Minneapolis

Summary

Heavyweight – Episode: "Minneapolis"

Host: Jonathan Goldstein
Date: February 5, 2026
Summary by Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

"Minneapolis" follows host Jonathan Goldstein as he explores the ripple effects of ICE raids on families and communities in Minneapolis. The episode combines intimate conversations, firsthand accounts, and harrowing family stories—focusing both on a local family’s terrifying public encounters with ICE agents and the journey of a Venezuelan migrant family caught in the crossfire of American immigration enforcement. Heavyweight's tone is personal and direct, blending emotion, empathy, and Jonathan’s signature conversational style to tell stories of disruption and resilience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Recount of ICE Operation in Minneapolis

• Emily’s Encounter (02:22–15:13)

  • Emily, Jonathan’s wife, describes witnessing an ICE raid in her neighborhood, the chaos of unmarked vehicles driving the wrong way, masked men, and the trauma she experienced.
    • “There were, I don’t know if it was six or eight vehicles coming directly toward me going the wrong way down a one way at full speed... A bunch of men started running out of the cars and they were all masked and all the vehicles were unmarked. My brain just wasn’t connecting what was happening. And then I saw two women running toward this scene with whistles... somewhere in my head it clicked. Like, oh, this is an ICE raid.” [Emily, 02:45]
  • She witnesses and recounts the emotional aftermath: a brutal shooting nearby, cancelled schools, the impact on children, and a city on edge.
  • The difficulty of talking to her own son, Augie, about these realities, and trying to balance honesty with protection for his sense of safety.
    • “Even if he is safe, there’s a lot of kids right now around this city his age who aren’t. And that’s—how do you explain that?” [Emily, 06:01]
  • Describes a moment of vulnerability and unity as children process their fears together.
    • “We all sort of, like, hugged each other... It was really beautiful.” [Emily, 08:29]
  • Amidst the darkness, moments of childlike joy bring hope and comic relief.
    • Emily recounts Augie coming in wearing a captain’s hat, rapping about “yachts” and wanting a “cookie vacay” to break the tension of recent events. [09:22–09:41]

• Violence and Powerlessness at Another Raid (09:41–15:13)

  • Emily’s second experience with ICE: witnessing agents using pepper spray, flashbangs, breaking car windows, forcibly removing residents, and the overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
    • “Every part of you just wants to run and just, like, tackle that guy, but you know, you can’t. And so you just yell because what else do you do but just to stand there and see somebody brutalized like that, you just feel so powerless.” [Emily, 12:05]
  • Finding solace and help from a neighbor, a “helper,” even as faith in the efficacy of “looking for the helpers”—as per the Mr. Rogers ethos—frays in light of recent violence.
    • “You know, Renee Goode was a helper, and Alex Preddy was a helper. Like, they’re murdering the...” [Emily, 15:10]

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2. The Story of a Family Caught in the System

Julio Cesar Sosa Celis & Family (18:46–36:08)

• Who is Julio? (18:46–20:35)

  • Julio, a Venezuelan immigrant with no criminal record, was shot in the leg by ICE agents during a raid. Official accounts conflict, with the FBI determining ICE was not looking for Julio and that the shooting was not in self-defense. Julio and his partner Indriani were arrested.
  • The focus moves to what life is like for their family, left behind in fear and isolation.

• Life in Hiding: Yamiles’ Family (20:35–29:58)

  • Yamiles, Indriani’s mother, cares for the couple’s young son and her own children. Since the raid, they live in hiding, blinds drawn, not leaving the house.
  • Even children have internalized the threat; her 10-year-old son asks, “Did you know when the ice thing’s gonna dawn?” [Javier, 22:31]
  • The family’s migration story unfolds: political persecution in Venezuela, perilous foot journey through the Darien Gap, evading cartels in Mexico, boarding “La Bestia” freight train, and eventual entry into the U.S.
    • “We walked for two months... sleeping in the street, eating what people would give us... but always happy, with a lot of faith in being able to once again see my daughter and my grandson.” [Yamiles, 23:30]
    • “We climbed up [the freight train] very quick. And we passed five days on the train. No bathroom, just a pot... In this way, Yamilis spent her birthday. She was turning 34 years old.” [Yamiles, 27:31–28:33]
  • Yamilis describes experiencing “blessings” amid the death and violence facing many migrants.

