Walking up to Kyle Brown’s porch, an angry, crayon caricature with a red “x” over it stared blankly back at us. Kyle would later explain that this drawing, illustrated by his 6-year-old daughter, was a ‘No ICE’ sign, made to deter Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from their neighborhood.
The drawing was created in response to the arrest of the Brown’s neighbor, mother and East Palo Alto (EPA) resident Aleyda Rodriguez. On the morning of Aug. 25, ICE took her from her car and detained her. The stress induced by the incident caused Rodriguez, who suffers from a blood condition, to lose consciousness during the encounter. The commotion caught the attention of nearby neighbors, including Kyle, who recorded the incident on his phone through his living room window.
Kyle, husband to AVID and science teacher Kari Brown and father of two, has lived in EPA for over half a decade. In recent years, he and his wife have become increasingly concerned about ICE targeting the community. “I never thought it would be on my porch,” he said. “I knew it was a possibility, but I never thought it would just be, like, 50 feet from my house.”…