ICE stole my friend’s Dad.

Briyan is a friend and former nursing school classmate who is now working so hard to keep his family together in the wake of this horror show.

On the Friday before Thanksgiving, Briyan’s father, Hugo Tapia-Cruz, was preparing his truck to ferry several of the neighborhood kids to school. Without warning, ICE showed up and kidnapped him along with several other neighborhood residents.

The ugliest parts of the national narrative have hit home and this kind of domestic terrorism is horrid and was always avoidable.

We are gathered here to rally together around the people we care about in this moment of tragedy and need. Briyan’s family matters! Their presence in our lives and community matters!

There are a myriad of ways to give and support, here we are asking for whatever means of financial support one can give. Anything you can contribute will be received with gratitude as a family rebounds from such an avoidable tragedy.

In the wake of this tragedy, Briyan’s family is left without an income, hit with legal fees, and still needing to account for the day-to-day groceries and light bills. In this unfolding heartbreak,

Briyan has stepped up to become the head of the household. He is dipping into savings and taking care of his 12 year old sister.

In this moment, I am thinking about the writer Rebecca Solnit and her book; A Paradise Built in Hell. These events are awful and inexcusable but they give us a chance to be the best versions of ourselves. Please join me in stepping up to the plate. We keep each other safe!

All funds raised will go directly to Briyan’s family.

Thank you. Love and Solidarity.

Reed, a friend of Briyan’s.