In early September 2025, bystander videos of a flower vendor being arrested by federal immigration agents began pouring into Laura Rodríguez Presa’s phone through Chicago community groups and social media feeds. The Chicago Tribune’s immigration reporter started asking questions. She wanted to know what happened to Leodegario Martínez Barradas, who is believed to be the first immigrant in Chicago detained and deported during the Trump administration. Rodríguez Presa learned that Barradas had no family in Chicago — they all lived in Mexico. “So it was his son who actually reached out to me and then his son connected me to a kind of like a family friend that was here, because for a while they couldn’t find him.” Rodríguez Presa kept looking for Barradas. “I had to connect with the Mexican consulate to see if they could help me find where he was, (and I was) trying to also understand what was going on or what was happening.…