Help Ngozi in ICE Detention and Support Her Family

We are at a loss for words.

We never could have anticipated this incredible outpouring of support. The force of the love, the care and compassion has been truly overwhelming. In one of the most alienating, demoralizing and disempowering moments of our lives, we have found ourselves held up in ways we could not have anticipated by our communities. Ngozi is a very special person and so it is justified that the world showed up for her in this way. Words fail us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We have far more than we could ever ask for in this moment to deal with the needs of Ngozi's family and their needs over the next many months. We don't yet have any answers about this process or what it might entail but, finally, money will not be a primary concern. It feels shocking to say that.

Ngozi was bowled over to hear about the support and was audibly emotional and shaken by it. She wants to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of her heart. Ngozi also agree that she'd like to have it known that we do not need any more donations at this point. We have enough and there are so many people that are in similar situations. We urge you to give to Isla Immigration (https://www.islaimmigration.org/), Make The Road (https://maketheroadny.org/), South Brooklyn Sanctuary (https://www.southbrooklynsanctuary.org/) and any number of other organizations helping people just like Ngozi.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are forever in debt of this magnificent community and please know that your generosity and love has startled us, offering comfort in a moment of utter despair.

...

The evening of February 3rd, our mother, sister, grandmother, stepdaughter, friend, and colleague Ngozi Andalcio was traveling home from a family vacation in Jamaica when she was detained by Customs and Border Protection. She was held for nearly three days, handcuffed to a chair in the bowels of JFK, denied food, blankets, warm clothes, and phone access. Her family went nearly 96 hours without hearing from her. On Thursday evening, the ICE website updated us that she had been moved to South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, LA, over 3 hours from any major city. In 2024, the facility was investigated by the ACLU for human rights offenses (read: Inside The Black Hole: Systemic Human Rights Abuses Against Immigrants Detained and Disappeared in Louisiana https://www.laaclu.org/sites/default/files/inside_the_black_hole_systemic_human_rights_abuses_against_immigrants_detained_disappeared_in_louisiana.pdf).

We were unable to get phone numbers to her or commissary until days after she arrived. We're all in shock and reeling; we cannot believe our beloved Ngozi is in there. This is an unimaginable nightmare and we are powerless. She does not deserve to be there; nobody does.

Ngozi is being held with 40 other women in a cell with a maximum in substandard conditions: open showers, no privacy, sleeping in a bunk, stripped of her belongings, and given inedible food. We cannot reach her; she can only call out. To date, her lawyers have not been approved contact with her. She is alone. She says there are many women with stories just like hers at the facility.

We are raising money to support Ngozi's family while she is detained. We anticipate that this will be a long road. Ngozi is the key emotional and financial support for her family. She has four wonderful children and three adorable grandchildren. When we spoke to Ngozi, the only things she wanted to know were how her grandson's fourth birthday went and if her children were all being cared for. She immediately passed along a laundry list of chores and responsibilities, favors for friends, errands for her job that she passed along to us. That is Ngozi. She puts others ahead of herself and she is a support to everyone in her orbit.

Ngozi is all that is good and right with the world. She is kindness personified and always finds the good in others. As her employer put it: "I call Ngozi the mayor of the Nutley/Belleville area. Everybody knows Ngozi. She has a regular following that come to our restaurant for her comfort food and good company. They come when she is bartending to hang out with her and discuss life. They come when she is cooking to enjoy her cooking. She puts everyone at ease. If you don't get along with Ngozi, then there is something wrong with you, not her."

I am Ngozi's younger brother. I am in direct contact with her children and Ngozi on a daily basis and will be setting up an account to help manage her children's expenses, etc. The funds will be used for to cover her expenses while she is detained, to contribute to her commissary and make her more comfortable, seek counseling for her four children and make sure their basic needs are met while she is in detention. Ngozi will be making decisions about how these funds are used and I will be the executor.