OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — After a local middle school teacher was deported by immigration enforcement, Oshkosh community members gather for what they call "a vigil for the missing."
- Wendy Mendez is a Spanish teacher at Vel Phillips Middle School in Oshkosh.
- Mendez was deported on Oct. 22.
- ICE says she overstayed her visa and failed to show up for court, but supporters say the summons was mailed to the wrong address.
- View previous NBC26 coverage here.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
The voices of dozens of community members fill Downtown Oshkosh, as people sing in honor of Wendy Mendez.
“I hope none of you forget Wendy Mendez," Mendez's colleague Phong Nguyen says. "Wendy was a crucial part of our community.”
Mendez is a Spanish teacher at Vel Phillips Middle School.
“We just want to know, where is our teacher?" Emma Eiden, a friend of Mendez, says.
Mendez grew up in Costa Rica.
She was deported from her home in Wisconsin on Oct. 22.
ICE says she overstayed her visa and failed to show up for her removal proceedings, but supporters say the summons was mailed to the wrong address and was never forwarded to her.
“This is not right what they did to her, and we love Wendy so much," Deb Nez, a friend of Mendez, says.
WATCH THE BROADCAST STORY HERE:
Mendez’s colleagues put together the vigil for the community
“It’s about the gap that something like this leaves in a community," Mendez's former colleague, Anthony Heffron, says. "It’s a vacancy in a school, it’s a hole in people's lives.”
Those who worked with her say she is a great teacher and role model to her students.
“Wendy was a mother to so many kids in the Oshkosh Area School District," Mushe Subulwa says.
Her friends say they miss her.
“I wish so much that she was here right now," Lupita Belang says.
Fellow immigrants say they're scared.
“Most of us immigrants here can tell you that we live on an edge," Subulwa says. "These are scary times for all of us.”
“Im so mad," Belang says. "I want you to look at me, see my face. I am a first generation American, and I am so proud of that. But for the past year, I have lived in fear, constant fear.”
Through tears and emotion, they call on their neighbors to speak out.
“I hope you will join me in resolving to use those feelings to fuel work for a more just future, where the missing have been restored to our community," Kayla Schwalbe says.
“I want you to be angry at the injustice," Belang says. "And at the same time, I am begging you to love each other. I need you to make Oshkosh a safe place for my children. I need you to not forget the people who are missing.”
Mendez’s friends and colleagues tell NBC26 they have recently heard from her, and she is safe in Costa Rica, but is fighting to get back to her husband and two kids who are still here in Wisconsin.
