I have had nightmares about this phone call too many times – so many that when it finally came yesterday morning, I couldn’t believe it was real. My dad was taken from us because of a cracked windshield.

My dad, Jose, was pulled over as a passenger in his work truck, on his way to work with the rest of his crew. Within hours, he was placed in immigration detention. This fundraiser will help provide commissary funds for us to contact my dad while he is in ICE detention, support him as he starts his new life in Mexico – a country he hasn’t seen in over twenty years, and help my mom and sister, who depended on him as the main provider. Right now, we’re doing our best to hold everything together.

My dad left Mexico twenty-five years ago with one dream: to give us a better life. He never chased wealth, only the chance to build a family in a place where he believed we’d be safe and have opportunities he never had. In order to pursue this dream, he sacrificed the ability to visit his country for two decades, missing important moments and the chance to create memories with his entire family that he had to leave behind.

In the eyes of the anti-immigrant rhetoric this administration has fueled, my dad was a “good immigrant”. (God, I hate using that term – no one should have to earn their humanity.) My dad has no criminal record, either in Mexico or the United States. In his decades here, he worked tirelessly to build and run his own plumbing business, bought a home, and gave my sister and me the chance to graduate high school. He paid taxes every single year, yet saw none of the benefits: no health insurance, federal aid, or social security. Even with health and mobility issues, he continued to work – right up until yesterday, when ICE took him.

My dad is the kindest, funniest, and most compassionate man I’ve ever known. I know he is probably cracking a joke right now to help lighten the mood, or offering his blanket to someone struggling more than he is. We just hope that the cruel conditions of detention will not break his spirit.

Thank you for taking the time to read my dad’s story, and for offering our family love and support during such a difficult time.