58 | APRIL 14 • 2022 

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PASSOVER

back to Metro Detroit, a customs officer 
asked my mom for her travel papers. She 
did not have any. 
My mom said two big officers escorted 
her in front of everyone else on the boat, 
“I could hear [the Yocheveds’] kids asking, 
‘Where are they going to take her?’ I tried 
to compose myself not to cry because there 
were so many people there,
” she said.
“I was so embarrassed. My emotions 
were everywhere. I didn’t know what was 
happening or what was going to happen 
next. I didn’t know how to respond. So basi-
cally, I just walked with them and didn’t say 
anything.
”
The Boblo boat brought her back to 
Detroit, where immigration then interrogat-
ed her for hours. 
“I was so scared. You know, with all these 
people asking constant questions over and 
over and over. From 4 o’
clock that afternoon 
to 1 o’
clock in the morning, I was interro-
gated,
” my mom said. 
“I didn’t know what else I could say. They 
kept drilling me, and they didn’t even ask 
if I needed to go to the bathroom. They 
were inhumane,
” my mom added with tears 
streaming down her face. 

After the intense questioning, the officers 
said that she didn’t exist in the U.S.; there 
was no record that she was ever here, so 
they deported her back to Canada. 
When my mom arrived in Canada, 
Canadian immigration greeted her and 
asked her if she needed to go to the bath-
room or if she was hungry. My mom said 
after hours of being terrified during the 
interrogation, “they treated me like a per-
son, a human being.
” She then broke down 
after being offered some kindness. 
The Canadian immigration authorities 
apologized and explained how she would 
have to stay the night in jail if she couldn’t 
pay for a $1,000 bond. She didn’t have 
any cash on her, so they contacted the 
Yocheveds. It was very early in the morning, 
and my mom said she didn’t know what 
was going to happen next. 
As time passed, they told my mom they 
hadn’t heard from the Yocheveds in a while 
— and not to worry about the other peo-
ple in the holding cell; they were nice. As 
they began to get her ready for lockup, the 
Yocheveds knocked on the door with the 
cash in hand.
That began my mom’s sojourning in 

Canada. When my dad caught wind of 
what was going on, he filed a fiancée visa 
application.
“I wasn’t considering marriage at that 
stage of my life, but the thought of her 
being gone made me realize I didn’t want to 
live without her,
” he said.
While in Canada, my mom stayed with 
several families, finally settling with a 
Filipino family in Windsor. My parents say 
it took two years for the visa to go through. 
My dad traveled from East Lansing to visit 
her on weekends, with the ongoing possibil-
ity of her deportation at any time.
“The incredible thing is, after all that, it 
was the first night of Passover, and she came 
over the water [the Ambassador Bridge] for 
her Exodus. We find it hard to believe that 
was just a coincidence,
” he added. 

PASSOVER FREEDOM 
My mom, Remy, now resides locally with 
my dad, Ben Sweet, her husband of 35 
years. Together, they raised four children. 
As the season of Passover begins, there 
are always bittersweet memories for my 
mom. 
“That night, Ben’s family welcomed me 
in their home to celebrate Passover. After 
everything that had happened … thinking 
back on how I got there, it was a lot,
” she 
said with tears in her eyes. 
After receiving the fiancée visa, my par-
ents say they had to get married within 
90 days. June 25, 1987, my parents had a 
multicultural Jewish wedding filled with the 
Filipino friends my mom made and family 
and friends on my dad’s side, who happily 
welcomed her into the family. The two 
began their life together as an interracial 
Jewish couple. While my mom knew about 
Judaism, she was raised Catholic in the 
Philippines. However, she decided to raise 
their four children, including myself, in the 
Jewish faith. 
“I converted to Judaism when I felt ready, 
and after taking classes for a year learning 
more about the faith,
” she said.
My mom said raising a Jewish family 
just felt right. As she continued to learn 
more about Judaism, she felt even more 
connected and wanted to go through the 
mikvah conversion ritual along with my 

The Sweet family gathering together for a selfie. Remy, Ben, Megan Allen, Leila Allen-Sweet, 
Jeremy, Isaac; front row: Shirley, Amanda and Rachel. 

