I See My Father in the Fathers Killed by ICE

 Sometimes, I tiptoe around my mother’s feelings. In this case, I needed her to understand. I told her the fear was being taken, regardless of paperwork, and being held in an ICE detention facility. During the second Trump Administration, these facilities had become more dangerous than ever. 

Tens of thousands of people have been held in ICE detention, 70% of whom have no criminal convictions. Still, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) drums up fear of immigrants. 

“Over the weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement arrested more worst of the worst criminals across the country, including those convicted for murder, sexual assault of children, aggravated assault, drug trafficking, and other despicable crimes,” DHS declared this week. 

Where will l these pounding drums lead to?

Last December, on his way back to Mexico City to see my mother and take her to medical appointments, my father was afraid ICE would be at the airport, that they might apprehend him and hold him indefinitely. He asked me to send him the citation for when I was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. I sent him a PDF with all my awards. He printed them and he put them in a folder that not only included all his legal documentation, but other documents that made a case for his humanity. This broke my heart. I waited all day by my phone for him to say that he was safe. Sat on pins and needles. I flitted between thinking our fear unlikely and reasonable. The drumming up of fear made me afraid.