The raid

She is a young girl

8 years old

She is shy and hardly talks

She has a mommy and a daddy and a baby brother

She goes to school on a bus

This morning she hugged her mommy tightly

She didn’t want to say goodbye

She said she loves her and wants her to never leave her

She had a tear in her eyes

Her mother held her in her arms and reassured her everything will be ok

She stepped toward her bus

Got on and waved to her mother as she found her seat and headed to school

She lives in a nice town

Friendly neighborhood

In New Jersey

Not far from New York City

About an hour away

Her town is home to many foreigners

Good people

Hard working people

Her dad is a carpenter

Her mother a nurse

They have been living in the states for 10 years

Both her brother and her were born in New Jersey

Her mom and dad are from the Dominican Republic

They are not yet legal

They came here for a better life

Settled in a small town

In Fair lawn New Jersey

They pay taxes

They contribute to society

Her mother works at the local hospital

Her father builds houses

They are a religious family

They go to church on Sundays

Her brother is in day care

He’s 3 years old

She loves her baby brother

She entered her class room

Greeted her teacher

Said hello

Took her seat

Prepared for her lesson

At around early afternoon she was called to the door of one of her classes

The school official asked her to step outside of the classroom

She was informed that her mom and dad were swept up in a raid

Her mom at her place of employment at the hospital

Her dad on his way to work from the subway

The girl started to cry

She was confused

The school official hugged her tightly

The young girl asked her what is going to happen to her family

The woman looked at her holding her hand as she walked her back to her classroom

She then walked to her teacher and spoke to her about the young girl’s parents explaining to her that her parents

Were taken away in

The raid

Short version

Not reflective of full audio recording