Omaha, Neb. — One year ago, families in Omaha were upended. Children were not picked up from daycare; loved ones waited by the phone that never rang, and an entire community hid in fear.

That’s because one year ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a large-scale work raid at the Glenn Valley Foods plant. They detained dozens of workers, leaving their families in the dark as to what happened to their loved ones. Community leaders and organizations did their best to answer questions and provide immediate support in the chaotic aftermath.

The Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement (CIRA) was one organization on the frontlines.

CIRA’s Social Work Team immediately went into action.

“We are trained in responding to situations like this,” said CIRA Social Work Director Monica Meier. “We don’t need extended periods of time because we are confident in our ability to see a problem, devise an initial plan, and act.”

The entire Social Work Team at CIRA were already equipped with an immense capacity for empathy, they are all either immigrants or children of immigrants.

While partner organization Heartland Workers Center organized the immediate needs of families in a safe location directly following news of the raid, it became clear early on that the raid impacts were not temporary, nor would they resolve quickly.

Children lost their parents; families wondered how they’d pay rent without a primary breadwinner, and schools were seeing fewer students in classrooms.

“My first concern was the wellbeing of the children impacted,” said CIRA Social Worker Aramy Guzman-Abelino. “When traumatic events like this happen in our communities, it’s not just the material needs that need to be met, but also the mental health and emotional needs that need attention.”

Heartland Workers Center supported families directly, providing immediate help for the first 30 days, while CIRA social workers led the following humanitarian response starting in July. Once CIRA’s social workers connected with impacted families, they completed a total of 64 family intakes. The result of those intakes identified that each family needed longer-term support to stabilize their lives following the detainment of their loved one.

The social workers worked with these families through the end of the year and even organized a holiday gift drive for the children. Most cases from the raid were closed out in January once the families felt confident in their stability plans.

For those who still needed support, they continued with CIRA’s Social Work Team through therapeutic services.

New social work connections

The raid revealed a broader community need for social work support. Before the raid, most referrals to CIRA’s Social Work Team came through attorneys serving legal clients. In the aftermath, the team recognized many impacted individuals and families were not connected to legal services but still needed support, resources, and guidance. As a result, CIRA expanded its social work referral efforts to serve the wider community.

The Social Work Team also developed a strong relationship with Omaha Public Schools (OPS), the largest school district in the state, to expand referral needs.

“We feel really connected to OPS and its students through this relationship,” Meier said.

Many of the people arrested that day were women, leaving fathers without spousal support and children without the love and care they expected from their mothers.

These individuals are some who CIRA Social Worker Jamie Garcia works with. She offers parenting classes that are more than just a place to learn parenting skills.

“Families facing uncertainty often carry tremendous stress, and these classes help parents strengthen communication with their children, build resilience, and create a sense of safety at home,” Garcia said. “They also remind parents that they are not alone and that their community is here to support them.”

Ongoing impacts, therapeutic support

Although the majority of families found stability by the end of the year, a number of them required additional therapeutic support, as the raid opened up trauma wounds associated with their migration stories. Those with continued support include children whose parents were detained and deported.

Director of Social Work Monica Meier described how some people experienced what is known as “trauma flooding,” in which they feel overwhelmed with so many traumatic experiences; they struggle to work through it all at the same time.

She also noted that there is a continued residual impact of uncertainty on whether this kind of raid can happen again in the future.

Social worker well-being

Those impacted by the raid are not limited solely to the families affected, but also the people supporting them. All of CIRA’s social workers are immigrants or children of immigrants, so the experiences of the families they serve are often a personal reality as well.

And although this leads to deep empathy, it does take an emotional toll on the staff. The trauma their clients go through are consistently absorbed by their social workers because they make up the daily conversations.

Studies show social workers face an increased exposure to burnout and compassion fatigue, motivating CIRA staff to offer extended support for staff internally on top of for the families they work with.

“This elevates the idea that we have to be in a good place ourselves to do this work,” Meier said. “It takes the organization as a whole to respond through workplace culture for staff to continue being in that good place.”

One year later, Omahans continue to feel the impact of the Glenn Valley Foods raid. While many families have rebuilt routines and found stability, the emotional effects of separation, uncertainty, and trauma do not disappear overnight.

“Even in the midst of fear and uncertainty, parents continued showing up for their children, neighbors supported one another, and communities came together. That resilience is what stays with us,” Meier said.