Read our feature article on combating and resisting ICE terror here.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abducted high school student and district champion varsity soccer player Luis Fernando Cabrera in the early morning hours of May 1 as he was returning home from work in Austin, TX.
According to Fernando Cabrera’s sister, Holi Zaday Cabrera, he was pulled over by Department of Public Safety (DPS) State Troopers for an expired registration as he left his job at Popeye’s at 2am. The troopers called ICE, which is standard practice under Texas’s 287(g) agreements, which allow local and state law enforcement agencies to aid ICE.
According to a New York Times analysis from March this year, the Central Texas area is one of the highest for numbers of ICE abductions in the country.
One of Fernando Cabrera’s teammates was the first to find out about his detention by tracking his phone to the ICE processing center in San Antonio, from where he was then transferred to Karnes Detention Center, according to Zaday Cabrera.
Monopoly media quoted Fernando Cabrera describing his arrest: “I told them I was a student and that I was coming home from work,” continuing, “They told me that didn’t matter. They chained my feet, my waist, and my hands.” He also told monopoly media of the conditions in Karnes Detention Center. “They wake us up at 4 in the morning to eat, but there’s only one plate and one spoon for eight people. We all have to share it.”
Zaday Cabrera describes her brother as a hard worker, dedicated athlete, and a senior on the verge of graduating, which is at risk if he remains in detention. After a full day at school and training with his team, he heads directly to his job most evenings. He lives with Zaday Cabrera, along with his baby nephew, who he provides care to in his spare time.
Zaday Cabrera told The Worker her brother is “a good person, with a good heart. He’s noble, a good kid, not just because he’s my brother. He always tries to help other people without asking for anything.”
She said their family fled Mexico after a local government official threatened her and her family with death in retaliation for reporting the politician’s brother for sexual abuse, forming the basis for a pending asylum case.
Fernando Cabrera’s family, teammates, teachers, and other supporters held a protest on May 7 outside of his school, Northeast High School, to demand his release and bring awareness to his abduction.
Angel Gudino, a former Karnes Detainee released in March and now organizing in support of Cabrera, told The Worker, “I realized in [Karnes] it’s not about me, its about everyone now. As long as I’m here, I will do everything I can to help.”
Cabrera’s detention brings financial hardship to him and his sister, as he was a key contributor to the household. Donate to their GoFundMe to help cover lost income and legal expenses here.
Image: Luis Fernando Cabrera. Credit: GoFundMe organized by Holi Zaday cabrera.
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