Brigido and his family, which immigration authorities want to tear apart.
I had a childhood friend, Maria, contact me recently. We grew up together in the Chicago suburbs, our parents being close friends. Other than a brief run-in while at college, we went our different directions and lost touch. That is, until she unexpectedly reached out a short while ago.
She had good reason to find me: her fiancé, Brigido, is being detained by Immigration authorities and is currently in deportation proceedings. He also happens to be the only father Maria's teenage daughter has ever had, and the biological father of their young boy. Brigido has never had any run-ins with the law, other than crossing the border without proper documentation.
Whatever one thinks of immigration policy, and the morality of immigrating without the right paperwork, what exactly is served by tearing a family apart, denying two (American citizen) children their father?
The great folks at America's Voice have stepped in to help. I rarely ask for a personal favor from you guys, but I'm asking today: please click here to send ICE and the Department of Homeland Security faxes asking them to stop Brigido's deportation. Public pressure is one of the few tools that can successfully stop immigration-related injustices like this one, so please help pressure authorities to exercise their prosecutorial discretion in this case to keep Maria and Brigido's family together.
I would be hugely grateful, and I know they would be too. Here's that link again!
Update: There is also a Sign On petition.