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News > World

Over $40K Raised For Children of Mexican Immigrant Couple Killed Fleeing ICE

  • According to 2017 figures from the DHS, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement put nearly 111,000 people behind bars. 

    According to 2017 figures from the DHS, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement put nearly 111,000 people behind bars.  | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 March 2018
Opinion

"The fact that they could not speak English or Spanish likely added to the fear they felt when they realized it was ICE stopping them," one activist said.

An ongoing Go Fund Me campaign to help support the six children survived by a Mexican immigrant couple who recently died trying to escape the Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE agents in California, has garnered over US$40,000. 

RELATED:
Hundreds Raise Funds to Help Chemistry Professor Who Was Recently Arrested by ICE

"On Tuesday, March 13, 2018, @ approximately 7:00 a.m. Santos Hilario Garcia and Marcelina Garcia Perfecto had just dropped off their daughter at school and they were on their way to look for work.  As they were driving on Cecil Avenue they were targeted by an unmarked ICE vehicle which led to a fatal crash killing both Santos and Marcelina who were pronounced dead at the scene," the post reads. 

"Because of our broken immigration system, unfortunately, the children will not be able to see their parents laid to rest. This tragic loss has created tremendous hardship for the children, on top of the already traumatic experience of suddenly losing both parents." 

On March 13, the Mexican couple with six children, living illegally at a rural farm in Delano, California, crashed their car in a power pole as they were trying to flee the ICE officers, in a car. 

"The SUV sped away when the agents got out of their vehicle and then veered onto a dirt shoulder, overturned, and crashed into a power pole, killing Santos Garcia, 35, and Marcelina Garcia, 33," the police statement stated. 

Diana Tellefson, executive director of the United Farm Workers Foundation, said the couple, originally from the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, mainly spoke Mixtec, a Mexican Indigenous language, and were looking for farm work, according to Newser. 

"The fact that they could not speak English or Spanish likely added to the fear they felt when they realized it was ICE stopping them," Tellefson said. 

RELATED:
ICE Arrests in
US Rose by 42% in 2017: Report

The couple is survived by six children, aged between eight to 18, and a one-year-old granddaughter. Ruffina Hilario, a family member, responded to the overwhelming support with the following message, according to Remezcla: 

"While we are still grieving and will be for some time, your support has given us the peace of mind that we will be able to sustain a stable home and family in Delano,” the message reads. “Thank you for your continued support and please keep in mind all of the families like ours who are torn apart by ICE."   

According to 2017 figures released by the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, put nearly 111,000 people behind bars. 

ICE arrests between January and September 2017 rose by a staggering 42 percent compared to the previous year, with the agency putting nearly 111,000 people behind the bars. 

Earlier in February, nearly 443 people raised US$21,265 on the crowdfunding website, Go Fund Me, to support Syed Ahmed Jamal's family with legal fees and other expenses after he was taken away by ICE on Jan. 24. 

Jamal, a chemistry professor, was getting ready to drop his daughter off at school when officers from ICE arrested him at his own front lawn in Lawrence, Kansas.

The 55-year-old teacher, originally from Bangladesh first came to the United States in 1987 to study at the University of Kansas. Recently, he was teaching at Park University.

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