On Feb. 24 Erik Payán, a tire shop owner and beloved grandfather who has been in the United States for over 20 years, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. His arrest was one of over 100 people who were detained in a joint immigration enforcement operation targeting Colony Ridge, their largely Latino community.
The development had been targeted for years by state and national politicians with anti-immigrant rhetoric and false claims of widespread criminality.
After the raid, Payán’s wife of 32 years, Alejandrina Morales, battled to keep her family of six together through medical and financial emergencies. At the same time, she fiercely defended her husband and community.
“I insist that the governor gives himself the opportunity to know us, to know we’re not the criminals he’s labeled us as,” she told the Houston Landing. “There’s no cartel, there’s no narcos, as he says. Here there’s nothing but hardworking people.”
For nearly a month, the Houston Landing accompanied Morales and her daughters as she fought to bring Payán home.
Morales’ marriage was “humble but very happy,” she told the Landing. Though it was marked by tragedies and medical emergencies which forced Payán to begin work in the United States, the couple created a happy life in Texas. In Colony Ridge, they built their own tire business from the ground up to support their growing family.
“It’s not just because he’s my husband, but I feel like he deserves it. These types of fathers should be rewarded because they give everything to their family, they forget about themselves.”
-Alejandrina Morales
When Erik Payán was first detained, his middle daughter and namesake, Erika Payán, was in the hospital following an amputation. The 24-year-old had to make the decision whether to amputate her leg or not on the same day that her father was detained by ICE.
RELATED: ‘It’s a lie’: Colony Ridge wife defends detained husband, neighbors after ICE raids community
After Erika was released from the hospital, the living room became the headquarters of the family’s fundraising and legal efforts. Erika and Alondra Payán fielded phone calls from clients who needed tire repairs, while Morales stayed in touch with the lawyer and Erik’s family. On Mar. 6, Erik Payán had a set court date for the 21st. This would mark nearly a month away from his family.
“I’m a woman who says that nothing bad comes unless it’s for good. I always say that because after going through so many tragedies, I’ve seen the good things they bring. And now with what’s happened to my husband, I won’t say I didn’t crumble – I did. But I calmed myself, I took a breath and said: ‘What will I do about it?’“
-Alejandrina Morales
RELATED: Father of three detained by ICE in Colony Ridge to make his case for freedom on bond
As Morales struggled to keep up with bills, she found ways to try and scrape money together. On Saturday, Mar. 8, 2025, she hosted a lotería game event at her friend’s home. She hoped the earning would go towards bills and, hopefully, Payán’s bail, if it were to be granted.
After her successful lotería event, Morales visited the family tire shop for the first time since her husband was detained. She fed their chickens and collected any eggs they had laid in order to sell them and cover some of the family’s bills.
“It’s become hard to lead this boat without my captain.”
ALEJANDRINA MORALES OVER THE PHONE, IN SPANISH
The Payán house was quiet the morning of Erik Payán’s bond hearing. Alondra did the dishes while listening to a Youtube video on her headphones. Morales prayed at the kitchen table, anxiously waiting for an update. Kyomi, while getting her breakfast through her feeding tube, dozed off in her chair.
“Dios Santo (Oh my lord),” Alejandrina said as she received the news that her husband was granted bond.
RELATED: Immigration judge grants bond for Colony Ridge father arrested by ICE
The house sprang into action. Morales made calls to friends, family, and Erik Payán’s sponsor, as they scraped together the bail money. At 2:30 p.m., the bail had been posted. All that was left to do was wait. The women started to put makeup on, laying on fresh lashes, and braiding hair. Alondra helped her mother prepare beans and pork rinds in green sauce, the dinner Morales was going to cook for her husband the day he was detained nearly a month ago.
Hours passed. A volunteer from CRECEN, a local NGO, had left to wait for Erik Payán outside of the detention center. Numerous cars were waiting for others to be released, she told the Landing. In over five hours, only a handful of people had been let out, with no answers from security guards if Erik would be next. The family waited anxiously. What had started as excitement turned tense.
Erik Payán did not return home that night.
The following evening, the Payán family received confirmation that Erik would be let out with the next group of detainees. They hoped the wait wouldn’t be long. It was Erika Payán’s birthday, and the family wanted to celebrate together.
“I still can’t believe that I’m going to see my husband. It’s like a dream, a long-awaited dream.”
ALEJANDRINA MORALES
That night, Erik Payán finally walked through the door. The couple embraced. Payán had spent over a month in an ICE Detention facility in Montgomery County, where he said that he lost over twenty pounds, and caught a respiratory virus. The whole family wept.
Television news stations interviewed the family after he returned home.
“I never thought this could happen to me,” he said of his arrest. “They came to my job, that’s all I was doing.”
After the television crews left, the family sat down to a celebratory meal. Payán’s grandchildren told him all about the ducklings they had sold, how the chickens were fairing, and cracking jokes. Payán talked to friends on the phone and his 89-year-old mother, who lives in Mexico. As he settled in at the kitchen table, Payán kept grabbing his head and sighing deeply.
As a mixed-status family, the return of their father and husband brought joy and relief — but at times there was palpable worry about what might come next.
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