Thursday morning, 4/16/2026, our friend Juana was trying to help make ends meet for her family by selling food at the Home Depot parking lot. With her baby girl in her backseat, ICE pursued her on the highway and caused her to have an accident, damaging her vehicle and another person's. She was taken away from her baby in an unmarked vehicle. She has yet to be released.

Juana is here legally, yet tonight she is trying to sleep wrapped in a foil emergency blanket on the cold concrete floor of a downtown Baltimore ICE detention center. Her cellmate is shivering violently. There are no clocks or windows, and the lights are on 24/7.

Pro bono lawyers are working to help get her released. A habeas corpus petition is being submitted. But considerable expenses are likely to stack up. The car accident for one, not to mention the $54 charge every time she calls to hear her baby's voice or seek comfort from her husband.

The rest of Juana’s family, including her baby girl, are safe for now. Her husband, who has lived here for ten years with no criminal record, is now being forced to wear an ankle monitor while he awaits his own immigration court date.

We are raising money to help keep this hardworking family financially afloat through a deeply traumatic and profoundly uncertain time.