I got a call from a friend and they told me that your wife
was on the bus and they was gonna probably end up
- she was going to be deported.
She's at a detention facility and from this point
we don't know how long she's going to be there.
Her name is Maria.
She is from Mexico, from Veracruz.
We have two kids. We have been together for 16 years.
And by them taking her, it was unbearable to go through.
My Wednesday, it was like
one of the worst days that I can imagine.
That was the day they came in and and got her, and
I was calling around and trying to find out what's wrong.
I called her phone, I didn't get an answer.
So after I found out that they was up there - immigration -
I knew that something wasn't right.
I told the news to my daughters. It was hard.
I only got maybe three words out before they just exploded into tears.
We met in 2004, we met at the chicken plant, Koch Foods.
Stacy is nine and Naomy is 10 years old.
The age they are now, if she was to leave and have to come back,
maybe they might be grown and graduated from high school by then.
The chances for her ... it's real low.
Five or six percent they say, maybe.
The industry is poultry, and it's very big in Mississippi.
But all you see there are Hispanics, and most of them are Guatemalans there.
They work for long periods of time and
you get a lot of soreness in your arms doing the job.
And most of the Americans aren't willing to go through the pain
that the Hispanics are willing to go through.
Three cousins, one uncle and one aunt.
They were all taken away.
Four of them were let loose, but one of them is still - they're in jail.
I am actually from Texas.
I was part of a raid that happened last year in Paris, Texas,
and someone reached out to me.
And I know what that feels like, I’ve been part of it as a first responder.
So I was compelled to come out here and do my part.
And then we just started organizing.
A lot of these people got kids without ...
they don’t know if their mom gonna come back, their dad.
Most of them got monitors on their ankles so they cannot return to their work.
A lot of these people don't have money to pay utility bills,
to have food in their tables provided for their kids.
They live in a rough situation right now.
All these charities come in place, helping people out as much as possible:
churches, individuals...
Thursday morning a lot of the schools were without Hispanic kids.
We got several Hispanic stores here in town you see them empty,
you don't see a lot of Hispanics in the streets.
They are afraid even to come to the door.
Our community's divided right now because we got a lot of support from the white side,
but unfortunately we also got a bunch of people that discriminate.
They’re making comments on Facebook saying,
“get outta here, y’all shouldn’t have come since the beginning.”
The majority of the vehicles there abandoned was from the families affected,
from the people that got detained.
And we provided towing service for free.
Two of my cousins were left alone
because both of their parents got taken away,
and it was very sad to tell the kids when they got home that
their parents weren't here and they started asking,
“Where are they? Are they coming back?”
And we didn't have an answer, so they just busted out crying right in front of us.
Some have already told my parents that if something happens,
that if we're willing to take care of their children...
At first I didn’t know any Spanish but Maria, she taught me some.
Maria was a great cook.
She loved cooking tacos, you know,
and mostly peoples around here don't eat them, but her tacos,
I guess I can call them - they're a little famous.
I feel like when peoples spend their lives here in the work
and have kids and they get married,
they just should be treated just as well as any other American.
Maria have so many friends around this community
that [it’s] devastating for them to know that she's up there.
We have people in the background, we have people that's praying for her.
They know her well in this town and they also want her back.
The first night without my wife, I didn't get any sleep.
Matter of fact, I didn't even sleep in my bed.
Matter fact, I haven't slept in my bed since she's been gone.
I stay up all night wondering, is she going to call,
or I'm going to get the knock on the door hoping that it's her.