If you've been horrified by what you've been seeing ICE do to American citizens and non-Americans alike, and wishing that you could counteract that injustice in some way, this one's for you:

On the last day of school of the 2024-2025 school year, one of my most promising students, Ninetzy Garcia Lopez (9th grade), an American citizen, was deported by ICE. As she later told me, she didn't even get to say goodbye to her friends.

Ninetzy and her two younger siblings are American citizens, but her single mother, Yamileth Hernandez, is not. She had been granted legal status under the Biden administration, but under Trump, that legal status was revoked. They went to their immigration hearing just like they were supposed to, and were taken into ICE custody.

In Ninetzy's own words: "We waited hours in a cold room with three ICE agents, just me, my mom, and my 2 siblings. I was scared. Luckily I had packed 10 diapers for my baby brother the night before just in case. When we crossed the border I felt like I didn't belong there. I felt like I was going to be in danger the minute I crossed that bridge. It truly was a scary journey."

They ended up dropped off from a van at the US-Mexico border with nothing but a couple bags of clothes, according to Ninetzy and her mother. They made their way to the small town of Villaldama, Mexico, where Yamileth had roots and is now raising her three American children there on her own. It's been difficult since there isn't a lot of family support for them in Mexico, and Ninetzy has found it hard to fit in at school there, for many reasons. This tragedy has only compounded upon the tragedy of Ninetzy losing her father earlier that year, who was killed in a car accident. No child should have to go through such tragedy and injustice.

Ninetzy was in my English and Latin classes this past year, and she stood out for her extremely positive attitude, and her incredible resilience in the face of adversity after her father's death. She was a dedicated Roman Life specialist in my Latin Club, getting 2nd place at State (TSJCL) Convention, and a blossoming leader in the Latin Club, who ran to be a club officer. She had such a bright future in the United States (and I believe she still does), but now so much opportunity has been taken from her. Still, she remains upbeat, and when I last spoke to her and her mother, she was already planning out how she was going to manage to move back to the US for college after she finishes high school in Mexico. But her family's financial situation is now tenuous, and almost all of their belongings got left behind at the house they lived in here in San Antonio, which they can't come back for.

Before all this happened, Yamileth had made a big sacrifice to sign up Ninetzy for my Italy and Greece trip this upcoming summer 2026. She understands the value of travel and how much Ninetzy deserved to have this amazing experience, to see everything that she had been learning about in Latin class in real life. Obviously, now Ninetzy's participation on the trip has been thrown into jeopardy. The money raised in this fundraiser will go to helping Ninetzy still get to go on the trip, as well as be saved for Ninetzy's college education once she returns to the US. It may seem strange to be spending money on something like that, but we see it as a way to make sure that not everything that Ninetzy was looking forward to will be taken away from her. We are determined to make it so that she can go on this trip and have a wonderful experience with her friends.

I will be driving down to visit Ninetzy's family during Thanksgiving break, and bringing them the money gathered from this fundraiser and other things, including Latin textbooks and books in English that Ninetzy asked me for. She told me. "When I was younger I always had the wish to be someone who was very hard working. I was always the type of person who had their life’s planned out. But you never know when life turns on you. I will try to work hard and study hard so I can become a better version of myself."

I have never in my life asked people to donate to a fundraiser like this, but I'm asking now. We as a country have let Ninetzy down. This is my way to try to make it right, even if only by a little bit. Thank you for whatever support you can give.

Kenny Van Eimeren

Teacher, Health Careers HS

San Antonio, TX