CHICAGO — Local DJ and rising star Omar David Panqueva, who goes by the stage name DJ TUNJO, and his husband, Santiago Páez, have been released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on bond. But their legal fight to stay in the United States is far from over.

Panqueva, 26, and Páez, 27, of Colombia, were arrested by ICE agents at Midway International Airport on Aug. 2, where they were set to board a flight to the nation’s capital, then to follow reggaeton superstar Karol G’s tour across the country to DJ a series of unofficial after-parties.

Now, after being released on Aug. 12, the tour and their careers are on pause as they fight to obtain legal status in the United States. While it’s possible for DJ TUNJO to headline more Karol G after-parties, it’s uncertain.

“This is our city. We moved here because this is our safe space. We were reborn here in many ways,” said Panqueva, who was seeking asylum with his husband because of the persecution they faced in Colombia as members of the LGBTQ+ community. “We have a big community here that we are always looking to give back to, to do things for. So for us seeing ourselves chained, handcuffed on a bus with bars, taken out of Chicago … we were crying and crying.”

Before the arrest, the couple applied for asylum status and were working in the country with a legal work permit, according to their immigration attorney Enrique Espinoza. They remained in the country for an “authorized period of stay,” which is not a legal status, but a period of time following asylum petitions when the government is aware of an individual’s presence.

Expired visas are common among immigrants who are awaiting decisions on asylum claims, visa extensions or green card applications, and who are often granted work authorization while their cases are pending.

In the past, these immigrants generally were not prioritized for deportation unless they had committed crimes, according to immigration law experts. Under President Donald Trump, however, visa overstays are increasingly being treated as immigration violations subject to enforcement, marking the latest tactic in his push to carry out his promised mass deportation campaign, troubling immigration advocates.

“They’re changing the norm, and they’re detaining all these individuals that in the past didn’t have any issues,” Espinoza said.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and Espinoza confirmed that Panqueva and Páez were both released from ICE custody with bond on Aug. 12.

The men do not have any criminal history, their attorney says, and DHS has not listed any such record, either. Instead, Espinoza says the couple’s arrest appears to align with what immigration attorneys across the country have observed in recent months: an increase in ICE arrests at airports of people traveling domestically with expired visas but pending immigration cases.

“My job was to get them out on bond, and that’s what I did,” Espinoza said. “Now, they need to continue their case in front of an immigration judge in a more adversarial setting in which they need to demonstrate that they are or should be eligible for the release that they’re seeking.”

There is no timeline for how long it could take for Panqueva and Páez’s legal case to trickle through the immigration court system. It could take weeks or years, Espinoza said.

“I always say that I encourage people to be really careful when talking about immigration processes because you’re talking about a human being, a family, a history,” Panqueva said. “There’s revictimization in a way when you have to keep defending and keep giving reasons to everyone on why you deserve to be somewhere.”

Panqueva and Páez said it was the support of their community that helped get them through the detention. The couple has become embedded in Chicago’s nightlife, curating events and performing in some of Chicago’s most popular venues. Earlier this summer, Panqueva performed a set at Sueños Music Festival at Grant Park.

A GoFundMe, started by Páez’s sister, has raised more than $23,000 to support the couple.

“Chicago gave us a hug and saved us in this situation,” Páez said. “It backed us up and gave us the strength to continue fighting.”

Panqueva recounted the moment he found himself sitting on a DHS bus with bars covering the windows, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles. His husband, Páez, also cuffed, was beside him. Instead of headlining a sold-out Washington, D.C., show, the couple was in ICE custody traveling from its processing center in Broadview to, at the time, an unknown location.

They cried.

The men were taken to Clay County Jail in Indiana, where they slept on the floor for their first night in detention and where the couple, married, was held separately from one another.

“There’s a lot we have to process from detention, but legally and recovering mentally, physically,” Panqueva said.

Additionally, Páez said community members sent letters to the judge asking for the couple’s release, talking about the impact Panqueva and Páez had on their lives.

“There’s a lot of hate, of course, from so many people, from so many sides,” Panqueva said. “For us, living this experience and going through the trauma, our hearts, our souls cannot take it anymore. We really stand on the side of community, of unity, passion, compassion, which is truly what Chicago showed us while we were in there.”

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