the_florenceproject This Father’s Day, we honor Mario*, who was held in immigration detention and separated from his five children for eight months. Mario has lived in the U.S. since he was three years old, attending school, starting his own businesses, and building a family. After he and his wife separated, all five of his children lived with him full time. But one day everything changed when Mario was apprehended by ICE and sent to Eloy Detention Center. “I couldn’t imagine my life without them. I have always been with my kids. That’s what motivated me to wake up every day and continue...I would call [my children] every two or three days. I didn’t have money to make calls, but I got a cleaning job in there so that I could have enough money to be able to call my children.” We are happy to share that after about eight months, Mario has been released and will not have to spend Father’s Day unjustly detained by ICE. However, this is not the case for many fathers who will spend this day torn from their families due to punitive immigration policies. Today and always, we stand with fathers like Mario who continue to give their all for their kids. Together, we will continue to advocate for the fathers and all immigrants threatened with deportation. Read Mario's story here: https://firrp.org/mario/