3 Maine siblings and their mother are being held in a Texas ICE detention facility.

Their teachers, classmates, church community, coaches and broader Maine community want them sent home NOW.

The family had a hard path to the US in 2022. Without access to the extremely rare refugee resettlement option, the family took a long route the the US border and, in accordance with international law, requested asylum.

Asylum hearing dates take a very long time. By the time their hearing with DHS was available, they had rebuilt a life in Maine and become a part of our lives.

E. is thriving at Casco Bay High School, J. is beloved on soccer field and at Deering High School, and O. is enrolled at Southern Maine Community College. 

Their asylum case was recently denied. Rather than be returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo or somewhere else in the cruel US deportation machine, the family headed for the Canadian border—hoping for a kinder country.

They did not make it. They were turned over to Border Control.

They now sit in a detention in Texas—2,000 miles away from where the small state where they rebuilt their lives.

The Maine community has collectively funded the appeal of their detention.

As the family awaits that hearing, we demand that the family be sent back to our community.

Send the Andres home to Maine.