When masked US immigration agents began making increasingly bold arrests in her Oregon community, Alondra Sotelo Garcia feared for her parents. The middle child of immigrants, she took immediate action: tracking her father's iPhone, quitting her job, and telling him she wanted to join the vineyard management company he had built over decades.
"Hey, I think I need to step in now with you, Dad, and help you and learn," Alondra told her father, Moises Sotelo. "If something happens, are you just gonna leave nine people without a job?"
Just days later, her worst fears were realised. Her father called from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland. His message was stark: "You know what to do."
A Pillar of the Community Removed
Moises Sotelo, a respected pillar of Oregon's Willamette Valley wine industry, was detained in June. His arrest sparked a national outcry and a flood of local support, but it wasn't enough. He was deported to Mexico in July, after which his wife, Irma, voluntarily left to join him.
Alondra, thrust into a role she never anticipated, has since stepped up to take over her father's business, finalise his affairs, and help her parents establish a new life in a country they hadn't lived in for over thirty years. She represents one of many American families torn apart during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, left to pick up the pieces of shattered lives and businesses.
"I'm not going to leave this work and lay it to the ground and leave it for dead, because that would be very unfair for him," Alondra stated firmly.
Navigating Crisis and a Complex Industry
After her father's detention, Alondra left her remote job in shipping logistics and moved back to the family home in Newberg, a town of just over 25,000 people. She took the reins of Moises's company, facing the daunting task of replacing his 30-plus years of experience with just months of her own.
"Sometimes I don't even know what the hell I'm doing with work," she admitted this winter. The job is relentless; the family home doubles as the office, with workers constantly coming and going. She runs the business with a former mentee of her father's and an office administrator, crediting them with keeping the company afloat.
The work is intensely manual and seasonal:
- Pruning old growth in winter.
- Training shoots vertically in spring.
- Spraying sulphur in summer heat to prevent mildew.
- Harvesting thin-skinned grapes with extreme care to avoid bruising.
All of this is done by hand, vine by vine, row by row.
A Wider Impact on the Local Economy
The repercussions of such deportations extend far beyond a single family. The local wine industry, a cornerstone of the region's economy, is already facing a global downturn, with wine sales at their lowest level since 1961.
Dave Specter, co-owner of Bells Up Winery who worked with Moises for years, called him "the kind of guy that you want your children to grow up to be." He added, "So when we lose those people it does nothing but make our society worse."
Yamhill County Commissioner Bubba King stated that ICE raids have created a climate of fear affecting the entire community. "I know kids that are afraid to go to school," he said. "I know parents that are having to stay home from work because their kids are too young to stay at home by themselves."
Miriam Vargas Corona of the non-profit Unidos Bridging Community warned of a harsh economic ripple effect. "Businesses and industries that make Yamhill county vibrant depend on the full participation of our immigrant and Latinx community members," she explained.
Alondra's own struggles continue. This autumn, she had to lay off an employee due to lack of work. Weeks later, that former employee's wife and brother-in-law were deported. "It just absolutely tore me apart," she said.
She now finds a bleak solidarity with friends in similar situations, offering advice that is playing out in homes across the country: "unfortunately, this is where you really have to step up for your dad and be strong for your dad."
As she enters the new year, Alondra Sotelo Garcia carries the weight of a split family, a business to run, and bills to pay on both sides of the border, determined to honour her father's legacy against all odds.
