{"id":93803,"date":"2026-05-02T04:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T04:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/93803\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T04:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T04:46:11","slug":"israel-max-makoka-and-their-host-family-discuss-the-brothers-nine-day-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/93803\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel, Max Makoka and their host family discuss the brothers\u2019 nine day detention"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">DIAMONDHEAD, Miss. (WLOX) \u2014 Israel and Max Makoka, the two brothers who gained national attention after they were detained by ICE, are now back home with their host family.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Israel and Max Makoka, the two brothers that gained national attention after they were...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/XJ3M5S7VVVA2DJEZZ537ALENF4.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>Israel and Max Makoka, the two brothers that gained national attention after they were detained by ICE  are now back at home with their host family.(wlox)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The brothers were waiting for their school bus in Diamondhead the morning of April 21 when their host father, Cliff Baptiste, noticed an unfamiliar car loitering nearby, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mississippifreepress.org\/max-and-israel-makoka-were-waiting-for-a-hancock-high-school-bus-ice-took-the-brothers-instead\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.mississippifreepress.org\/max-and-israel-makoka-were-waiting-for-a-hancock-high-school-bus-ice-took-the-brothers-instead\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mississippi Free Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Just as the bus arrived, 10 unmarked cars surrounded the scene and ICE agents detained and zip-tied both boys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe should have got a notice. A phone call. The school should have got a notice. A phone call. They went straight to arrest,\u201d Cliff Baptiste said. \u201cNow that\u2019s a broken system right there. They didn\u2019t follow their own protocol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"\u201cWe should have got a notice. A phone call. The school should have got a notice. A phone call....\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DDUCE7ZHZNC63JDI5AAVWPF6RU.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>\u201cWe should have got a notice. A phone call. The school should have got a notice. A phone call. They went straight to arrest,\u201d the brothers\u2019 host father Cliff Baptiste said.(wlox)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The incident stemmed from a paperwork issue caused by faulty legal advice that the host family received, a lawyer working with Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlox.com\/2026\/04\/30\/lawmakers-release-statements-after-hancock-high-brothers-detained-by-ice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wlox.com\/2026\/04\/30\/lawmakers-release-statements-after-hancock-high-brothers-detained-by-ice\/\">who helped get the brothers released<\/a> \u2014 said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Israel and Max Makoka, the two brothers that gained national attention after they were...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/JOGI2XTLRFDQRM53SVPMUEQEEM.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>Israel and Max Makoka, the two brothers that gained national attention after they were detained by ICE  are now back at home with their host family.(wlox)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The brothers were detained for nine days, with Israel transferred to Louisiana and Max sent to a shelter in Houston, Texas. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI had one roommate over there, and he told me he\u2019d been here for seven months,\u201d Max said. \u201dSo, for me, it was clear. I was like, I can stay here for, like, even a year. So, I was scared a little bit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"\u201dSo, for me, it was clear. I was like, I can stay here for, like, even a year. So, I was...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3JODJFIWNRAWXEK34JE3GMEDEU.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/> \u201dSo, for me, it was clear. I was like, I can stay here for, like, even a year. So, I was scared a little bit,&#8221; Max said.(wlox)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Israel said he tried to remain positive throughout the ordeal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWhen we went to the office in Gulfport, I was on the phone with my mom. Because before I went to Hancock County Jail, I called her. And she was crying on the phone,\u201d he said. \u201cShe was worried about me. But I was like, I was like, okay, it\u2019s going to be alright. You know, don\u2019t worry about it. I didn\u2019t know myself what would happen. But I was just trying to stay positive, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Israel said he tried to remain positive throughout the ordeal.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AEARXYEW25HJHDMNCTRLZQNQLA.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>Israel said he tried to remain positive throughout the ordeal.(wlox)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlox.com\/2026\/04\/30\/hancock-high-students-detained-by-ice-released-host-family\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wlox.com\/2026\/04\/30\/hancock-high-students-detained-by-ice-released-host-family\/\">Now, they are back home with their host family<\/a> in Diamondhead, who hope they will be able to stay in the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The brothers\u2019 host mother, Gail Baptiste, said that though it may be difficult, there is a way for them to stay in the country. She said the hope that carried them through their detention will see them through to the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cYou know, it\u2019s a process. So, we\u2019re just going to keep trusting that God is in control and that the process is the process. But we have hope when it appeared that we didn\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"The boys\u2019 host mother, Gail Baptiste, said that though it may difficult, there is a way for...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP6SSYSP3ZAZFEPKF65YSPA2N4.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>The boys\u2019 host mother, Gail Baptiste, said that though it may difficult, there is a way for them to stay in the country.(wlox)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlox.com\/page\/error-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\">HERE<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DIAMONDHEAD, Miss. (WLOX) \u2014 Israel and Max Makoka, the two brothers who gained national attention after they were&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[33086,33088,32399,33085,32396,3504,33082,33083,33084,33081,33079,33078,33080,3323,32395,33091,33092,33090,37,33076,33075,33074,32397,33077,33087,33089],"class_list":{"0":"post-93803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-baptiste","9":"tag-cindy","10":"tag-cindy-hyde-smith","11":"tag-cliff","12":"tag-cliff-baptiste","13":"tag-cnn","14":"tag-cnn-hancock-county","15":"tag-cnn-hancock-county-ice","16":"tag-cnn-hancock-county-ice-detention","17":"tag-cnn-ice-detention","18":"tag-cnn-ice-interview","19":"tag-cnn-makoka","20":"tag-cnn-makoka-ice","21":"tag-gail","22":"tag-gail-baptiste","23":"tag-hancock","24":"tag-hancock-high","25":"tag-houston-texas","26":"tag-israel","27":"tag-israel-makoka","28":"tag-makoka","29":"tag-max","30":"tag-max-makoka","31":"tag-mississippi-free-press","32":"tag-sen-cindy-hyde-smith","33":"tag-sen-hyde-smith"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116503169264467764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}