HOME RAID TURNS FAMILY INTO ADVOCATES FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS!
On July 20, 2007, agents from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raided the family’s home just before dawn. Terrified and shocked by this sudden intrusion, F. and her children did not know that this moment would change their lives forever. The ICE agents arrested F.’s husband that day and deported him months later, leaving her to struggle as a single mom. With no access to a steady income, F. and her family are at risk of being evicted from their home.
F. has an asylum case pending in immigration court. She is a survivor of female genital cutting and fears that her four U.S. citizen daughters will face the same violence if she were deported back to Senegal. Since the brutal raid that took their husband and father away, F. and her children have become immigrant rights advocates and continue to fight for their family, and millions like them, to remain together.
THESE CHILDREN NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
F.’s oldest daughter, a 7th grader, is in a special program for high-achieving students. In a letter addressed to American citizens, she writes:
“I’m asking everyone who has kids to think about how you’d feel if they separated you from your children, and how your children would feel. Also, think about how your children would end up… if that was to happen. We’re all scared about what will happen [in] our future… There’s nobody that loves your children more than you do and that’s how my mother and father feel [about us].”
We are a committee of individuals and organizations that stand in solidarity with F. and her family, who is facing removal proceedings by the Department of Homeland Security. Ms. F., a United States resident since 1995, is the mother of six U.S. citizen children. She is a survivor of female genital cutting and fears that her four U.S. citizen daughters will face the same violence if she were sent back to Senegal. Since the brutal raid that took their husband and father away, Ms. F. and her children have become immigrant rights advocates and continue to fight for their family, and millions like them, to remain together. We voice our support for her and her family and ask that she is granted asylum so that she may remain in the United States with those that need and love her.
** The photo of the children is by photographer Mizue Aizeki.
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