A group that began in mid-Missouri with a mission to help immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently marked its first anniversary with a recommitment to those efforts.
Abide in Love formed about a year ago, after a man detained by ICE in the Phelps County Jail died by suicide. That led a group of concerned residents in Rolla to form Abide in Love — an organization dedicated to helping immigrants and their families. The movement has spread to seven chapters across three states, and the group shared stories of people they are helping during a two-hour event in Rolla on May 22.
"Voices of Hope" featured eight speakers, immigrants and their families, whom Abide in Love helped with services including money for jail phone calls and commissary, grocery deliveries, bus tickets to go home after a detainee was released, hotels, rent, bills and more.
One of the speakers was Denise Meyer, an English language teacher in Ozark, Missouri. She received a call one day from the mother of one of her kindergarten students during a traffic stop.
"Sofia's mom called me frantic, and she said, 'I don't know that I'm going to be able to leave this place right now,' and so she said Sofia won't have anybody to get off of the bus for when she gets home," Meyer told the audience of more than 200. "In about two hours of turnover, I became a foster parent for the first time, and Sofia came to live with me for the duration of her mom's detainment."
Meyer said the organization played a huge role.
"Abide in Love showed up in her jail, and they sat with her for the first time, somebody to speak her language to her [for] the first time since she had been in there, and gave her hope that day," she said. "Abide in Love then became a connection of hope for us."
Sofia and her mother were deported to Honduras, a country Sofia has never known. Meyer said that ending could have been much worse if not for Abide in Love's help with making sure Sofia and her mother were reunited.
Carol Mayorga had been in the United States legally but overstayed her visa and was detained by ICE and held for more than a month. Abide in Love and supporters in her town of Kennett rallied for her release after her lawyer found another avenue for her to stay. Mayorga told Abide in Love supporters that people who tell immigrants to enter the country the right way don't know how complicated it is.
"It's not that simple. It's not like, OK, can you say, 'Give me green card, please?' No. We are not criminals, we just wanted to have a better life," she said on a video played at the event.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to receive asylum in the U.S. under the Trump administration. Some courts have approval rates of less than 5%.
One woman who spoke at the event is from Honduras and came to Missouri in 2021 with her two young children. She is so afraid of being deported that St. Louis Public Radio is not using her name. She attended all of her check-ins but was still detained by ICE and put in the Phelps County Jail. Abide in Love stepped in to help her with the basics, and also to help her pursue her asylum case.
"Maybe if they didn't help me, I would've been deported and separated from my children," she said.
This woman is one of the lucky ones: She was released and is continuing with her asylum efforts.
The fear of additional ICE action and persecution from people who support anti-immigration actions is palpable. The Abide in Love event was by invitation only, and four of the speakers used pseudonyms even in front of a supportive audience.
Abide in Love President Lucy Behrendt said for each person who is in a position to tell their story, there are dozens the group has helped who are still detained or were deported and their whereabouts are unknown.
She said Abide in Love has done so much good and will keep working toward its goals, which were inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"I don't think we're there yet," she said. "There is lots of sadness and pain there, but there is also hope. I ask you to listen for those glimmers of hope and abide with the brave men and women who have come here to tell us their stories."
Abide in Love now has affiliates in St. Louis, Kansas City, Ste. Genevieve, Springfield and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The newest affiliate in Tiffin, Ohio, will be up and running soon.
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