DETROIT (WWJ) -- Two Detroit high school students are being held in an immigration detention center in Texas, after being picked up by ICE agents last week.
The teenage cousins attend Western International High School.
The students were taken by ICE agents from their home on the east side, outside of school hours, along with two of their parents.
That's according to Chalkbeat Detroit Bureau Chief Lori Higgins, who said the arrests have sparked fear in the neighborhood.
In an interview with WWJ Newsradio 950's Dan Jenkins on Tuesday, Higgens said there's not much information at this time about exactly why the girls were taken, or about their current status.
"There's been a lot of secrecy around how these things actually operate, and these students don't even show up in the ICE database," Higgens said. "What we know about where they are and what's happened with them is coming from the people who know them."
The community is rallying behind the girls with a protest Tuesday afternoon at Clark Park. Their classmates want answers, and to know that the girls are OK.
"The spokesperson for the school district said that news of the arrests could deepen the fears that young people already have about going to and from school," Higgens said.
"You know, obviously these kids will be missing school, but also they're concerned that other students in the school district, you know, might see this -- particular students who are immigrants who are worried about ICE actions -- might be more fearful about going to school."
These girls are at least the second and third Detroit students detained by ICE this year.
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