My Passover Miracle – Local Immigrant Family Released from Detention

By Lori Lander Goodman

This has been an intense, remarkable, and miraculous week.

I am the CEO of LEAP, a nonprofit that serves low-income families with childcare and family support. Many of our families are immigrants, including K’s family, who hold asylum status. K is two years old.

K and his mother are bona fide asylum seekers who have complied with all immigration requirements, including check-in appointments. On March 19, K, his mother, and his father were arrested and detained after appearing at a routine immigration check-in.

Our Community Engagement Specialist, Laura, received a call from the family in detention letting us know what happened. Sadly, there was nothing we could do.

On Monday, three things happened. First, Laura wrote to me about the call. She shared her sadness at not being able to do more, but also recognized that the trust she had built with families was what enabled K’s mother to reach her. Laura wrote beautifully, and I want to share some of her words with you:

“I was approached by two other families who are part of our LEAP community. I showed up the only way I know how – with a smile, an open, heart and a willingness to listen… I gave them my card. They told me that, at the very least, they felt peace knowing their children were safe at LEAP…

Somehow that connection traveled.

That small moment of showing up – of listening, of being present – carried my number across state lines, all the way to a detention center in Texas. That’s what connection does. Sometimes it’s not about having the answers or the power to fix everything. Sometimes it’s just about being there, meeting people where they are, and holding space for them. And, in this case, that was enough to build trust strong enough to travel thousands of miles.”

Moved by Laura’s words, I decided to share them with my network. That was the second thing that happened. I wrote a personal email to many of the people who support LEAP, who care about us. I also did something I don’t always do: I invited them to donate. I knew these people would want to DO something. So I suggested a gift to our emergency response fund.

That night, another staff member called me. While eating dinner, she saw K’s face on the news in a story about the detention center in Dilley, TX. The story reported he was sick, hadn’t eaten in 12 days, and wasn’t receiving care. She was heartbroken to see a child she had worked so hard to enroll in our children’s center now suffering. But there was something hopeful in the story. The San Antonio Texas Congressman, Joaquin Castro, was advocating for K’s release. I shared that news with the same group of donors. A handful of donations came in.

The next morning, Laura began receiving calls from attorney Elora Mukherjee, who had taken on the case after seeing Lidia Terrazas’s news report. She filed an appeal, which was tentatively accepted. By 7:30 AM, we were told that if we could find a sponsor for the family, mom and K might be released. I immediately found that sponsor.

Within the hour, immigration called to confirm the sponsor. I was told we needed to provide plane tickets for K and his mother at a specific time. Fortunately, because of the email I had sent, we had enough in donations to cover last-minute, refundable tickets from San Antonio to Santa Barbara. Evan, the travel agent of our family, booked the flights. I became the point of contact for immigration and spoke several times with the bureaucrat facilitating the process. By noon, immigration confirmed by text that agents would drive K and his mother to the airport Thursday. Things were beginning to look hopeful.

Now we needed to prepare for their arrival home. They no longer had a home as their landlord, assuming they had been deported, had already rented their room and discarded most of their belongings. Housing in our area is so tight the room was rented immediately. With the help of his mother’s friend, we found them a room and paid the first month’s rent. Thanks, again, to our emergency response fund.

On Wednesday, Laura went shopping for clothes and basic supplies, anticipating they had little with them. We arranged a doctor’s appointment for K, knowing he was sick. Meanwhile, we were tracking the flights. We celebrated when we learned that mom and K were at the airport. We cheered when the first plane took off. When Mom and K landed, my team was there to greet them.

I’d like to end the story there, but that’s not the end.

K is only two years old. He suffered immensely in Dilley. K was unable to eat solid food for the entirety of his detention. For nearly two weeks, K vomited every time his mom tried to feed him solid food. He survived by drinking water and apple juice. K cried frequently and suffered mentally and physically. He developed a high fever and was unable to sleep, kept awake by lights on 24/7 and the noise of patrolling guards. He desperately misses his father.

Both K and Mom are severely traumatized. He screamed hysterically when Laura picked them up and he was put in the car. He is now terrified of cars and car seats because of the way he was violently shoved into a car by ICE agents. K and his mother have nothing. We will make sure to get them on their feet. I’m hoping to find a lawyer to get K’s father released.

K will return to our school on Monday. I know we will be patient with his fears and create the space and safety the family needs to heal.

We know that positive experiences can help heal the wounds of trauma. Trusted relationships, equitable environments, and a sense of belonging, along with therapy, can counteract some of the harmful effects of what happened to this family.

This week is an example of what we can do because we are a community.

This week, while celebrating Passover, I had a tangible sense of what it means to move toward freedom.

If you want to help, here are some things you can do:

To donate directly to the family, visit their GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/81af1b43a

To support LEAP’s work providing high-quality, trauma-informed early childhood education and family support, donate here: https://leapcentralcoast.org/donate/

To see an initial report from Lidia Terrazas of K’s release, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HydcAS1KI

Share this with your networks. Community is powerful.

Pics and story shared with permission.

To contact Lori directly: LoriG@leapcentralcoast.org