Wisconsin collects, delivers donations to families affected by ICE raids in Mississippi

NOW: Wisconsin collects, delivers donations to families affected by ICE raids in Mississippi
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MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- People from across Wisconsin are coming together Friday, to help families affected by recent ICE raids. 

Donations are being collected to be driven down to Mississippi.

This is a statewide effort with organization coming from Manitowoc, a truck coming from Milwaukee, and donations from places like Beloit and Janesville, all in an effort to help families affected by ICE raids in Mississippi last week.

Nearly 700 people were detained in those raids. Some 300 have been released since, but families are still being affected. 

This is organized by Manitowoc-based Crusaders of Justicia. The executive director, Jennifer Estrada, says the idea for taking donations down to Mississippi started out as a small group chat on Facebook and quickly grew.

They collected items in Manitowoc, but after response grew, they went to Madison to give people there the option to drop off donations. Estrada says that this issue hits close to home, and that's what pushed her to organize this.

"My drive is because I know what it feels like," she said. "I know what it was like when my husband was deported in 2012, I know what it felt like to not be able to put food on the table, worrying about his legal costs and the things that my children went through. So being personally affected by that, I feel it is my duty to go out and help families being affected by the same thing."

Once they have cars and trucks loaded up in Madison, they'll head back to Manitowoc to load items there, before beginning the journey down to Mississippi later Friday night. 


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