"As far as the community, if anything it's going to bring us closer together," said Roman Thomas, who was manning the counter at his parents' restaurant, RJ Bar B Que, Wednesday. "Our biggest deal right now is bringing the kids to safety. The people of San Angelo will pull together, make sure the kids are safe, and work things out after that."

Thomas paused to take a walk-in order of ribs before finishing his thoughts about the fate of the FLDS children whose lives are on hold.

"I'm a religious man and as far as being a Christian, what religion could possibly be out there that would be involved with child abuse? I never heard of that religion. That might be their beliefs. To be honest, I just think they should blow the whole deal up there."

Marisa Gasca and Tiffany Holmes nodded to each other when asked if they thought Texas had done the right thing in taking the children from their parents.

"To me, I thought that was kind of tragic to have their kids taken away like that. That's a tragic thing to do to a child, to rip them away from their mother like that," said Gasca, who was sitting on the front porch of a home across the street from the historic Fort Concho, which housed most of the children before they were all recently moved across town to the San Angelo Coliseum.

Holmes said she has a teenage daughter who recently had a baby and she worries about who will take care of the children.

"They're going to need a lot of guidance and therapy," she said. "They're going to need a lot of people to show (the children) that they did nothing wrong."

Inside the home of Juan Ibarra, photos of family members mingled with religious pictures on a paneled wall. Ibarra and his friend, Felix Rojax, also live near Fort Concho and said the state's action was needed.

"I do believe that something has to be done," he said. "I feel for the parents, but I feel for the kids more. Whether right or wrong ... we need to take care of the kids first in any way possible."

Rojax, who has been driving a truck for 20 years, said each week he passes through Eldorado and wonders about the YFZ Ranch and who lives there.

"I was in a foster home growing up and I know these people's kids aren't used to living in our society," he said. "I just hope the man upstairs knows. I hope the kids will be able to survive the changes. I think they need to live day by day now that they're out of there. I just hope every kid's OK."

State officials said while much attention has been focused on the desire to "produce" Sarah — the mysterious child bride whose allegations of abuse prompted the raid early this month — that's not the issue that will unfold today in court.

"I think some people have really focused on that (Sarah) but the reality is that her phone call is the reason we went out there, but it was not the reason for the removals," said Greg Cunningham, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.