Help Blanca bring her son back home!

Blanca is a busy Saugerties single mom who, until a few days ago, was working, taking care of her kids, and enjoying her first grandbaby. Then this past Monday her oldest, Cristian--18 and still in high school--was swept up by ICE in the growing wave of immigration raids in our area.

Cristian is now being held at the overcrowded Batavia Detention Center in Buffalo, NY, and is in danger of being deported within days back to Guatemala, a country he has not seen since childhood.

Blanca came to the U.S. in 2018 with Cristian, then 12, and his two little siblings, fleeing domestic violence that threatened all four of them. They found safety and a home in Saugerties--the kids in public schools, Blanca with their church and at work in local restaurants.

Nowadays, Cristian works 20 hours a week to help the family as he finishes high school, and supports Real Madrid in his free time. The family welcomed their first grandchild last year. "It is his dearest wish now to see his child," says Blanca.

Blanca and her family are distraught with worry about Cristian. She is frantically trying to raise money for a lawyer and expenses to prevent his deportation. She has devoted her life to protecting her children, and this turn of events is terribly traumatic.

Please help Blanca fund a lawyer to bring Christian home. Let's keep this family together, keep our neighbors safe, and protect all the members of our community.

*Funds that are not used in support of Cristian's detention and legal fees will be donated to the legal support efforts of the Ulster Immigrant Defense Fund