Ernesto Cuevas Enciso has spent nearly his entire life in the United States. At just three years old, he came to this country from Mexico. Now 34, Ernesto lives in Detroit, is married to a U.S. citizen, and is the father of a one-year-old daughter. He works in construction, holds a valid Michigan driver's license, and has authorization to work as he awaits approval of his green card application. He’s done everything our immigration system asks of him—and yet, he was still detained.

On December 6, 2025, Ernesto was on his way to a job site near Ypsilanti when ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle arrested him without warning. Despite carrying proper documentation and posing no threat to public safety, he was taken to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan—a facility now under scrutiny for inhumane conditions, including inadequate medical care and repeated suicide attempts.

Let’s be clear: Ernesto is not a flight risk or a danger to anyone. His only past offenses—nonviolent misdemeanors from over a decade ago—should not justify tearing him from his family. He is a father, a husband, and a worker trying to do things the right way. This detention isn’t just cruel—it’s unjust.

Michigan lawmakers from Congress, the state legislature, and Detroit’s City Council have already spoken up, calling on ICE to release Ernesto on bond as he awaits his December 17 hearing. It’s time the public does too.

We are calling on ICE and the North Lake Processing Center to immediately release Ernesto Cuevas Enciso on bond. We also urge U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Michigan ICE Field Office Director to intervene in this case and stop the deportation proceedings.

Families like Ernesto’s belong together—not behind bars.

Sign now to demand Ernesto’s release and to say Michigan stands for justice, not unnecessary and unfair detention.