They Left for the School Bus. ICE Picked Them Up Instead.
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- Two teenage brothers from the Republic of Congo, Israel Makoka (18) and Max Makoka (15), were detained by ICE agents in Diamondhead, Mississippi, disrupting their lives and education.
- The brothers, who were active leaders on their high school basketball team and involved in their local church, were taken while leaving for school and separated into detention facilities in Louisiana and Texas.
- Their detention has deeply affected their conservative small-town school community, with teachers and students expressing heartbreak and concern for their classmates.
- The Makokas had originally entered the U.S. legally on F-1 student visas to attend Piney Woods School, a historically Black boarding school, but transferred to a local public school where they lived with their host family.
