This is Steven Rodriguez . Many of you know him as one of the kindest, hardest working young men you'll ever meet. To me, he's not just one of my representatives — he's a close friend, a natural leader, and a bright 18-year-old with dreams bigger than his circumstances.

Last week, something heartbreaking happened during our work trip to New York.

Steven, who crossed through an American checkpoint at Niagara Falls, suddenly found himself in the custody of ICE. He is legally in the U.S., but because New York had no access to his documentation in their system, he now he is alone, scared, hundreds of miles away from home in a detention center.

Steven had just celebrated his 18th birthday on November 6th.

Instead of entering adulthood surrounded by friends and family, he was spending it behind locked doors, confused and isolated for something completely out of his control.

We are doing all that is humanly possible to have him returned home and it is incredibly expensive. We are fundraising for:

Steven's family relies on him: he helps his mom, supports his siblings, and serves as a role model to everyone. He is the kind of person who shows up early, works hard, treats everyone with kindness, and has dreams of running his own business next summer. He should be able to continue to build that future, not have it taken away because of this.

Anything you can provide will go directly toward bringing Steven home and back to the family that needs him. If you can't donate, sharing this page means the world to us.

Thank you for standing with Steven. Thank you for helping bring him back to safety, to hope, and to the future he has been working so hard for.