My family and I are raising funds to help my dad, Alfredo Diaz Ortiz, with legal fees. He was taken by ICE on 02/03/2026 at around 7:30 am while on his way to work. He is currently being held at GEO Group, Aurora ICE Processing Center.

My dad has called the United States his home for the majority of his life. He fled economic instability and violence as a young man in search of a better life in Colorado, where my sisters and I were born. He left his siblings and parents behind in Mexico, and hasn’t seen them in over two decades.

He has worked as a carpenter for over 25 years in the US, and loves his job. Tuesday, 02/03/2026, started like every other weekday for him. His coworker picked him up and they headed to work. While driving, the coworker noticed two unmarked SUVs he saw outside our home had been following them. Without notice, they boxed the car in, forcing the coworker to pull over on the side of the road. ICE agents got out of the SUVs and demanded my dad identify himself. He provided his Colorado license and was taken to ICE Processing Center, run by GEO Group in Aurora, Colorado.

I have only been able to speak with him on the phone once. “Most of them are workers like me,” he said over the phone, referring to the thousands of detainees there with him. He told me he was going to sign up to help in the kitchen. The connection was so bad I could barely hear him on speaker phone.

Communities across the country are filled with countless families in similar situations. We do the jobs no one wants, we do the jobs everyone wants, and everything in between. Yet it’s never enough. They don’t want us, only what we provide. Never what we are made of. Love and pain, hopes and dreams, gifts and imperfections.

I hope my father is at peace knowing we are fighting for justice every day. For him to breathe in the fresh Colorado mountain air and feel the sun on his skin as a free man, in every sense of the word.

My dad helped raise my two younger sisters and me. He saw all work as dignified, no matter how big or small. He instilled Christian values in us, reminding us to always treat others with kindness. I hope our legal team succeeds in bringing justice to my father and family.

Lizi graduates high school in May and we want our dad to be there and see her walk across the stage. As a parent, I imagine seeing your children bettering their lives in ways you could only dream of must be a beautiful healing experience. I hope my father heals from what he’s experiencing.

We are asking for your support to help bring my father home and reunite our family. Donations will be used to help pay legal fees and other related expenses. Any contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference. Thank you for standing with us during this difficult time.