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• Trauma of the Raid & Separation (31:01–35:14)

  • Recounts the family’s second separation, this time at the hands of U.S. agents who storm their home and arrest Julio and Indriani.
  • The event is relived through the voices of traumatized children, including the three-year-old who now cries at night and references the fear and violence repeatedly.
    • “He sleeps with me and I hear when he wakes up at night crying, crying, mom...” [Yamiles, 33:39]
  • The family, having survived one country’s persecution, faces another’s. The sense of disbelief is palpable:
    • “To flee political persecution from one country, the family underwent a death-defying journey to another country, only to be persecuted by that new country’s government. Could you ever have imagined that it would get this bad?” [Jonathan, 33:51]

• Hope, Hospitality, and Uncertainty (34:39–35:14)

  • Despite hardship, Yamilis finds beauty in her new home, looks forward to the future, and extends hospitality to Jonathan:
    • “Truly. You guys next summer are invited to eat at my house if I’m here. If everything’s mama, we’re gonna eat. Really.” [Yamiles, 34:39]
  • The episode ends with Julio being ordered released in court, only to be immediately detained again by ICE as he leaves. The family remains homebound and fearful.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Powerlessness of Witnessing State Violence:

  • “Every part of you just wants to run and just, like, tackle that guy, but you know, you can’t. And so you just yell because what else do you do but just to stand there and see somebody brutalized like that, you just feel so powerless.”
    Emily, 12:05

• Children’s Innocence and Trauma:

  • “It’s so sad that ICE murdered somebody.”
    Augie’s friends, via Emily, 08:03
  • “Did you know when the ice thing’s gonna dawn?”
    Javier, 22:31
  • “He sleeps with me and I hear when he wakes up at night crying, crying, mom...”
    Yamiles, 33:39

• Survival and Faith Amid Inhumanity:

  • “We walked for two months… but always happy, with a lot of faith in being able to once again see my daughter and my grandson.”
    Yamiles, 23:30

• Disbelief at Reality in the U.S.:

  • “To flee political persecution from one country, the family underwent a death-defying journey to another country, only to be persecuted by that new country’s government. Could you ever have imagined that it would get this bad?”
    Jonathan, 33:51

• Resilience and Generosity:

  • “Truly. You guys next summer are invited to eat at my house if I’m here. If everything’s mama, we’re gonna eat. Really.”
    Yamiles, 34:39

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Important Timestamps

• Emily’s initial ICE raid experience: 02:22–05:14
• Impact on children and community: 06:01–09:41
• Emily’s second ICE encounter, violence, and aftermath: 09:41–16:05
• Julio’s shooting and background explained: 18:46–20:35
• The journey from Venezuela, “La Bestia” story: 23:30–29:58
• Night of the raid, separation, children’s trauma: 31:01–35:14
• Court, ongoing fear, and closing remarks: 35:14–36:08

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Tone & Style

The tone throughout is empathetic, direct, and personal. Jonathan Goldstein and his interviewees speak candidly, with moments of heartbreak counterbalanced by humor and resilience—always humanizing the individuals behind the headlines. The storytelling is immersive, moving fluidly between narration, reflection, vivid anecdotes, and emotional exchanges.

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Final Notes

This episode of Heavyweight is a powerful testament to the unforeseen consequences of policy at street level, the resilience of families facing unthinkable circumstances, and the shattering impact state violence can have on everyday lives. It gives voice to those left out of official narratives—parents, children, neighbors—and asks what it means to find agency, unity, and hope amid chaos and fear.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Pushkin. Hello.

[A]

Hi.

[B]

My wife.

[A]

Hi. My husband.

