{"id":94846,"date":"2026-05-02T22:53:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/94846\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T22:53:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:53:31","slug":"israel-max-makoka-and-their-host-family-discuss-the-brothers-nine-day-detention-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/94846\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel, Max Makoka and their host family discuss the brothers\u2019 nine-day detention"},"content":{"rendered":"

DIAMONDHEAD, Miss. (WLOX) \u2014 Israel and Max Makoka, brothers from the Republic of the Congo, are back home after nine days in ICE detention.<\/p>\n

\"IsraelIsrael and Max Makoka, brothers from the Republic of the Congo, are back home after nine days in ICE detention.(wlox)<\/p>\n

The boys came to the country legally and were originally at Piney Woods School, but they felt isolated.<\/p>\n

Luckily, they were connected to Gail and Cliff Baptiste, who had helped students in their situation before. After moving in with the Baptistes and transferring to Hancock High School, the boys flourished. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are two young men that they have no records. They\u2019re good students. They\u2019re good people in the community and their classmates. They love them,\u201d Gail Baptiste said.<\/p>\n

\"Luckily,Luckily, they were connected to Gail and Cliff Baptiste, who had helped children in their situation before.(wlox)<\/p>\n

A lawyer told the Baptistes that the move was okay. However, by transferring to Hancock High, they inadvertently violated the terms of their F-1 nonimmigrant status.<\/p>\n

\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

\u201cWe believe in right and wrong, you know, not whether it\u2019s blue or red or purple,\u201d Gail Baptiste said.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cWe\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

The brothers were waiting for their school bus in Diamondhead the morning of April 21 when Cliff noticed an unfamiliar car loitering nearby, according to the Mississippi Free Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw two of the cars coming, like, straight at me,\u201d Max Makoka said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018What? What\u2019s happening?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as the bus arrived, 10 unmarked cars surrounded the scene and ICE agents detained and zip-tied both boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was calm. I was just, okay, we\u2019re just going to figure it out. I\u2019ll be positive. And they took us in the car, put them handcuffs on us, and took us to Gulfport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cI\u201cI was calm. I was just, okay, we\u2019re just going to figure it out. I\u2019ll be positive. And they took us in the car, put them handcuffs on, and took us to Gulfport,\u201d he said.(wlox)<\/p>\n

Israel was taken to jail in Hancock County, but was eventually transferred to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got transferred to Jena, Louisiana, that was the worst part of the journey,\u201d Israel Makoka said. \u201cI got shackled for, like, six hours around my waist, my arms and my feet \u2014 I was so uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Baptistes were told Max would stay nearby, but found out he was flown to Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me that he was going to a group home, and it was going to kind of be in the area, and he would have his phone, and he would be able to contact us. He was a minor, so he can keep his phone and contact us, which wasn\u2019t true. Because they took him to Houston, Texas,\u201d Gail Baptiste said.<\/p>\n

While the boys were detained, it wasn\u2019t clear how long they would be there or what would happen next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had one roommate over there. And he told me he\u2019d been here for seven months. So for me it was clear. I was like, I can stay here for even a year. So I was scared a little bit,\u201d Max said. <\/p>\n

He said the conditions in detention were mentally difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just mentally not here. I was physically here, but not mentally. I was just [in] my thoughts all the time \u2014 thinking about it. It was rough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThey\u201cThey told me that he was going to a group home, and it was going to kind of be in the area, and he would have his phone, and he would be able to contact us. He was a minor, so he can keep his phone and contact us, which wasn\u2019t true. Because they took him to Houston, Texas. Flew him to Houston, Texas,\u201d the brothers\u2019 host mother Gail Baptiste said.(wlox)<\/p>\n

Now, the boys are home, hoping to continue pursuing a better education.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo let me say like this. It was an investment for the parents to send us here,\u201d Israel said. \u201cBecause they were thinking, you know, long term. You know, because they know how America is. You get your degree and, you know, you can go far in life. You know, have a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cSo\u201cSo let me say like this. It was an investment for the parents to send us here,\u201d Israel said. \u201cBecause they were thinking, you know, long term. You know, because they know how America is. You get your degree and, you know, you can go far in life. You know, have a better future.\u201d(wlox)<\/p>\n

Israel is looking forward to making his family back home proud by walking the stage at graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what they became like, like our kids. They\u2019re not our kids biologically. But you know, the parents gave us the right to, to, to represent them in this country. And the bond is the same,\u201d Cliff Baptiste said.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DIAMONDHEAD, Miss. (WLOX) \u2014 Israel and Max Makoka, brothers from the Republic of the Congo, are back home…\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-94846","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\/116507443503570409","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94846","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=94846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94846\/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=94846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}