Watch DREAMer’s Personal Plea Shortly After Mother Taken in ICE Raid

Erika Andiola, a prominent immigrant rights activist, describes an immigration raid on her own home.

By Julianne Hing Jan 11, 2013

Erika Andiola’s mother and brother were taken from her Arizona home in a raid last night. She recorded this video shortly after. Maria Arreola, and her brother, Heriberto Andiola Arreola, were taken into immigration custody, and while Andiola’s brother was released, her mother faced imminent deportation. But Andiola herself is not just any young Latina. She’s a well-known undocumented immigrant activist from Arizona who has fought against SB 1070 and anti-immigrant state laws, and advocated for the DREAM Act and humane immigration policy. She is a co-founder of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition and served on the board of United We Dream, a national network of immigrant youth organizations who have successfully defended undocumented immigrants from deportation with public campaigns. Andiola’s family is but just one of the hundreds of thousands that have been affected by detention and deportation. Just last year alone, the Obama administration deported [409,846](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/immigration-deportation_n_2348090.html) immigrants in 2012, a new record even for Obama, who’s overseen the most aggressive deportation record of any administration. The immigrant rights world has risen up swiftly to call for justice for Andiola’s family. Stay with Colorlines.com for more information.