[B]

How are you?

[A]

I'm getting through, yeah.

[B]

So you wanted to talk?

[A]

I did. I feel like we haven't had much of a chance to connect over the last couple weeks because there's been a lot going on here.

[B]

Here is Minneapolis, where I live, and the epicenter of what the Trump administration is calling Operation Metro Surge. Since it all began with the regular business of work, childcare, and running a household, Emily and I haven't really had a chance to sit down and actually talk. I knew she had a lot she wanted to tell me, so I asked her to start at the beginning.

[A]

On Wednesday, January 7, I had dropped Augie off at school and I was driving down 36th, which is a one way. There were, I don't know if it was six or eight vehicles coming directly toward me going the wrong way down a one way at full speed And I really thought I was going to have a head on collision. Then they just suddenly stopped. And then a bunch of men started running out of the cars and they were all masked and all the vehicles were unmarked. My brain just wasn't connecting what was happening. And then I saw two women running toward this scene with whistles. And then somewhere in my head it clicked. Like, oh, this is an ICE raid. I didn't even know exactly what that meant, but I just felt so clearly like something, something wrong is happening. And so I parked and I jumped out. I ran up to the building as they were all pulling away, the woman who had a really little, like five pound dog, one of the ICE agents just swerved right at the dog. And I was really emotional because I was still had a lot of adrenaline. I was coming on the one way and they almost hit me.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

One of the women there hugged me and she just kept saying, no. I know. I said, who do they think they are? Who do they think they are? Oh, my gosh. It's just too much. I mean, that's when everything just like exploded. I got home and, you know, I had news on the background and I saw that a woman had been shot dead. And that turned out later that this was Renee Goode. And she had just dropped her kid off from school, too. She was shot about 40 minutes after I had that encounter, about four blocks away.

[C]

Ice.

[A]

Oh, no. I went to the vigil that night.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

There were a lot of people there. I think everybody there really felt an obligation to be there. While I was there, I got a text from Katie, my sister, telling me that Ice had showed up at Theo's school. Theo is our 14 year old nephew. And that they had pepper sprayed a crowd of teachers and students. So she texted me that and then wrote, I have no idea how to process this with my child. When did I learn what ICE was a thing? When did you learn that ICE was a thing?

[B]

I don't.

[A]

Do you remember?

[D]

No.

[A]

Do you and Augie, you know, Augie's nine. And so that's been one of the really hard things here is to know. What do you tell your kid? I've been trying to talk to him about it just as honestly as possible with trying to emphasize, you know, that he's safe, but even if he is safe, there's a lot of kids right now around this city his age who aren't. And that's. How do you explain that, you know.

[B]

You told Augie about Renee Goode?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And what was that?

[A]

Like, I first told him that a woman had been shot by Ice. Then the next day, Julian came over, and Eli, Julian's dad, said something to me about, oh, and you encountered them that morning in front of Augie. And so then Augie was like, wait, what? We are right now? Yeah, I'm okay. You wouldn't have stopped if I was in the car. No.

[D]

No, honey.

[A]

And we talked about it for a couple minutes, and then he said, okay, I think we need to stop talking about this now. And so I respected that and stopped talking about it. So then the Thursday and Friday after Renee Goode was killed, schools were canceled across the city because it just wasn't safe. I stayed home with Augie, and some of his friends came over, and, you know, throughout the day, we would be playing or the kids would be playing, and they would just. They'd be fine. And then they would say, it's so sad. Like, this is so sad that Ice murdered somebody.

[B]

This is what Augie's friends were saying.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. And I actually have a really clear memory that day. We were working with the hot glue gun, and Julian somehow cut his hand. And the concern that they all just sort of rallied around him and were so worried about his hand.

[B]

Julian.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He's like the Mr. Tough Guy I know.

[A]

And then there was this moment after I bandaged it up that we all. And I've never had a moment with the boys like this where we all sort of, like, hugged each other.

[B]

The boys went for this. They allowed this.

