere.” Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
Photos: Go inside the 29th annual Christkindlmarket at Chicago’s Daley Plaza
‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ announces bands for NYE broadcast
Smoke rises as Israeli forces demolish the home of Abdul Karim Sanoubar, a suspected Palestinian fighter who has been accused by Israel of planting bombs on buses in central Israel, in Nablus, West Bank, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Israel says it receives ‘findings’ handed over by Palestinian fighters in Gaza
The “findings” were believed to be remains of one of the two hostages still in the territory: an Israeli and a Thai national. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
Man charged in National Guard shooting pleads not guilty during court appearance from hospital bed
Federal authorities plan operation in Minnesota focusing on Somali immigrants, AP source says
