His name is Andrés.

On January 10, 2026, Andrés was delivering medication to a neighbor in Saint Paul when federal immigration agents detained him in broad daylight, as neighbors watched from sidewalks and windows.

I turned onto my block with my dog, Kiwi, and walked straight into them. Six federal agents from ICE — Immigration and Customs Enforcement — dressed in tactical gear, rifles slung across their chests.

For a moment, I thought I had turned onto the wrong street. Then Kiwi pulled toward our front steps, and I realized: this wasn’t happening somewhere else.

This was happening here.

When I asked an agent why he was being detained, I was told it was because he was from Colombia.

I later learned that Andrés had a valid work permit and had checked in with ICE three days earlier.

When they drove him away, his car remained in front of my house, the keys still sitting on the front seat.

In that moment, I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know where he lived. I didn’t know if anyone knew what had happened to him.

Time seemed to stop.

In the weeks that followed, people from beyond our neighborhood and across state lines helped Andrés and his family. A GoFundMe campaign I organized raised $15,114 from 204 donors to help with immediate needs and the family’s move to Colombia.

Where Andrés and his family are now.

Andrés spent three months in detention and was transferred among facilities in four states. After an immigration judge granted him voluntary departure, he returned to Colombia. Kelly and their son later joined him. Andrés is working, their son is in school and playing soccer, and Kelly is looking for work. They also reunited with their dog.

For months afterward, I kept a handmade sign in my window as a reminder that what happened on my street should remain in public memory.

That sign led me to create TAKEN HERE, a grassroots remembrance project that launched July 21, 2026. Since then, it has spread mostly by word of mouth, from neighbor to neighbor. The first marker was placed into that same window. Today, people display markers in yards, windows, storefronts, and community spaces in five states.

A marker.

A shared act.

A refusal to forget.

The story is also becoming a book, and early chapters are now with the Minnesota Historical Society.

—Andrea, Founder, TAKEN HERE

When Silence Didn’t Work— my testimonial

on TikTok. Watch here →

The design behind the marker

I developed the concept for the marker and collaborated with a graphic designer to bring it to life. As a 1990 graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), I drew on a design foundation that continues to shape how I communicate through form, language, and meaning.

The marker features forget-me-nots and the words, “Here, we remember people taken by ICE.” Its placement is a public act of remembrance; it does not mean someone was taken from that address.

Help keep the lives and stories of people taken by ICE in public memory.