"Just seven months earlier, Karina had watched ICE agents handcuff her father and load him into a black van outside their home near Lake Merced. He had screamed and yelled "Hija!" - Daughter in Spanish. Karina ran to get her stepmother but when I arrived, they started up and took him away," said Roxana. That was the last time they saw Joel. It was June 17."
"At home near Lake Merced, she cares for her four children, all of whom she says remain traumatized after watching the father of their household detained and deported. ICE pick-ups have left families without their main source of income - and separated indefinitely. "One of the most important things for me is that I don't want more children to be separated from their mom or dad. I don't want other kids to go through what happened to [my children]," said Roxana."
Roxana and her stepdaughter, Karina, feared a nearby black SUV and recalled a prior ICE arrest. Seven months earlier, ICE agents handcuffed and loaded Karina's father, Joel, into a black van outside their Lake Merced home; he screamed "Hija!" as he was taken away. The family has not seen him since his June 17 detention and subsequent deportation. Roxana cares for four children who remain traumatized after watching their father's detention and deportation. ICE pick-ups have removed primary income and separated families indefinitely. San Francisco's sanctuary protections limit local cooperation, but federal agents continue arrests; records show at least 4,559 arrests in the area from January to October 2025.
Read at Mission Local
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]