HAMILTON, Ohio -- A Fairfield mother of four sat in ICE custody Friday night and waited, scheduled to be deported next week.
At Maribel Trujillo-Diaz's Hamilton parish, Good Friday mass took on special meaning. Her family was inside the Spanish-language service Friday night.
"Easter, it should bring a while community together, not just the problems that are behind that," family friend Yesenia Sanchez said.
Sanchez has been family friends with Trujillo-Diaz's family since she was 6. Trujillo-Diaz is an undocumented worker who has lived in the U.S. for years. She will spend this Easter weekend in immigration custody in Louisiana, after she was taken this week from her home and four children.
MORE: Fairfield mother will be deported next Wednesday, according to Mexican Consulate
"Anybody in this community can have the same problem that she's facing, so it's kind of shocking because someone next to me can be the same as her," Sanchez said.
During the mass, Father Michael Pucke shared the message that it's important to remember.
"And I saw that that's true in terms of Maribel, her family, and this larger family," Pucke said. "It's important that we tell the story of what happened to Maribel."
Trujillo-Diaz has gotten just one phonecall to her family in the last day. Pucke said the parallels are easy to draw this holy weekend.
"We believe that there is something more at work and, three days later, He was raised from the dead," Pucke said. "Maribel is a deep person of faith and I know she believes that God is still at work, and surprises could still happen."
Parishoners from St. Julie Billiart Parish, and other across the Tri-State, are hoping to give Trujillo-Diaz a little push. Next Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, there will be a prayer service for people of all denominations.