[A]

Yeah. And I do think it was just, like, this moment of vulnerability that we were all feeling such a weight, you know, that it just allowed us to have this moment of coming together. It was really beautiful.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

I mean, everything is completely overwhelming, but you still have to eat. You still have to walk the dog, and, you know, kids are still kids. That next morning, I was laying in bed, and Nagi came in wearing a captain's hat and a suit jacket and started rapping about yachts. Yachts. I want one for my birthday. Yachts.

[C]

I can get a cookie vacay.

[A]

Yachts. They're really great yachts. It was all about going on yachts and having cookie vacays.

[B]

God, I love a cookie vacay right now.

[A]

We could all really use a cookie vacay. I wanted to keep 8k yachts.

[C]

I want it for my birthday. Yachts.

[A]

You don't need to do the best yachts. Tuesday. This is Tuesday the 13th. Less than a week since Renee Goode had been killed. Once again, I had dropped Auggie off at school. And I was driving home and suddenly all these vehicles start swarming around my car. And I'm a little bit boxed in. And then I started hearing the whistles. And so I decide to get out. There's ICE agents all over. They're going up to an apartment building, yelling, you gotta open up the door. And you know, the crowd is slowly growing, but pretty quiet. And then they come out of the apartment building and they have two guys who to me looked like children, early 20s at the oldest, but I'd be surprised if it was even that one of them is wearing a T shirt and shorts. Even though it's, you know, it's very cold outside.

[B]

I mean, it's so cold. It's the kind of cold that, you know, you take your gloves off for a few seconds and your fingers just really hurt. Like it is hard to be outside in this weather.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And when we see the kids, we just start screaming, shame on you. Shame on you. I'm a mom, you know, like, shame on you is the words that come to mind. And we're yelling, you know, they're kids and kids.

[C]

Shame on you.

[A]

Sorry, this is gonna be the hardest part for me. So everything I should just say first, like, everything escalated very quickly. It just becomes chaos where ICE agents are just pushing people, shoving people, kicking them. You know, they have them down on the ground. I can't even describe the feeling where like, literally three feet from me, I see a man, like just a Minneapolis guy on the ground and an agent just pepper spraying him straight in the face from three inches away. And I mean, every part of you just wants to run and just like tackle that guy, but you know, you can't. And so you just yell because what else do you do but just to stand there and see somebody brutalized like that, you just feel so powerless. Are you okay? So I'm standing on the corner and they're trying to get this car to go, this woman in a car. And there's nowhere she can go. I mean, it was just chaos. And they're screaming at her. There's like 15 agents, you know, just surrounding her car, screaming at her. They just broke the window. They broke the window in the car. They broke the window. All of a sudden they break her passenger side window. Then they go around to her side and forcibly pull her out of the car. And she's screaming, and then they've just got her by all fours and start carrying her away. And then I see that they have a white haired man that they are carrying by all fours, and they open the back door of a black SUV and literally, like, stuff him in. That's the only language they know how to use.

[D]

Hmm.

[A]

Sorry. So they stuff him into the vehicle. And then. All right, there's flash bombs all over the place. And then the first, I just hear a bunch of, like, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. And I figure out that these are, I guess, what are flashbangs. And then smoke just starts to pour out, and then it hits your throat first, and it starts to burn. And you're starting to cough, and you're like, oh, that's strong. And then it hits your face, the skin on your face. And then your eyes start to burn, and for a second, you're like, oh, this hurts, but it's okay. And then each second that passes, you're just like, oh, it's not okay. Oh, it's really not okay. And then you're just, like, fucked. And then I just can't really move. I'm doubled over, and I grabbed a fistful of snow to put on my eyes, and I can't see in any way. And then I just feel like a hand reach out for me and grabs my hand, and they start to just guide me away out of the gas. And then there's a guy there wearing a bandana, and he says, this is my house. This is my house. It's the most Minnesotan thing of all time. We walk in the house, none of us can even see, really, and he says, I'm so sorry it's so messy in here. Thank you.

