Pro-Trump Latino business leaders launch campaign for border security and legal status for \u2018Dreamers\u2019 and essential workers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nSanchez and other Mexican American and Latino business leaders across the nation who support Trump formed a coalition, called the Comit\u00e9 de 100, focused on advocating for bipartisan immigration reform, prioritizing border security, and providing legal status for law-abiding \u201cDreamers,\u201d young adults brought to the country as children, and long-term workers in the U.S. without legal permission in all industries.<\/p>\n
However, after the announcement of the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cOperation Midway Blitz,\u201d Sanchez visited Washington this week to urge the White House to slow deportations and support a stalled immigration reform bill, Block Club Chicago reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Sanchez did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n
A day later, Sanchez\u2019s daughter \u2014 Samantha Sanchez, a fellow restaurateur who owns La Luna in Pilsen and La Lunita in Logan Square \u2014 issued a statement distancing herself and her businesses from her father\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to address the ongoing attacks and false claims that I and my restaurants are \u2018pro-Trump,\u2019\u201d her statement read. \u201cLet me be absolutely clear: I have never expressed, posted, shared or endorsed support for Donald Trump in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting that she has faced backlash directed at her because of her father\u2019s political beliefs, Samantha Sanchez stated, \u201cHis beliefs are his own and do not represent me, my businesses, or my team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy values are guided by integrity, respect, and community \u2014 and that is what I stand for both personally and professionally,\u201d her statement continued. \u201cFrom day one, I have worked to create a supportive, respectful environment and an open-door policy for my team. \u2026 I am proud to be a hardworking Latina woman who took a chance, and I will continue to fight for what I\u2019ve built alongside my team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The backlash has also ensnared V5 Group, a Chicago entertainment marketing company hosting the Cafet\u00f3n Sunday party in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Social media users accused V5 Group of supporting Sanchez\u2019s political beliefs because of its affiliation with his restaurants, and urged the Latino community not to attend the party.<\/p>\n
The group, in a statement on social media Thursday, said that Sam Sanchez had no involvement in its operations or in the planning of Cafet\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
\u201cCafet\u00f3n is its own brand and community-driven event, operating independently under the V5 umbrella,\u201d the group said in the statement. \u201cWe have never contributed funds to anti-immigrant organizations. Our mission is to create spaces where our community feels safe, seen, and united, and to stand firmly against anti-immigrant agendas, deportations, ICE raids, and policies that harm our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
V5 stated that the event will go on and that plans are in place in case the outdoor party was the target of immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
The Tribune has reached out to Samanatha Sanchez and V5 for comment.<\/p>\n
Chicago Tribune\u2019s Lauryn Azu contributed.<\/p>\n
tkenny@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\nOriginally Published: September 18, 2025 at 6:47 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Chicago area feeling the weight and pressure of heightened federal enforcement activity across the region, a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":237817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818,409,121074,127508,127509],"class_list":{"0":"post-237816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois","11":"tag-immigration","12":"tag-operation-midway-blitz","13":"tag-sam-sanchez","14":"tag-samantha-sanchez"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115228532683169967","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}