While waiting for the school bus on Monday morning, two Alamo Heights Independent School District elementary schoolers and their step-mother were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as their classmates watched.
The Alamo Heights ISD community first learned that the Uzategui-Labrador family had been detained by ICE through the nearby students who told their parents and teachers. By noon Monday, friends of the family began to rally behind the family. Throughout the week, support across the district has grown.
Originally from Venezuela, the Uzategui-Labrador family arrived in 2021 at the Southern U.S. border seeking asylum and presented themselves to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, who has advocated on behalf of the family since their detention. The parents — Victor Labrador and his wife, Maria Betania Uzategui Castillo — had valid work authorization until 2030, Castro’s office said. The family has enrolled its kids in Alamo Heights ISD since December 2021…