DJ Tunjo and partner in ICE custody after arrest at Midway Airport
A Chicago-based DJ from Colombia and his partner are in ICE custody on Sunday, federal immigration officials confirmed.
Omar David Panqueva, also known as DJ Tunjo, and his partner were arrested at Midway Airport for overstaying their visas, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS says the visas expired in 2022.
Their attorneys told the Chicago Tribune the couple was seeking asylum because of the persecution they faced in Colombia as members of the LGBTQ plus community. They applied for asylum before their visas expired.
DJ Tunjo played at Chicago's Fiesta del Sol last month and at the Sueños music festival in May.
DJ Tunjo's promoters are helping his family raise money to support the couple. The promoters say they want to show up for him in the same way he's shown up for others.
The Chicago DJ frequently posts on social media about his love for Chicago while promoting local shows. He was taking his "Tunjo Takes a Chance Tour" to Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, after shows in Chicago two weeks ago.
The couple is being held in Indiana ahead of a court hearing scheduled for August 19.
Reports of increased immigration arrests at airports across U.S.
TSA is increasingly sharing tips about travelers who aren't citizens with immigration and custody officials, according to an ICE source who called people at airports, "easy targets."
Recent reports of immigration arrests at U.S. airports, some of them captured in videos that have gone viral, stem from increased collaboration between the Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE sources tell CBS News.
TSA has been sharing more information about noncitizen travelers with ICE, including on immigrants who lack criminal records but are suspected of civil immigration violations, like overstaying their visas, the sources say.
TSA agents are increasingly giving ICE "tips" or "leads" so that the agency can arrest, detain, and process for deportation individuals who are deemed deportable by the federal government.
In May 2025, TSA and ICE signed an agreement to boost information sharing between the two agencies, according to a memo disclosed this week by the group American Oversight.
