![After giving her speech at the rally, Silvana Sanchez, beside her brother Victor Sanchez Jr. is embraced by Sister Margarita Castañeda of the Congregation of Notre Dame, who knew their father, Victor Sanchez Sr., through his church, Our Lady of Sorrows in Hartford. Castañeda later said to the crowd, "I've known Victor for the past seven years, and all this time, he has been extremely active [and] faithful in the church and very good, very much of a leader... I know they're going to take Victor away. We can shout and scream as much as we want, but hopefully he will be able to return."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7da3c5c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2F1d%2F0be294d040338d48cf81f43a2fcc%2Fdaniela-doncel-1.jpg)
Constanza Segovia was struggling to plug something in at a Hartford Deportation Defense meeting Tuesday night, when fellow activist Victor Sanchez Sr. stepped in.
“He came over, and he helped me get it right,” Segovia said. “He's truly just an amazing human being. He's just one of the kindest people I know.”
Less than 24 hours later, Sanchez Sr. was detained by immigration officials at a routine check-in. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson has not responded to request for comment.
Segovia says Sanchez Sr.’s lawyer filed an emergency request for a temporary pause on his deportation order, but he remains in custody. She joined about 100 pro-immigrant and social justice activists who called for his release at a rally Wednesday evening at the Abraham A. Ribicoff federal court house in Hartford.
Jacob Pudlin, a volunteer with Hartford Deportation Defense, accompanied Sanchez Sr. to his recent appointment, just as he did six months ago.
“In those six months, he didn't break any laws. Nothing functionally changed,” Pudlin said. “But six months ago, he walked out after 20 minutes, and he hugged his family, and he breathed a sigh of relief, and he went about his life.”
This time, Pudlin said, Sanchez Sr. was put in handcuffs.
Pudlin said he saw four or five people take Sanchez away in handcuffs so suddenly, Pudlin didn’t really get a chance to speak with him.
“I could tell he was scared and tired from being scared for so long,” Pudlin said. “He said he didn't sleep a lot the night before or the last couple of nights.”
A family without a father
Just a couple hours after learning that his father was detained, 19-year-old Victor Sanchez Jr. stood before the crowd at the federal courthouse. He shared that he was both angry and sad that the federal immigration officers took his father away.
“I hope that I get my father back, because I got two little siblings. My youngest [is] 27 months old,” Sanchez Jr. said. “I'm probably gonna see him asking for my dad. ‘Papa, papa.’ My mom doesn't know what to do. He's still a little kid.”
His sister, Silvana Sanchez, also addressed rally-goers, holding onto him for support as her voice wavered with tears.
“I'm really mad right now because I'm not only losing my dad, but I'm losing my best friend as well, someone who I always count on,” Silvana Sanchez said.
Silvana Sanchez said she will keep her promise to her father by becoming a nurse, because her father told her and her brothers that he came to the United States so they could follow their dreams.
“I'm not only doing this for me, but I'm doing it for them, because my parents deserve the world,” Silvana Sanchez said. “They gave me the world.”
Sanchez Jr. also made a promise to his father. He said it was a promise that he made on Tuesday, the last time he and his father spoke before Sanchez Sr. was detained.
“After talking to him the last time, I promised that I will stay strong” Sanchez Jr. said, “but the promise still ain't finished. I have to get my dad back first.”
Next steps for CT leaders and community members
For over five years, Sanchez Sr. has been a member with Make the Road Connecticut, an advocacy group for the immigrant, Latine, and working-class communities. Executive Director Barbara López called him a force to be reckoned with.
“He's always the first to give a hand wherever he can, if it's helping somebody get resources, or helping somebody get connected to a community, or simply just giving an ear to listen to whatever's happening to a person, to their families,” López said.
She said the turnout at the rally shows more needs to be done.
“People want to resist such hate and some targeting of our community,” López said. “It is a message to our state legislators to step up and do more for people like Victor.”
Advocacy organizers López and Segovia said they want to see immediate action from the governor, state legislators and local municipality leaders.
Hartford Councilman Josh Michtom and State Representative Jillian Gilchrest of West Hartford were the only two elected officials to show up to the rally. Both expressed they want to see more action coming from Connecticut lawmakers and that they’ll do all they can to help.
For Segovia, it’s not enough.
“What we need is legislation,” Segovia said. “We need to know that in Connecticut and in every state that has a Democratic majority, that people are standing up.”
Segovia said she wants to see a special session this fall tackle laws that include protecting people’s data, allowing people to have remote court hearings as was done during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that state resources are not assisting federal immigration agencies in any way and providing funding to cover the Medicaid coverage of all regardless of immigration status when Medicaid cuts roll out.
“Because if it hasn't been made clear today [Wednesday] and everything that's been going on, not only in Connecticut but across the country,” Segovia said, “this is urgent.”
