When ICE Takes a Parent, Lane County Shows Up

When a Family Is Torn Apart Overnight, Every Hour Matters

This year, increased ICE activity has meant increased fear — and increased need — for immigrant families across Lane County. Recent local news coverage has brought this into sharp focus for our community. When a parent or spouse is detained, a family doesn't just lose a loved one. They lose rent money. Grocery money. The person who covered the utility bill.

Thanks to support from Lane County Government and community donors like you, CCS's Immigration Services team (RISP) stepped in fast. This year, we distributed more than $45,000 in direct assistance to 14 families who had a member detained by ICE — helping with rent, utilities, and food during the most disorienting weeks of their lives.

Speed matters in a crisis like this. Because our legal services team is connected to rapid response networks in the community, most families received a financial assistance intake within two weeks of a detention — and six families were reached in just three days.

Every single family we served had children in the home. For 64% of them, a spouse or partner's detention meant becoming a single-parent household overnight.

That's why we built a two-month support model — not just a one-time check, but a window of stability that gives a parent time to regroup, make a plan, and figure out what's next for their family.

Case manager Nancy Salgado-Villegas has led this work with extraordinary care, going beyond the scope of the grant itself to connect families with additional resources: community-donated mini-activity kits and Bags of Love essentials for kids, and hygiene kits for families who need them.

You can help a family stay in their home while they find their footing.

You believe every neighbor deserves a fair shot and a welcoming hand. When a spouse or parent is detained, it's people like you who make sure that family isn't facing it alone.

A gift to this fund goes directly to rent, utilities, and food for families in Lane County living through this exact crisis right now. $50 covers a week of groceries for a family that needs exactly that. You're not just assisting — you're the reason a family stays together instead of falling apart under the weight of one impossible month.

GIVE to FAMILIES of ICE DETAINEES

Read Executive Director Lorri Perreault's response to recent local reporting on how ICE enforcement is affecting Lane County families.