D’marco Oliveros, an 18-year-old senior at Northeast Early College High School, remembers waking up for school last Friday to a 2:05 a.m. message from his friend and classmate Luis Fernando Cabrera.

The photo Cabrera sent showed the cobalt blue lights of a police car glowing in his driver’s side mirror, illuminating the night sky.

“They stop you?” Oliveros texted in Spanish, frightened, but he knew to assume the worst. He looked up his friend’s location on his iPhone and found him at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in San Antonio.

Cabrera had been turned over to ICE by a state trooper after the 18-year-old was pulled over on his way home from his closing shift at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Northeast Austin, where he worked more than 40 hours a week as a manager.

For students at Northeast Early College High School, Cabrera’s detention feels deeply personal. But his arrest also reflects a continuous surge in immigration enforcement in the Austin area, which has already affected school communities.

Find the full story at the link in bio. Staff photos by @mikalacompton.