Help Stop Thiago’s Deportation!

On May 29th my husband, Thiago, was taken into ICE custody after our I-130 (marriage) interview at the USCIS office and is currently being held in immigration custody and is facing deportation. Thiago came to the US in 2005 in hopes of a better life than the life he had in Brazil. Unfortunately his family in Brazil was very poor and he could not get approved for a visa to come the the US, so he came here through Mexico. Since then he has worked very hard and done everything the right way. He has paid his taxes since his arrival and has no criminal history whatsoever.

Thiago and I have been together for nearly 10 years (legally married for 5 and a half) and we have an 8 year old US born daughter together. Thiago has been the provider for our family, and he has always been the first person to help his friends and family whenever they needed help. Under the new administration Thiago is considered a priority case to be deported because of the way he entered the US 13 years ago. Anyone who knows Thiago knows his character and that he is a wonderful, funny, hard working man who loves his family and not a bad person.

This has been very hard on us and we are asking for help because between the lawyer fees, the immigration costs, money for his inmate account (to make calls, purchase food, purchase shampoo etc), a possible upcoming bond (which can be several thousand dollars) and household bills it is beyond what we have saved. This was not something we would have ever imagined would have happened to our family. Thiago started his application to change his legal status here in 2016, he had been checking in with USCIS every couple of months (as was part of his agreement with immigration officials), was given a drivers license, work permit and SSN. We went to our marriage (i-130) interview and we were approved, and in the blink of an eye our lives changed when he was taken into custody. What should have been a happy day for us, and one step forward for Thiago to be a legal resident here, turned out to be the worst day imaginable. At this point we really don’t know what’s going to happen and if Thiago will be released here or if he will be sent back to Brazil. Thiago’s life is here in the USA, and we are going to try do everything possible to make sure he remains here. This has been hard on all of us, especially Jessica, our daughter, who thinks the world of Thiago.

I’ll be handling all donations on Thiago’s behalf and will be posting updates as they come. Anything you can give will be very much appreciated by our family.