Remembering the largest ICE raids in U.S. history five years later

    FOREST, Mississippi (WTVA) -- A community and the organizations that supported them are reflecting on the fifth anniversary of the largest ICE raids in U.S. history.

El Pueblo opened its second office in Forest in response to the raids. They opened their doors on Wednesday to impacted families and the volunteers and organizations that provided help.

WTVA's Daniella Oropeza spoke to impacted families. Jordani, 14, was 10-years-old at the time. August 7th, 2019 was also the first day of school for many Mississippi children. He said he remembers that day when ICE agents arrested and deported his mother.

"It felt unreal," he said. "I didn’t believe it at first. Then, a couple days later, I saw my dad crying and that is when it hit me that she may not actually not come back.”

Jordani explained the ICE raids affected how he did in school saying he would fall asleep in class and was failing nearly every subject that year.

El Pueblo's Executive Director Michael Ann Galliano explained Jordani would help take care of his two younger siblings at night because he father, Celso, worked nights.

“We are not immigration lawyers by trade," Cliff Johnson said. "It’s not what we do and the problem is we don’t have many immigration lawyers in Mississippi.”

Johnson is the director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi.

“Because those stories were spread across the country and around the world, we set up an account and had raised $970,000 within 36 hours.”

Johnson said that money was used for humanitarian support.

Those who attended Wednesday's opening watched a short documentary film on the impact of the raids five years later and shared their experiences.

Isabella was one of those who shared stories. ICE agents arrested her and later released her to her 3-month-old baby and 5-year-old at the time. She explained she had to explain to her oldest what happened to her that day.

ICE agents arrested over 680 Hispanic workers in seven chicken processing plants in Forest, Morton and Canton on August 7th, 2019.

“I think it’s just an example of how politicians at the highest level often use people for political gamesmanship and political theater,” Johnson said.

“You know, the good thing is that people are resilient but trauma stays and it affects people and it affects children,” Galliano said.

El Pueblo is one of the few organizations that provided trauma counseling for children.

“It did help me a lot," Jordani said. "I could talk to [my therapist] about anything or everything and like it felt good talking to someone and letting it all out.”

“It’s my opinion that I think that immigration work raids are very short sighted," Galliano said. "The effect on the chicken plant itself was minimal. It does affect the family members and children that were left behind.”

“What I would encourage Mississippians is before you buy into that story, go to places like Ecru and Vardaman and Tupelo and Carthage and Morton and Forest and meet those people," Johnson said. "From what I’ve learned as a Mississippian in the last five years is that these are friends and neighbors and don’t want anything different than the rest of us want; a safe place to live, a good job and a happy family. Be careful about what you hear on the national level.”