Good neighbours, just like good friends, really are worth their weight in gold.
This is something a father and son living in Nashville, Tennessee, discovered first hand when their neighbors formed a human chain to protect them from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The incident took place in the Hermitage neighbourhood, which had been patrolled by a white van, the Tennessean reports. Then, on Monday of this week, it began flashing red and blue lights, sending residents into a panic.
It is believed that the father and son were targeted because they weren't in possession of a warrant. They were subsequently followed by ICE agents, then cornered in their own driveway.
However, neighbour Stacey Farley came to their rescue when she went out for a cigarette, alerting others in the neighbourhood to the unidentified man and his son's plight.
The neighbours formed a human chain not only protect the pair but to provide them with the food and water necessary to stay in their black van, pictured below, for the rest of the day.
Stacey said of the ICE agents: "They're in unmarked cars, they're not in uniforms."
When news of the incident spread, immigration activists and a local counsellor came to the scene to support the father and son.
The Daily Dot quoted a Facebook video of the incident where another neighbour, Tristan Call, said:
"Seeing these children ripped away from their parents in the way they do it makes me wanna cry.
It hurts to see people go through what they're going through. I understand if they didn't take proper procedures to be United States citizens, maybe they didn't know how to do it, maybe they waited too late but there's a way to do it.
They shouldn't have to be broken away from their parents."
Susan McBride also recorded the incident on Facebook Live. However, it is difficult to hear what is going on because of the noise coming from some children's toys.
In the video below, the neighbours can be seen forming a human chain and counting to five in Spanish. This enabled the man and his son to run from their van back into their home.
The following statement was released to CBS affiliate WTFV-TV by Metro Nashville Police:
"An ICE representative telephoned the Emergency Communications Center at 7:19 a.m. He relayed that ICE attempted to stop a white Ford van, the driver would not stop, but did proceed to a driveway on Forest Ridge Drive. The caller said the driver was sitting in the van and was not getting out. He requested the police department's assistance, but did not specify what he wanted the police department to do. When the police arrived, they learned that ICE was attempting to serve a detainer only on the individual. The man was sitting in the van with a 12-year-old boy.
The officers were instructed to not be involved in the service of the detainer, but to stand by from a distance to keep the peace if necessary. ICE ultimately left while the man was still in the van. The police left accordingly."
The ICE has recently upped its efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants under the orders of President Trump.
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