South MS mother, teen brothers speak out after ICE detention

Gail Baptiste is tired and relieved.

She reunited last week with Israel and Max Makoka, the teenage brothers her family cares for, after they were released from the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The brothers had been detained for over a week after immigration agents arrested them as they walked to their school bus stop in Diamondhead.

The Makokas returned home after an outcry from their conservative Mississippi Gulf Coast city. Baptiste said the experience is now galvanizing her to advocate for others in similar situations as the Makokas seek reinstatement of their student visas.

“People came together and really became united in this situation,” Baptiste said. “But I don’t want it to stop with Max and Israel.”

For more than two decades, Baptiste and her family have hosted dozens of international students at their home in Diamondhead. But they made national news last month after the arrests of Israel, 18, and Max, 15.

The Makokas, from the Republic of the Congo, entered the U.S. on student visas in 2023 and 2024 and attended the Piney Woods School, a historically Black boarding institution in central Mississippi. They stayed with the Baptistes during summers and holidays and asked to transfer to Hancock High School, near Diamondhead, last year. The Baptistes also became their legal guardians.

The Baptistes and their attorney say they were never notified that the move would change the brothers’ legal status. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said the brothers violated their student visas by transferring from the private school in central Mississippi to the public Hancock High School.

“Because they violated their visas, they are subject to removal,” an ICE spokesperson said last month.

The brothers were held in separate ICE facilities — one in Houston, the other in Jena, Louisiana — according to their family. Their detention came as the Trump Administration cracks down on illegal immigration, including by increasing scrutiny on international students studying in the United States.

‘What can we do?’

For the last few days, Baptiste said she has been deep in thought and trying to stay away from social media as the teenagers process the experience and readjust to school.

On Monday, the family drove to a check-in at an ICE facility in St. Rose. Amy Maldonado, an attorney representing the Makoka brothers, has said they will participate in frequent ICE check-ins and court proceedings.

The Makoka brothers garnered support from their neighbors and leaders, and Baptiste said the office of Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith also helped the family find a top immigration attorney and answered questions about the federal immigration process.

Now, Baptiste is thinking about other children who lack similar support.

“It’s just been really on my heart and on my mind,” she said. “What can we do? What should we do?”

The brothers say they are deeply grateful to be back home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Baptistes drove for hours to pick them up from the detention centers last week.

“I’m grateful to be back with my family,” Israel Makoka said. “Everybody showed support.”

“It’s been great to go to school and see my teachers, my friends,” said Max Makoka. “Everybody keeps saying, ‘Hey Max, I’m glad you’re back.’”

Hosting international students

Baptiste estimates her family has hosted about 100 students over the years, giving them a place to stay during summers and school breaks. The Makokas are the only international students who have lived with them.

Many students the Baptistes have hosted arrived from countries including the Congo, Rwanda and Cameroon, and are now adults with college degrees. Baptiste said one of them is now determined to get a doctorate degree.

Many residents in Hancock County, where Donald Trump won almost 80% of the vote in the last presidential election, rallied to support the brothers, including by writing letters in support of their release and calling federal representatives’ offices. Others questioned the outcry and argued ICE had to detain the brothers since their legal status had lapsed.

Baptiste said she is determined to work toward a greater solution.

“I feel responsible for somebody else’s children that I have taken as my own,” she said. “I do want this to make a difference for other people, other kids, other families, if at all possible.”