Astrid and Arturo came to the USA in February 2015 after fleeing harm in their home country because of their identity as Indigenous K’iche. When they arrived at the southern USA border, they were apprehended by US Customs and Border Patrol and detained. CBP released them the next day with a Notice to Appear in immigration court that did not specify a date or place to report. They did not know they could ask for asylum.

On February 20, 2018, at approximately 5:00 AM, Astrid was asleep in her room when she was awoken by six armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents standing before her bed and yelling. They ordered everyone in the house into a room and asked them for identification. The ICE agents did not show a warrant or indicate whom they were looking for.

Astrid had gone to bed the night before expecting, as always, to go to school the next day. Instead she watched as her father was placed in handcuffs. They were then brought to the Berks County Residential Center with Astrid still in her pajamas.

Astrid will turn 15-years-old on March 15, 2018. She had been eagerly planning her quinceañera before she was detained by ICE and sent to Berks. Her birthday wish is for her and her father to be freed from detention and to return to middle school. She worries about the homework she has missed.

Urge US authorities to immediately release Astrid and Arturo together pending a final determination on their asylum claim.