[B]

That's much better.

[A]

I had a bottle of water, and we're pouring it over my eyes. Thank you very much. For the hospital. You know, there's that famous Mr. Rogers saying that when. When trouble strikes, look for the helpers. And that's what I've always used with Augie. Look for the helpers. But, you know, Renee Goode was a helper, and Alex Preddy was a helper. Like, they're murdering the.

[B]

Coming up, after being shot in the leg by an ice agent, Julio Cesar Sosa Celis became national news. Since then, his family has been forced into hiding. After the break, I pay them a visit.

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[B]

One week after Renee Good and a week and three days before Alex Preddy, another person in Minneapolis, was shot by ICE agents. He was at his home when it happened. He was shot in the leg. It wasn't fatal and the incident didn't get as much media attention. The man's name was Julio Cesar Sosa Celis. He was Venezuelan and he had no criminal record. There are different accounts of what happened that night, but in a nutshell, the federal government claims Julio had been targeted for arrest, that he fled during a car chase, and that when he was caught he was shot by an ICE agent in self defense. The FBI says otherwise. Their investigation determined that ICE wasn't looking for Julio at all and that he was not a part of any chase. Julio's roommate was mistaken for someone else while driving and he got into a car chase with ice. The Roommate led the agents back to the house he and Julio shared with their partners and their babies. Eyewitnesses say the shooting wasn't self defense, that the men were fleeing into the house when shots were fired. At the end of the night, Julio and his partner Indriani were arrested. But the story I want to tell isn't about the shooting itself. I want to tell the story of the family Julio and Indriani left behind. What their life was like before that night, and what it's been like ever since. So far, Julio and Indriani's family in Minnesota haven't spoken with any journalists. But it turns out I have a connection to Indriani's mom, Yamilis. It was a very tenuous connection through friends of friends, but it was enough for me to be trusted. And so one cold night a week after the shooting, I text Yamilis my photo so she could identify me through the front door's small window. And I go over to talk.

[C]

Hi.

[A]

Hello.

[D]

Hello. Hello.

[B]

Hello. Since Julio and Indriani have been incarcerated, Yamiles has been taking care of their three year old son, her grandson. Yamiles has been in the US since 2023. But with the shooting, she fears that she and her family have become targets. Even more so target a vice. So she doesn't leave the house, not to grocery shop, not to go to work. She keeps the blinds drawn, the lights outside off. She says she prays that God will just make her house invisible. Jonathan?

[C]

Jonathan.

[B]

Yes, yes, I'm with my interpreter Eric, who's not really an interpreter, but my former officemate who works as an immigration lawyer. This is Eric. Nice to meet you.

[A]

Hola, Eric.

[B]

The house is full of life. Four kids of her own, ages 9 through 14, and her 3 year old grandson Julio, and Indriani's son. Once inside, one of the kids locks the door behind us. Since the shooting, even though her children have opened asylum cases and Social Security numbers, Yamiles has kept them all home from school. Her 14 year old, Alejandra attends class over video. I ask her if her teachers know why she hasn't been in class.

[A]

Yeah, but I like I didn't tell all my teachers so my grades are.

[C]

Going down, so I'm scared about that too.

[B]

I'm sorry.

[A]

I really want to go to school again, but my mom's like, you need to stay here because the ice can take you and things like that, you know.

[C]

But I really want to go to school again.

[B]

Yamiles 10 year old son Javier walks over. He has a Question he wants to ask me. Yes.

[A]

Did you know when the ice thing's gonna dawn?

[B]

Oh, I wish I knew. I'm so sorry. As her partner Danielle makes himself dinner and the kids come and go from the living room, Yemelis tells me about her life before all of this. Why she left Venezuela for the United States in the first place.

[D]

We were living hidden. My fear of returning is really strong.

[B]

When I ask why that is, Yemelis just says political persecution and leaves it at that. Her daughter Indriani had already migrated to the US and made a home for herself and her son in Minnesota. Yamilis really missed them. To see them again, she and her family embarked on a difficult journey, mostly done on foot. She and her partner Danielle towed four little kids across south and Central America and through Mexico.

