Desperately Seeking Help: Please Bring me Home to my Family

Hello, my name is Garrett Blakeslee, and I’m reaching out with a plea for help. I have been stranded in Dubai for the past 13 months, fighting desperately to return to my family in California. I’m stuck here due to a cruel and unfair criminal case filed against me by a former business partner, Sam Lee—a case that has been proven false in court twice. Even though I’ve been cleared, a travel ban continues to keep me from returning home, separating me from my loved ones and the life I left behind.

I came to Dubai with hope and ambition, looking for opportunities to build a better life for myself and my loved ones, especially my 4-year-old daughter, who means the world to me. I wanted to create a stable and fulfilling future for all of us, but instead, I’ve found myself in a nightmare. My former business partner—a man I trusted—turned out to be an international scammer who stole $21 million from our investor community. When I tried to warn investors, he retaliated by filing this false case against me. I’ve fought to prove my innocence, and every time, the courts have ruled in my favor. Yet, despite being cleared, I am still banned from leaving.

Throughout this ordeal, I have had very little support here in Dubai. I have been on my own, with others taking advantage of my skills and kindness, leaving me even more vulnerable. My efforts to get assistance from the U.S. Embassy and my California representatives have gone unanswered, and I feel abandoned by the very institutions I believed would protect me. I am exhausted—financially and emotionally drained—and I’ve been applying to hundreds of jobs just to survive, but under these conditions, finding work has been nearly impossible.

With nowhere else to turn, I am asking for your help. I need funds to cover the legal and administrative fees required to lift this travel ban, as well as a ticket home to California. Once I’m back in the U.S., I know I can find a good-paying job, rebuild my life, and finally reunite with my family. Every contribution, no matter how small, will bring me one step closer to my daughter and loved ones, and to the chance to start fresh.

Please, if you’re able, consider donating and sharing my story. It has been a long and lonely road, and I can’t make it to the finish line alone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for any support you can offer to help me get home and restart my life.

With all my gratitude,

Garrett Blakeslee