AUSTIN (KXAN) — When 18-year-old Luis Fernando Cabrera walked into St. James’ Episcopal on Sunday, with his two-year-old nephew on his hip, church members met him at the door with long embraces. The teen had been noticeably missing from the east Austin church since the beginning of May, when a traffic stop over expired registration led to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining him — a moment that, up until last week, threatened to upend his quickly approaching graduation and ability to stay in the country.
After nearly a month in detention, and a federal court order demanding his release, the congregation that organized and advocated for Cabrera’s return was huddled around the teen in the middle of the sanctuary, praying over him.
“I feel happy to be here again and to be free,” Cabrera said in Spanish. “Thank you to everyone who helped me from the beginning — friends, family and people who I did not know. I am very grateful. I’d like to meet everyone.”
The Austin Independent School District senior spent 19 days detained at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center — about an hour outside of San Antonio. It’s the same facility where an Austin ISD elementary school teacher has been detained for nine months…