CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — A Chula Vista woman has stepped up to help two children whose parents were detained by ICE last week, offering to foster their family dog after seeing the story on ABC 10News.
Julie Rieth contacted ABC 10News just 30 minutes after Friday's story aired about two children left in the care of a family friend after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained both their parents in Chula Vista. The family friend, Itzel Jimenez, had been forced to surrender the family's boxer, Bella, to a shelter because of her own child's allergies.
On Tuesday, Rieth met Jimenez and the boys at Chula Vista Animal Services to pick up Bella. The emotional reunion captured the moment the boxer recognized the children she had been separated from.
"I see them crying, and it hurts my heart. I wish I could do more," Jimenez said.
Rieth, who has been a boxer owner for 30 years, said she felt compelled to help after seeing the story.
"I saw the story on ABC 10, and when they put her picture up there when she was in the lobby, I just thought, 'What is going on?' It just broke my heart," Rieth said.
She agreed to foster Bella while the parents' immigration case remains ongoing.
"That's just not where family dogs belong, and she's probably so scared and so stressed out," Rieth said.
ABC 10News has reached out to ICE multiple times over the past few days, both locally and at its headquarters, to request information about the parents' case. So far, they have not responded.
The family now has an attorney, and Congressman Juan Vargas is also getting involved in the case.
Despite never meeting the family, Rieth said offering to help felt like the right thing to do.
"Although we're not having issues like Minnesota, it's right here all the time and when you see it go on in your own community, you gotta step up and step in," Rieth said.
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