In a quiet town in Michoacan, Mexico, grief filled the streets on Friday as family and friends gathered to mourn the death of 38-year-old Silverio Villegas Gonzalez. He was a father of two who had spent the last 18 years working in the United States. His return home was not one of joy but of sorrow, as his coffin arrived in his hometown of Irimbo after he was shot dead by a U.S. immigration agent in a Chicago suburb on September 12.
A Painful Return from Chicago
The coffin carrying Villegas was met with tears, prayers, and silence. A somber procession followed him through the town as relatives and neighbors joined in the funeral mass. People carried flowers, lit candles, and walked behind his coffin in one of the most emotional moments Irimbo had seen in years.
For the family, this was a painful closure. “We are in a lot of pain,” said Jorge Villegas, Silverio’s older brother. Struggling to hold back tears, he added, “At least my brother is here now. We can finally give him a Christian burial.” His words echoed the heartbreak of a family forced to say goodbye in the most tragic way possible.
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The Deadly Encounter in Chicago
Villegas’ life came to an end just moments after he dropped off his two children at an elementary school and a daycare center in the Chicago area. Soon after, immigration agents attempted to arrest him. What happened next has become the subject of anger and investigation.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agent fired his weapon in self-defense, claiming that Villegas drove his vehicle toward the officers. However, bodycam footage and documents reviewed by Reuters suggested a more complicated sequence of events than initially reported in Chicago.
The incident has quickly drawn attention because it highlights the growing criticism of aggressive tactics used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). For many, it was a shocking reminder of the risks migrants face, not only in their journey to the United States but also in their daily lives once there in Chicago and beyond.
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have both called for deeper investigations into the ICE agents’ actions. Their involvement has brought international attention to the case, showing the widespread concern about how the arrest unfolded in Chicago.
For his brother Jorge, the reality is simple and painful: “He was a good father. He didn’t deserve what happened to him. The way he was killed, the way things happened, cannot go unpunished.” His voice reflected both the grief and the demand for answers that now surround the tragedy in Chicago.
Mexican Town Mourns and Fears for the Future
Beyond the Villegas family, the entire community of Irimbo felt the loss. Silverio was remembered not just as a father and a brother but also as a classmate and a friend. People described him as humble, hardworking, and kind.
Blanca Avila, who once went to school with him, shared her memories. “He was a good classmate and very humble,” she recalled. For her, the shock of his death also raised new fears. Her own siblings live in the United States, and she now worries about their safety. “They go out to work with the fear that immigration will arrive and do something to them, just like what happened to our classmate in Chicago,” Avila said.
The fear expressed by Blanca is shared by many in Irimbo, where families often depend on relatives living and working in the U.S. Migrants send money home, support parents and children, and remain closely tied to their communities. For these families, the killing of Silverio was not just the death of one man. It symbolized the vulnerability of countless others who live in the U.S. under the constant risk of immigration enforcement in places like Chicago.
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On the day of his funeral, people of all ages joined together in the streets. Some had known Silverio personally, while others came simply to support his grieving family. In their faces, there was not only sadness but also fear, frustration, and a sense of powerlessness.
Silverio’s story has now become a symbol of the struggles faced by migrant workers and their families. What was meant to be an ordinary day for him—dropping off his children at school in Chicago—ended in a tragedy that has left two young children without their father and a town united in mourning.
