The Fosters to continue immigration and transgender stories in January

The Fosters is about to bring the family drama — and its special brand of fiction mirroring reality — to 2018. The second half of season 5, which will include the show's milestone 100th episode, arrives on Freeform Tuesday, Jan. 9.

And when it does, Callie (Maia Mitchell) and AJ (Tom Williamson) will still be spending their after-prom trapped in the sanctuary of a church to help Ximena (Lisseth Chavez), an undocumented college student, avoid being arrested by ICE (see the first photo of the half-season above). According to co-creator/executive producer Bradley Bredeweg, "it's going to take some time" before they are able to safely leave the church. "It doesn't happen overnight, and perhaps Ximena will be in there longer than feels comfortable."

"When Trump came into office, we knew that we would be battling immigration rights from the get-go, so for us, with the show set in a border town, San Diego, it was only natural to explore what is really happening with the mass amounts of people being picked up at schools and in our courtrooms and from their homes," Bredeweg explained to EW earlier this year. "It's having such a huge impact across the country, but especially in border towns. We couldn't deny it. We had to face it. We're a show that tackles these kinds of issues, and it just felt like the right thing to do."

"The Fosters has never shied away from tackling important social issues like immigration rights, LGBTQ rights, and adoption rights," executive producer Joanna Johnson said in a statement. "We will continue to tell those important stories this season for those who too often are not heard."

The Fosters returns Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 8 p.m. ET on Freeform.