Thursday, 4:30 PM
Detained immigrant overjoyed to reunite with sick son
By Maria Sacchetti and Brian Ballou, Globe Staff
NEW BEDFORD -- A 32-year-old Salvadoran immigrant says today she is overjoyed to be reunited with her sick 17-month-old son. But Ana Alegria says she's also worried about her future.
Alegria is one of 361 people who were detained after a raid by immigration officials Tuesday at a factory in New Bedford.
"Every day I told myself I had a little son," Alegria said just a few hours after being released today, "and that's what kept me going."
"I don't know what's going to happen," she said.
Alegria said her son had a stomach virus and had become dehydrated during her absence.
Meanwhile, two Department of Social Services teams arrived in Texas today, expecting to talk to people rounded up during the raid who have been sent there.
The DSS workers are trying to make sure that the children of those detained at facilities in Harlingen and El Paso are being properly cared for.
Some of the immigrants who could not prove they were in this country legally have since been released; others are being held in Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and 207 have been sent to Texas.
