It was Sept. 2 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and the sun had just finished its rise.
38-year-old Ricardo Perez drove down the road with a coffee and sandwich from Panera in tow. Though the streets of Chicago’s northwest suburbs are seldom busy at 7:20 in the morning, Ricardo wasn’t alone. Federal agents from United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) followed him in a truck closely behind.
Ricardo would be among several others in the area detained that day. His younger son, Rolling Meadows High School junior Fabian Perez, busy with school activities past sunset, wouldn’t find out until 9:30 that night.
“My father is extremely kind and hardworking,” said Fabian in an interview with KnightMedia. “He works all day and still tries to spend time with us when he can. He also has taught me so many valuable lessons.”
In the aftermath of Ricardo’s detainment, Fabian says his family is “mainly okay,” but the shock doesn’t only have emotional impacts. It also brings new struggles to the Perezes’ financial situation and affects the logistics of their day-to-day lives.
“My dad was the primary income, while my mom would work a bit but also take me and my brother to our extracurriculars at school or [any] competition that we have. But without him, it’s a lot harder,” Fabian said. “So if I have an activity at 7 [p.m.], I have to stay after school for four hours until it starts and [afterwards] get a ride back home from a friend.”
Ricardo’s absence cutting off his access to transportation forced Fabian — a bassoonist and saxophonist who has participated in multiple bands at Rolling Meadows — to turn down offers from prestigious music schools. These include the Merit School of Music, where he would’ve had the opportunity to play in the top music group and be a section leader, and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he’d earned a three thousand-dollar scholarship.
“We also have to make sure to pay rent and utilities,” said Fabian, “but luckily, with the help of the GoFundMe, family, savings and my brother working more, we can make it work for a bit more.”
Fabian started the GoFundMe he’s referring to after speaking with his mother and one of his teachers and “realizing how much everything was going to cost.”
Fabian’s standards weren’t high. “I didn’t really expect anything at all,” he admitted.
But while Fabian thought he would only get “maybe a couple hundred” dollars, the reality was a different story. At press time, the GoFundMe has raised $18,143 – and counting.
Fabian’s fundraiser gained traction after he told one of his friends, who then posted it on her social media, leading the Perezes’ story to spread across the school and community until it caught WGN-TV’s eye.
Fabian soon realized the GoFundMe would be more successful than expected after the money donated went over the estimate in only a few hours. He described the virality of the fundraiser as encouraging, yet daunting.
“It was a bit scary after sending it out at first, since it all is a pretty private thing, and I personally never planned to tell anyone about it except maybe a few friends after a bit,” Fabian said. “I felt pretty happy about getting so much support from the community, but also scared and anxious to see how people would react.”
Fabian says his classmates have been supportive and he’s gotten positive messages from friends still at school and graduated alike. However, there’s still more money to go. He estimates Ricardo’s lawyer alone will cost around $10,000, and the family also has to pay for bond so Ricardo can return home, a sponsor who would sign a contract to financially support Ricardo upon his release, certain documents for the Department of Homeland Security and amenities for Ricardo in custody.
“In the detainment everything costs money,” Fabian explained. “For example, food, toothbrush, toothpaste, calls, messages that get charged per message sent and received, earbuds so that he can call us.”
ICE suddenly cancelled Ricardo’s Sept. 17 court date the night before, saying Ricardo had been taken to Kentucky and because of that, they would need to move his session to Memphis, Tennessee on Oct. 1. Despite this disheartening setback, Fabian remains hopeful.
“I’d like to first thank the community for supporting us so much and I hope they know how grateful I am for all the support and help they’ve given me and my family,” said Fabian. “I’d also like to say that they should keep spreading the message about other people’s situations and to make sure to be loud and let people know that we aren’t okay with what’s going on and that we want change to happen.”
You can find Fabian’s GoFundMe here.