[D]

We didn't have phone, we didn't have money. I had some coins in. That's it. We walked for two months. Sleeping in the street, Eating what people would give us. We walked a lot, but always happy, with a lot of faith in being able to once again see my daughter and my grandson.

[B]

On the way from Colombia to Panama, they pass through the incredibly dangerous rainforest known as the Darien Gap.

[D]

Where a lot of people have died.

[B]

The Darien Gap is a roughly 60 mile stretch of rainforest. It's the only gap in the Pan American Highway. No road, not even a dirt trail. The area is filled with strong rivers, flash floods and wild animals. There is no police. Many migrants are murdered and raped during passage. But of all the places they traveled through, Yemelis says the parts of Mexico controlled by the cartels were the scariest. She describes how while trying to avoid the immigration authorities, her family escaped into the forest.

[D]

So three armed men came kind of out of the trees and they said, nothing's gonna happen. Give us your money, give us your phones. I said, I don't have money or phone.

[B]

Emilis gestures towards her 12 year old daughter who's sitting on the couch.

[D]

She cried because she saw the guns and they said, she better be quiet or we'll kill her. My son, he was curious about the guns and they said, if he looks at me again, I'm gonna kill him. They took all our clothes off looking to see if we had hidden money.

[B]

When they didn't find anything, they let them go. Yamiles and Daniel had heard about a train that carried migrants from Mexico City to the American border. The train was referred to as Le Bestia, the beast. It's also been called the train of death. Passengers ride on top of freight Cars, loss of limbs, maimings, even death occur as people try to board the moving train. The family was told by other migrant travelers where to wait for the train. They waited and waited.

[A]

Bien el train grandicino.

[D]

Then comes this big train. Everyone starts cheering. The train, the train. And I saw a lot of people start running and running and running. And I said to God at that, in that moment, God, if it's your will for us to get on this train, let it stop. Because the train moving, I. I could get on and my husband could get on, but the kids know they have.

[B]

To jump on clearly.

[D]

And I couldn't jump and grab onto the train with holding two of my children and him holding the other two. And if I fell, the train could kill me.

[B]

When the train came to a full stop, Yamiles took it as a sign.

[D]

The last car of the train, there was a ladder, and we climbed up very quick. And we passed five days on the train.

[B]

On top of the train like that?

[A]

Yeah, on top of the train.

[D]

When we went through towns or villages, people would throw us food or cookies or. Because we couldn't get down, because if we got down, the train could leave and we'd be stuck. That train moved us through half of Mexico.

[B]

And the kids, how were they?

[D]

Yeah, we tied them on. We tied the children down. One just has to say, I'm going, I'm moving forward.

[B]

Through the cold at night and the heat during the day, Yamilis and her partner stayed awake, holding on to the children. Falling asleep meant running the risk of being shoved from the train or simply falling, which could mean instant death. So for five days, she hung on. No bathroom, just a pot. No proper food, just what they could catch, and no sleep. In this way, Yamilis spent her birthday. She was turning 34 years old. The train finally stopped in Juarez.

[D]

People had been killed. Children had been taken. People had had their stuff stolen. And I thank God that we were people that were very blessed.

[B]

A man who saw the family get off the train offered to buy them food. Other people gave them drinks. Another man even gave them money. They all ate, and finally, walking distance from the U.S. border, they slept. In the morning, U.S. immigration admitted Yamilis and the children into the U.S. they spent the night in a Border patrol tent and were given paperwork to start the asylum process. Eventually, they were placed on a bus to Chicago. Yamilis daughter, Indriani came to greet her. It was Yamilis first time seeing her daughter in a year and a half.

[D]

Ran to each other and hugged, and I grabbed my grandson.

