‘Wendy isn’t here’: Bay Area third graders grieve a classmate’s deportation

Third-grade teacher Diana Ortega was sitting in her school’s lunchroom, scrolling through social media in March when she saw a video of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents forcibly detaining and handcuffing a mother at San Francisco International Airport. Nearby, a young girl with her hair tied with colorful rubber bands watched, crying in anguish.

Ortega, who teaches in the East Bay’s West Contra Costa Unified School District, watched the viral video a second time. The mother and daughter looked familiar. She paused and zoomed in.