SAN ANTONIO — Nicolle Forero and her family were detained in Washington, but they were brought to a detention center outside of San Antonio.
Her union, representing her and her coworkers, the Service Employees International Union, traveled from Los Angeles to call for her release.
Michael Aranda, a father who lives in San Antonio, said he just learned about the protest.
“It’s kinda crazy San Antonio is getting caught up in all this,” said Aranda.
With pictures of the family on their signs, the union held a demonstration near the Alamo demanding their release.
“They are asylum seekers from Columbia who went to court for an immigration check-in and were ripped away from their home and sent halfway across the country to Texas,” said Shermaine Fontenette, an SEIU union member.
They are asking for Nicolle and her 6-year-old son, Juan Forero, to be released. The union says Juan is not getting adequate medical care for his life-threatening illness. They say detention is preventing Juan from being able to regularly see pediatricians and took him away from his care team in Seattle.
“I think kids in detention should get medical treatment regardless of the situation, if they’re here illegal or not illegal,” said Aranda.
Migrant detainment is part of President Trump’s push to enforce immigration laws. Supporters of his effort say they are not against immigrants coming into the country — they just want them to enter legally.
Representative Joaquin Castro also attended the protest and spoke about the struggles families like the Foreros are going through.
“We were told for a few years that violent people would be targeted, that bad people would be targeted these were lies,” Castro said.
Union members are still calling for the family’s release.
We asked union representatives what kind of illness the child has, but because of legal processes, they could not give that information. We also reached out to ICE to see if Juan is getting the treatment he needs. So far, we’ve not heard back.