Rodrigo Guzman was a happy fourth grade kid at Jefferson Elementary
School in Berkeley, California. He loved playing baseball, video games,
and eating pizzas just like any other 9 year old. He was a funny kid who
cheered up his friends whenever they were sad and always insisted that
games played during recess should be fair and equal. He also was one of
the smartest kids in his class.
However, on January 10, 2013 Rodrigo’s nightmare began.
He was returning home with his parents from a family visit in Mexico and
stopped off in Houston, Texas. Their family was detained while his
father was questioned by the Immigration Control Enforcement (ICE). They
held the family for more than 20 hours and told them that they had
expired visas. Therefore they were refusing them entry back to Berkeley.
They also could not reapply for another visa for five years. They were
not made aware of their options, not allowed to take care of storing
their possessions nor say goodbye to their family and friends in
Berkeley.
That's when his classmate, Kyle Kuwahara came home upset
over the fact that his friend Rodrigo wasn't coming back to school. Kyle
thought this was unfair and he told his mom and his twin brother, Scott
that he wanted to do something to help Rodrigo come home. His
classmates were studying Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks at
school and how they fought injustice. He told his mom the next day that
his classmates wanted to go on a hunger strike or have a rally to bring
Rodrigo home.
(More at
NLCI | Bring Rodrigo Home – Kids For Kids! -)
