After a traffic stop turned into an immigration case in San Marcos, a San Antonio family is about to lose their house.

On March 14, the San Marcos Police Department conducted a traffic stop, which led to Gerardo Reyes and his 17-year-old son Esteban Reyes getting arrested, Gerardo Reyes was transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center, in Taylor, Texas.

Gerardo Reyes’ wife, Sanjuana Escalante, said she is about to lose their house in San Antonio because her husband was the main financial provider.

“This situation has deeply affected our entire family. My dad is a provider; he is present in his children’s daily lives,” Guadalupe “Lupe” Sarinana, Gerardo Reyes’ daughter, said. “He is someone his children rely on emotionally, financially and mentally. On Easter, instead of being together as a family, we were on a [expletive] video call trying to stay strong while feeling the absence of someone who is normally there.”

Currently, the Reyes’ family is raising money to afford an immigration lawyer and basic needs. So far, they have raised $692 out of the needed $10,000.

“My dad is more than a headline. He is more than a report. He is a father, a provider, he is loved,” Sarinana said. “Our family is asking to be treated with fairness, dignity and understanding, because if you were in this situation, you’d want the same thing.”

Various organizations, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation in San Marcos and San Antonio, Caldwell and Hays Education Fund, the Young Democratic Socialists of America at Texas State, Austin Grassroots leadership, Mano Amiga, San Marcos Civics Club and others, gathered in front of the San Marcos Police station on April 10 to show their support for the Reyes’ family.

Esteban Reyes said the last time he saw his father was in the holding cell.

“I had got transferred to another cell and once they took my prints and everything, I asked the officer that was evaluating me, ‘What am I here for? What are the charges? What am I getting charged with?’ and he said ‘I don’t even know myself,'” Esteban Reyes said.

SMPD pulled over Gerardo and Esteban Reyes in response to a call about a 15-year-old girl gone missing who was seen with an older man. Esteban Reyes said the 15-year-old girl reported missing was actually his girlfriend and her mom was the one who called the police.

Esteban said he was waiting for his girlfriend to meet him outside and when she didn’t, he and his father decided to head home.

“I guess she thought I kidnapped [my girlfriend] or something, which I didn’t. She knew 100% [that] her daughter was safe at home. So once we drove off, we were heading home, that’s when the cops stopped us,” Esteban Reyes said.

After the arrest occurred, SMPD later confirmed that the missing girl was still at home and no crime was committed.

According to a statement from the city in an email to The Star, the responding officer saw a pickup trust driving near Aquareana Springs and Charles Austin Drives, officers used the loudspeaker to ask Esteban Reyes to step out of the vehicle upon the traffic stop. When there was no response, the officers on scene attempted to physically remove him from the vehicle.

While officers attempted to remove Esteban Reyes from the vehicle, Gerardo Reyes held onto Esteban’s arm, attempting to keep him inside the truck, both were arrested for interfering with public duties. Once they were both booked, the arresting officer learned Gerardo Reyes was subject to an immigration detainer issued by ICE. The arresting officer was not aware of the detainer while on scene.

However, Sarinana said based on the Facebook live that Gerardo Reyes recorded during the interaction, the officers were citing “per case law” while attempting to get Esteban Reyes out of the vehicle and Gerardo Reyes was just acting as a concerned parent.

“The documents claim that my father repeatedly told officers that they would not be taking my brother, Esteban Reyes, out of the vehicle, however if you see that full 10-minute video, that statement does not appear to match what was actually said,” Sarinana said.

Amy Kamp, San Marcos resident, whose organizing background is in labor and against mass incarceration and over-criminalization, said immigration cases, like Gerardo Reyes’s, overlap into those categories.

“Seeing this case, the thing that really struck me when I first heard about it, because I just felt like this arrest didn’t need to happen,” Kamp said. “The charges are interfering with public duties and so it’s like you’re creating an offense by what happens during the interaction.”

Kamp said there was nothing the officers were going to charge them with before the interaction during the stop.

Gerardo Reyes just acted like a parent, and he shouldn’t be punished for having human reactions during a high stress moment, like a sudden traffic stop, according to Kamp.

“This is not the world I want my daughter to live in, where families are being pulled apart, where children as younger than her babies are being put in cages because of an accident [at] birth. It’s not right,” Kamp said.

Kamp said she hopes people who have family members who are incarcerated or in ICE custody, to know that the community is fighting for them.

“We just have to fight to reverse these things and don’t let people convince you that you aren’t worth better, with Gerardo [Reyes’ case], them bringing up his misdemeanor charges from over 20 years ago, they want to shame him,” Kamp said. “I just find it amazing and wonderful how Lupe and the rest of the family defend him.”