On Feb. 25, Kevin Zaldaña Ramírez, 20, tried to tell the immigration agents that showed up at a Houston-area construction site where he worked that he had a special immigration status for minors fleeing abuse or neglect. But they detained him anyway, his mother Yolanda Ramírez said at a press conference Thursday.
Zaldaña Ramírez’s detention has left his mother, who is visually impaired, without her sole provider. He paid for their rent, electricity and utilities with his construction job and did all the errands, such as grocery shopping.
“My son is not a criminal, he’s just a young worker,” his mom Yolanda, 47, said. “He’s the one who supports me with all of our expenses.”
Zaldaña Ramírez is one of at least two Houston-area immigrants with deportation protections who have been wrongfully detained, according to immigrant rights organization FIEL Houston. Neither has a criminal record, the organization said.
FIEL executive director Cesar Espinosa said Thursday that he worries President Donald Trump’s efforts to ramp up immigration arrests could lead to more people like Zaldaña Ramírez caught in the crosshairs.
“We’re afraid that cases like Kevin could repeat themselves and end up in really bad, precarious situations for both these families,” Espinosa said.
“I want to make it very clear that they do have a path to be legally in this country, or they are legally here under DACA.”
Followed every step
Yolanda fled El Salvador with Kevin and his younger brother Joel Ismael in 2018 after gang members tried to recruit Zaldaña Ramírez into their ranks. Both her sons helped her out around the house with cooking and cleaning, until 2023 when Joel Ismael died by suicide after being bullied at school because of a disability. Since then, Zaldaña Ramírez took on the role of his mother’s primary caretaker.
Zaldaña Ramírez was able to get legal status under a program known as Special Immigrant Juvenile status, and he is currently eligible for his residency, according to lawyer Susana Hart of Hart Law Associates, who is representing Zaldaña Ramírez.
“Despite having followed every step legally and having a valid work permit, he was arrested in a labor raid and continues to be wrongfully detained,” said Hart.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Detained at checkpoint
Sergio Carlos Gómez, a 30-year-old Houston resident, was returning from a job laying railroad tracks near Uvalde last week when he passed a Customs and Border Protection checkpoint, a usual part of his job. Since he has deportation protections under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and a work permit, he never feared these stops before.
This time, however, the official told him he needed a visa to have a work permit, Gómez said.
“I explained that they’ve never told me or notified me that I need to have a visa,” Gómez said.
Still, the official put Gómez in the back of his truck and drove him to a facility in Eagle Pass.
Gómez told his coworker to call his family to let them know what happened. His mom couldn’t sleep that night, he said. His dad was distracted at work.
Once in the car, Gómez was flooded by memories of being in the back of a CBP car when he was seven and crossed the border from Mexico with his parents. The long-time Houston resident feared that he would be sent back to a country he barely knows.
Officials gave Gómez some paperwork to sign, but since he speaks English, he was careful not to sign anything allowing his deportation. Gómez was put back in a car later that night, and thought he was being sent back to Mexico.
Instead, he was released. CBP said that it could not comment on the case based on privacy concerns.
Despite being released, the experience traumatized him.
“I can’t sleep well because when I’m asleep, I think that I’m back at the detention center and then I wake up,” Gómez said.
He said he would no longer travel through checkpoints and is scheduled to talk to his boss about next steps this week. Many jobs for his company require travel, but Gómez hopes he can figure out a way to continue his work building railroads that are essential for moving commerce through the state.
Espinosa of FIEL attributed Gómez’s release to his knowledge of his rights and decision not to sign documents allowing his deportation to Mexico. He cautioned immigrants not to sign anything they don’t understand.
Meanwhile, Zaldaña Ramírez remains detained at Montgomery Processing Center. His mom Yolanda called on the Trump administration to release her son based on his legal status and clean criminal record.
“I ask the president to have mercy,” Yolanda said. “And to catch the people who are really criminals, but not innocent people like my son.”
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