Every morning, Back of the Yards tamale vendor, Federico Diaz Acevedo set up his tamale cart at the corner of 47th and Hermitage in the Chicago neighborhood. On Tuesday, he didn't get the chance to sell a single one.
Surveillance video shows the 68-year-old, known to neighbors as "Don Federico," setting up his cart. Minutes later, two federal agents walked up, detained him and drove off. His cart was left sitting on the sidewalk.
His family says he has lived in Chicago for more than 20 years. He's a grandfather of two. He has asthma and heart problems. And as of Wednesday, his family said he'd been moved to a federal facility in Indiana.
Local CBS News coverage of the Back of the Yards tamale vendor
"Bills Don't Wait"
Don Federico wasn't careless. When federal agents launched Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago in September, he stopped selling for a few weeks. His daughter-in-law, Alexy Marin, told CBS News Chicago he eventually went back because he had rent and bills to pay.
His daughter, Alejandra Diaz, told the Chicago Tribune the two of them made tamales together every evening. Then each morning, he'd set up outside a Huntington Bank to earn a humble living. He went back to his corner despite his heart condition, she said, because "bills don't wait."
A worker at a nearby auto parts shop described him as an elderly, fragile man.
Not long before his arrest, a video on social media showed him selling his homemade tamales in the bitter cold. Now the family is raising money through a GoFundMe to cover legal fees, or to help him get by if he's deported to Mexico.
The Same Day Bovino Came Back
Don Federico was taken the same morning Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino returned to Chicago with a fresh wave of agents.
Bovino led the aggressive Border Patrol sweeps across the city this fall. Sources told Block Club Chicago he brought about 200 agents back with him this time, and he bragged to reporters that "It's going to be a merry Christmas in Chicago."
On Tuesday, agents in unmarked cars without front license plates circled Little Village, Cicero and other Southwest Side neighborhoods. Community members say at least 15 people were detained across the area, and tear gas appeared to be used.
Bovino also brought his camera crew. In one video from a Cicero Walmart, an agent wearing a vest marked "MEDIA" filmed agents zip-tying a man and taking him into custody.
What Officials Are Saying
The Department of Homeland Security says the operation is going after "criminal illegal aliens terrorizing Americans" in Illinois.
Local leaders see it very differently. Gov. JB Pritzker said nobody warned his office that Bovino was coming back. "They call it enforcement. We call it harassment," he said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson's office blasted the film crew for turning raids into content at the expense of traumatized families. Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García pointed to investigative reporting showing these raids are sweeping up people with no criminal records.
Nothing public suggests Don Federico was a danger to anyone. He was an older man with a bad heart, setting up a food cart before sunrise in December.
Not the First Tamale Vendor Taken
Back of the Yards has been here before. During the same Chicago crackdown, ICE agents detained Laura Murillo while she sold tamales near 47th and Western, just a few blocks from Don Federico's corner. Her boyfriend was on a video call with her during the arrest. He said she kept telling agents they were hurting her before the call cut off.
Murillo has two daughters. One of them has special needs.
A Neighborhood That Shows Up
What happened next says a lot about Back of the Yards.
When Murillo was taken, neighbors organized a buyout of her tamale stand the very next morning. They sold all 320 tamales in an hour.
Across the city, Chicagoans have been doing the same thing for other street vendors. Volunteers buy a vendor's entire stock early in the day so the vendor can pack up and get home safely. Groups like the Street Vendors Association of Chicago have been part of that work.
Now local organizations are lifting up Don Federico's story and rallying around his family.
Why This Matters
Street vendors are part of what makes a neighborhood feel like home. They know regulars by name. Their food carries recipes passed down for generations. And for many families, a cart on the corner is the only thing standing between them and a missed rent payment.
When agents snatch a 68-year-old grandfather off the sidewalk, it doesn't just hurt his family. It tells every vendor, every worker and every neighbor that they could be next. People stop going out. Corners go quiet.
Chicago's answer has been to buy the tamales, fund the lawyers and keep showing up for each other. That's worth sharing.
If you're in Chicago, you can support Don Federico's family through their GoFundMe. And the next time you pass a street vendor, buy something.
