From Terror to Hope: Mirta’s Second Chance in the Kansas Raids

Latino migrants who have been targeted by raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have described how terrifying the U.S. immigration system can be when its agents even point guns with silencers at them.

From the most recent raids at Kansas restaurants searching for immigrants, dozens of stories have emerged from the victims of this system, showing the terrifying moments they experience, the aftermath of the intimidating actions of ICE agents, and the fear they live with during and after the process. The fear becomes part of their lives, to the point that leaving home for work becomes a daily trauma.

• Mirta has been living in Kansas for 12 years, arrived in the United States irregularly, and although she has several processes to legalize her stay in the country, her status, according to U.S. law, remains “illegal.”

For over a decade, Mirta has worked, has no criminal background, and claims she has a «clean record,» but being the target of a raid during her workday has emotionally impacted her.

When she saw ICE agents suddenly enter the restaurant where she works, she ran out of instinct, something that mothers, especially in such moments of distress, think only about their children and their future.

«I ran out of instinct, I didn’t know what to do… I was just working, I wasn’t doing anything wrong,» she says to show that she is not a criminal and to highlight that working in the United States doesn’t mean legality, and even then, ICE agents don’t respect you.

When Empathy Knocks on Immigration’s Door

Handcuffed and shackled, Mirta felt like a criminal from the very moment she was detained. She is another representative case of how raids affect migrant workers with no criminal records and impact Latino families who are now the targets of these raids. While these raids are not new, in recent months, they have become more intimidating, criminalizing irregular migration, when in reality, mobility is a human right.

A stroke of luck helped Mirta, who, despite enduring hours of anguish not knowing whether she would be deported or not, was finally released by ICE agents because, after five hours of detention, there was no space for her—no available beds in the women’s center. She was sent to court to handle her case in freedom.

After thinking she would be deported and wouldn’t see her children again, Mirta, despite the trauma left by the raid, believes the U.S. immigration system “isn’t all bad, the agents are doing their job, and they gave me a second chance,” which she hopes to seize. She has started attending therapy with a psychologist who will help her return to a normal life.

• Mirta’s name has been changed for safety and respect for her privacy.