AUSTIN, Texas — At least five Austin Independent School District employees have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Education Austin — a union representing district teachers and staff — confirmed to Spectrum News this week.
According to Education Austin Vice President Trasell Underwood, the employees include one teacher, one food service worker, one transportation driver and two custodians.
Underwood said the organization initially thought the number of detained employees was three, but it was revealed in their monthly meeting in October that it was actually five.
“We are unaware who most of the detained employees are,” Underwood added.
In September, Roberto Lopez Falcon, a fifth grade English as a second language (ESL) teacher at Hart Elementary School, was detained and held at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Lopez Falcon was still being held there as of Wednesday.
ICE officials previously stated that Lopez Falcon was arrested at a Sept. 3 check-in appointment in San Antonio and was being held until his immigration proceedings were complete. A GoFundMe set up by Lopez Falcon’s family stated that the arrest has left his wife and child “devastated, uncertain, and struggling to get by without his presence and support.”
The Statesman confirmed through ICE’s detainee locator that a McCallum High School food service worker is being held at an ICE detention facility in Laredo.
A third staff member believed to still be held in ICE detention is a Perez Elementary School lunchroom worker, a bilingual education instructional coach at the school told the Statesman.