Alma Ramirez and her children have faced intense financial struggles and emotional and mental health tolls after her partner, José Padilla, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 27 January 2026, while working as a car washer in Los Angeles. The father of four, who has lived in the US for more than 20 years, was one of more than 1,400 people detained in the LA area that January, according to the Deportation Data Project, and one of at least 373 car wash workers detained from June 2025 through January 2026, according to data compiled by the Clean Carwash Worker Center.
Nightly questions and emotional toll
Every night for months, seven-year-old José, named after his father, would ask his mother: “Why did they take my dad away?” The 31-year-old mother of three said the detention impacted the children deeply. “It impacted the kids more because they had their dad every day. Even if he came home tired from working in the hot sun, he would come and play with them,” she said. “And he took care of us. He would pay our bills, help me around the house doing chores, and bathe [the kids.] He was a real present dad. That’s what I love about him.”
Ramirez said the family unit deteriorated the moment José was detained. “From one day to the next, everything was on me,” she said. “And I don’t mind stepping in, but you have to understand, we were such a great team; we really helped each other. When I suffered postpartum depression, he was patient; he took care of everything, and he helped me get back to myself.”
Children's mental health and routines interrupted
Two of her children, José and Alex, who has autism, experienced disengagement in school following their father's detainment. Alex depended on his father for help with bathing, schoolwork, and attending school meetings. Both of the eldest kids began therapy. “They are learning different ways they can manage those big feelings,” she said. “My seven-year-old tries to be a tough little kid, but I can tell he misses his dad.”
According to a report from the University of California, Riverside’s school of medicine, worksite raids and arrests during federal immigration enforcement operations are creating a “public health emergency” for millions of kids. Dr Lisa Fortuna, professor and chair of psychiatry and neuroscience at the UCR school of medicine and lead psychiatrist behind the report, said these types of separations from a caregiver “fundamentally reshape a child’s development and mental health”.
For seven-year-old José Jr, his two-year-old brother Joaquin, and 17-year-old stepbrother Alex, their father was a constant figure of safety and stability. They played together every evening, he would read to them, and at night, the kids would cuddle in between his arms as he soothed them to sleep. “We had our routines, each morning and evening, and all that went away,” Ramirez said.
Detention and financial strain
On the day José was detained, he left for work extra early to pump gas. Ramirez was standing in her mother’s kitchen when she got the call. “The guy on the other end asked me if I knew Morro, which is José’s nickname, and when I said yes, he said, ‘ICE just detained him.’” She said they had observed ongoing ICE raids in their neighborhoods but never discussed what they would do if José was actually detained. “We just felt like, you know, it won’t happen to us if we’re careful. Until it did,” she said.
José was transported from downtown Los Angeles to the Adelanto detention facility, before being transferred to the California City detention facility in Kern county. The drive from Watts to the detention center is a three-hour ride, so Ramirez and her family mostly communicated with José through video phone calls every other night.
Ramirez, who was a stay-at-home mom and a student studying for a test to become a certified phlebotomist, had to retake the test several times because she had little time to study. “It’s been very hard. I just find myself crying all the time, some days are harder than others,” she said. She and her kids live with her parents and pay rent, but managing bills and keeping her partner’s spirits up has been difficult. José got a job at the detention center kitchen, saying he didn’t want to drown in depression and wanted to make the time pass by. According to a 2020 study in Pima county, Arizona, an immigration arrest can cost households an average of more than $24,000, including lost income, legal fees, and other expenses.
Reunion and ongoing fight
On 4 August 2026, six months after his detention, José was released from immigration detention, and his kids welcomed him at Union Station in Los Angeles. The Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which helped José and his family with his case, captured the emotional reunion. Ramirez told her seven-year-old as they turned the corner: “Who’s that papa?” No words came out, just smiles and tears of joy and relief.
The family’s healing journey is far from over. While José has regained his freedom, he is still fighting his case and hoping he can stay in the country where he has built a life with his family. Ramirez shared that, to help with attorney fees, they have left his GoFundMe open. For now, Ramirez and her kids rejoice as they are all once again in José’s arms, enjoying the warm embrace they longed for for six months.
