Vigil held in Chelsea in honor of high school student and recent grad detained by immigration agents
Immigration agents stopped De La Cruz, 20, as he was leaving his house on Wednesday, his parents said. De La Cruz, who graduated Chelsea High School just days before, was just a few doors away from his house when he was stopped.
The next day, 19-year-old high school student Belizario Benito Vasquez went to Burlington for a meeting he thought was a normal part of his ongoing asylum application process. Instead, he was detained and transferred to a holding facility in Plymouth.
Neither of the two young men had any criminal record, family members said Saturday.
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On Saturday evening, demonstrators held devotional candles and signs reading 'Keep Families Together' and 'Chelsea is My Home.' The crowd of more than 100 stood among several American flags, as well as a pair of red-white-and-blue bouquets still up from Memorial Day weekend.
De La Cruz's father, Giovanni De La Cruz, addressed the crowd in Spanish, wearing a white T-shirt with his son's graduation photo printed on the front.
'I don't wish this moment on anyone,' he said, his voice breaking. 'I haven't been able to sleep, thinking of what's happening to my son.'
Marta Vasquez, Benito Vasquez's mother, said she fled Guatemala with her two sons due to an abusive family situation, as well as threats from local gangs. She said she hadn't been able to eat or sleep since she last saw her son, now in detention.
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'As a mother, when your children are torn from you, you're left with your heart shattered,' she said in Spanish, fighting back tears. 'You don't know if your children are doing okay in there, if they've eaten, if they can sleep.'
Marta Vasquez said she'd spoken to her son on Friday. She described him as a studious learner of English, who was adamant about not dropping out of school and continuing to study — something he didn't have the chance to do in Guatemala.
'I have to be strong to hear his voice,' she said. 'He tells me, 'Mom, I need you to be strong,' and I tell him, 'Son, I'm here for you.' ... The only thing I can do for my son is give him strength. But a mother's heart hurts deeply.'
Mayra Balderas, a
'If we don't bring our voices, these things are going to happen again,' she said. 'It's going to keep happening, and it's going to keep happening. So the more people that know what's going on and what it is they're doing ... we can fight this battle.'
Geovani De La Cruz's high school diploma and cap-and-gown were displayed at a vigil held in his honor outside Chelsea City Hall on Saturday. De La Cruz was detained by immigration agents on Wednesday, days after graduating from Chelsea High School.
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