The Portland school community is reportedly in shock after recently learning that a local family, including two high school students, has been detained by immigration officials.

The students, who attend Deering and Casco Bay High Schools, were detained alongside the rest of their family at the Canadian border on Nov. 12th after a failed asylum bid. They have since been transferred to a detention facility in Texas.

Canadian Border patrol claims the family illegally crossed into the U.S from the southern border near San Luis, Arizona in 2022. The family tried to appeal an immigration judge’s order to remove “all subjects in the family unit” back in February but were denied last month.

Portland Public Schools issued a statement this past Friday saying they’re continuing to commit to serving all students, irrespective of immigration status:

“To have students in class one week and then suddenly gone the next is traumatic,” the statement read. “And to know that two young people are in a detention center when they could be in school is deeply upsetting. We will continue to do all we can to support this family and others affected by immigration enforcement actions.”

The news has also had an impact on the local soccer community, where one of the detained teens is a “universally loved in the soccer community in Portland”, according to Anthony Fiori, an organizer of the Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer group.

Reactions in the soccer community have also come from outside the school district, with Portland Hearts of Pine founder Gabe Hoffman-Johnson decrying the family’s detention on social media.

“What has occurred over the last few months in the New Mainer community, and most recently to a Kennedy Park player, is alarming and antithetical to Hearts’ mission and what our club stands for,” Hoffman-Johnson said. “My heart and the hearts of our club and community continue to be with those impacted.”

While a GoFundMe was initially launched, supporters are now being directed to ‘Project Relief Maine’ to help cover the family’s legal fees as they fight deportation.

To read the original Press Herald article, click here.