TRANSCRIPT—
"My name is Elder Chavez.
I'm recording this letter to share everything I've been experiencing.
I decided to leave my country when I was 14 years because things were very difficult there. I had the opportunity to be supported by my sister and I arrived at the Texas border at the immigration office when I was 14 years applying for a special immigrant juvenile visa after being abandoned by my parents. I spent three months waiting for my sister to come get me.
I enrolled in school and I was pursuing a career in welding and carpentry. I also want to play American football at school.
In September '25 I was fortunate enough to have the Trump administration grant me juvenile immigration status, which allows me to live legally in this blessed country. But in December I made a small mistake because I was distracted, and a police officer pulled me over for driving 52 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour street in Alabama. The officer called ICE and now I'm in a detention center in ICE custody.
And I need your help to get me out of here so I can continue my studies, finish my high school, and be with my sister and my nephews. And I'm a good teenager who just wants to give back to this country what it has given me through hard work and effort. Here in Winn, where I'm being held, I paint walls for $1 a day.
And I appreciate your attention and thank you for your help."
Elder from Winn on 8/2/26
