Alice is 10. Her sister Britany is 11. For several days in September, the two girls were home alone with no idea where their mother was.

Their mother, 38-year-old Julia Zelaya, held down jobs at a factory and a bar to provide for her girls. On September 20, a fight broke out at the bar and everyone present was arrested, Julia included. She was booked into the Harris County Jail. Days passed with no word from her. The sisters only found out what had happened when Julia was finally able to make a phone call, and an aunt came to pick them up.

Julia is now being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. Court records show she was charged with possession of a controlled substance, but according to KHOU 11, that charge appears to have been dropped once she entered ICE custody. Advocates with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Greater Coalition of Justice are still trying to learn which agency turned her over to immigration authorities, and why.

Alice told KHOU 11 she cries nearly every day. The family cannot afford a lawyer.

The ICE Houston Field Office can release Julia under supervision while her immigration case is pending, so she can be home with her daughters. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, should publicly explain how a mother arrested at a bar ended up in ICE custody, and what is done to protect children when a parent is jailed.

No child should spend days alone wondering whether their mother is coming back. Sign the petition to call on ICE to release Julia Zelaya and on Harris County to explain how this happened.