My sister, Yenniffer England, has always been the "glue" that holds our family together.
Whether it was coming into the living room to ask if I was hungry while I studied for exams or her years spent as a dedicated caretaker, she has always lived to serve others.
She is the person we lean on, the one whose presence defines every happy memory we share. But for the last three months, that glue has been dissolved.
Our nightmare began on a typical night. Yenniffer, her oldest daughter, and I were heading to a local taqueria. Suddenly, the flashing lights of a Texas DPS state trooper appeared behind us. Yenniffer stopped immediately, handed over her license, and honestly explained it had expired. Within minutes, she was handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car while my 13-year-old niece sobbed in terror. I was left to drive home in a state of total numbness, blaming myself for not getting ready faster, wondering how a minor traffic violation could steal my sister away.
Yenniffer has called this country home since she was four years old. She is a DACA recipient with protections valid through 2027, yet she is being treated like a threat to the community she has spent her life protecting. Her commitment to service started at STISD Health Professions, where she dreamed of becoming a doctor, a dream she was told was impossible simply because of her status. She didn’t let that stop her. She became a Certified Nurse Assistant, volunteering at local hospitals and working tirelessly to provide for our family.
\When the COVID-19 pandemic hit its peak in 2020, my sister didn't hide. She stepped up as a traveling nurse in New York City, working at the epicenter of the crisis to save lives. She worked until the virus nearly took her own life. She spent ten days intubated on a ventilator and had to relearn how to walk. Even then, she refused to come home. She insisted on staying to help others, saying she had to save lives just as they had saved hers.
Unfortunately, my sister’s detention is not an isolated incident. It is part of a coordinated and alarming trend to target DACA recipients and immigrant families. Since the start of 2025, over 340 DACA recipients have been detained, and at least 90 have been deported that we know of. This systematic dismantling of DACA protections ignores more than a decade of sacred rights to be protected from detention and deportation. My sister is just one example of how violent this reality is.
The cost of this political game is human and heartbreaking. Yenniffer’s two teenage daughters have been without their mother for about three months. They are terrified of being forced into a country they have never known, where they do not even speak the language. My nieces should be worrying about school, not whether their mother will ever come home.
We cannot wait any longer for justice. Our family calls on state and federal elected officials to act immediately to free Yenniffer from detention so she can reunite with her. We call on the administration to stop the targeted detention and deportation of DACA recipients who, like Yenniffer, have built their lives here.
My sister saved lives for this country. It is time for this country to let her live hers.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Francisco De La Rosa regarding his sister, Yenniffer England's detention.