[B]

Together, they traveled back to Indriani's new home in Minnesota, where the kids enrolled in school and eventually Yamilis found work cleaning houses and offices. Over the years, they settled in and made a life for themselves. After the break, Yamilis tells me about her second separation from her daughter and grandson the night of Julio's shooting.

[C]

I'm Nomi Frye.

[B]

I'm Vincent Cunningham.

[A]

I'm Alex Schwartz. And we are Critics at Large, a podcast from the New Yorker. Guys, what do we do on the show every week?

[B]

We look into the startling maw of our culture and try to figure something out.

[A]

That's right. We take something that's going on in the culture now. Maybe it's a movie, maybe it's a book. Maybe it's just kind of a trend that. And we expand it across culture as kind of a pattern or a template. Join us on Critics at Large from the New Yorker. New episodes drop every Thursday.

[C]

Follow wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Yamiles was at work when she got her daughter's frantic video call. Andreani was telling her that ice was at the door.

[D]

She was hidden with her baby in her arms, crying. And she was saying to me, mama, if they come in, they're going to kill us.

[B]

Tear gas had been thrown through the window, and so Yamilisa's daughter and grandson got on the ground. They were phoning from under the bed.

[D]

I can show you the video. You can hear everything.

[B]

Yamilis pulls out her phone. She had recorded the call and she shows me the video.

[D]

They're gonna kill us, Mas. I'm hearing shots.

[B]

I asked where Julio and his roommate were while she was on the phone with her daughter. Turns out they were also on the phone.

[D]

They were there and they were talking to their mothers. Because in that moment they thought that they were going to kill them and they wanted to say goodbye to each of their mothers.

[B]

Emili says that her daughter rightfully didn't open the door, but ice broke the door down. While she's telling the story, a toddler runs in. He's bright eyed and wearing a little football jersey. Is this your grandson?

[A]

Hi.

[B]

Hello.

[D]

Saying the police took his money. He's talking about how the bomb came through the window and they shot his dad, Julio.

[A]

Grandes.

[D]

He's talking about the it smelled bad. It smelled ugly. Smelled bad. Did it hurt your eyes? I didn't like. They hit the door. They hit the door.

[B]

Emili says her grandson keeps talking about that night. He still has nightmares.

[D]

He sleeps with me and I hear when he wakes up at night crying, crying, mom, he's smaller.

[B]

To flee political persecution from one country, the family underwent a death defying journey to another country, only to be persecuted by that new country's government. Could you ever have imagined that it would get this bad? That it would get like this?

[D]

No. In the United States appeared to me a beautiful country in its four seasons. The cold, the heat. I like the heat more.

[B]

That first winter, Emilis wore gloves and hats indoors. Wherever she went, she carried around a space heater that had been gifted to her. But seeing how much the kids enjoyed the snow, the winter has grown on her.

[D]

I feel good here. We came to work. We came for the good of our children. Truly. You guys next summer are invited to eat at my house if I'm here. If everything's mama, we're gonna eat. Really.

[B]

On Tuesday, Julio appeared in court to counter the federal government's narrative. Lawyers presented photographs showing a bullet hole through the front door of Julio's house and a bullet hole in one of the bedrooms between a mattress and a crib. The judge ordered Julio's release. But when Julio left the courthouse, ICE agents were waiting for him outside. He's now back in detention. Indriani was released last week. On the morning she returned, her son was still sleeping. When she woke him, he didn't recognize her at first, but then he hugged her. Now he doesn't want to leave her side. He's afraid ICE will take her again. Yamiles still hasn't left the house and her kids have yet to return to school.

[D]

Foreign.

[B]

This episode was produced by Emily Condon and me, Jonathan Goldstein, as well as supervising producer Stevie Lane and senior producer Kalah Holt. Fact checking by Andrea Lopez Cruzado. My interpreter at Yamiles House was Eric Day. Editorial help from Nadia Raymond. Special thanks to Melissa Redfield, Ben Nadif Haffrey and Daphne Chen. Sarah Bruguer mixed the episode with music by Emma Munger. We'll be back in your feed in a few weeks.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.