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Family of 7 in Crisis!

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A dear friend of ours and her family of seven are in crisis! It weighs so heavily on our hearts! Without immediate help, their situation will only worsen to the point of despair! 

Imagine it: The day before school starts, dad goes to a ROUTINE check-in with immigration after being assured by his lawyer that his case was going smoothly and he had nothing to worry about. He takes the family car, drives two hours away--and they detain him! No warning, no explanation! He had done NOTHING wrong! He is a hard-working father of FIVE U.S. citizens, with a wife who loves him dearly. They both entered this country legally. When his work visa was abruptly canceled, he and his wife tried desperately to gain residency because both of their home countries were too dangerous to return to. It is VERY expensive to become a citizen under certain circumstances, and theirs was one such case. Worse still, that lawyer wasn't answering now: In fact, it turns out that he had CLOSED the case and never "mentioned" it, but was still taking his money!

Needless to say, they have hired a new lawyer who is planning to sue the former one for malpractice, and stop the planned deportation because his case, though complicated, is clear: He needs to stay here, and both parents deserve to gain residency. The past lawyer made many errors and mishandled their case for years.

Now, here's the problem: How can this husband earn the money to pay the lawyer while he's being wrongfully jailed? The lawyer requires an upfront deposit of $2500, and needs another $1000 immediately to hire an expert witness to testify of the dangers he will face if deported. That's just for starters, but if the lawyer can at least get him out of detention, that will be a huge improvement. 

Let me tell you what will happen if this man is WRONGFULLY deported: His wife and children will be scarred for life--they cry every day he is gone--and they will likely be dependent on welfare for the rest of their lives instead of being supported by a hard-working, taxpaying legal resident. Why is this inevitable? Because their 16-year-old will be the only one eligible to work, so chances are, he'll have to drop out of high school to support his mother and siblings (the youngest is only four). Can a minimum wage job support six people? No. So in a year, the next oldest will join him. What would have been a wonderful example of the American Dream Come True, will now be yet another example of an unjust tragedy, entirely preventable.

Now we know the goal of 10,000 is huge, and we hate to ask for it, but we suspect they'll need even more. Their church and family friends have helped already with initial needs such as food, rent, and utilities, but incidental expenses are still there. Keep in mind that GoFundMe takes 2.9%, so if we could get them $4,000 as soon as possible, it should be enough to prevent this tragedy and GIVE THEM HOPE! 

If we were rich, we would take care of their every need, but not many of us can take care of an entire other family. What we can do, however, is band together and show our COLLECTIVE LOVE--and maybe that is even better!

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering this plea. Please know that the family will be eternally grateful for any amount you can give on their behalf. Even the smallest donation adds up, but if nothing else, please SHARE this!

Sincerely,
Jennifer & Leo Paz
Alethea Teh Busken
Patty Bishop

NOTE: We have chosen to keep their names anonymous to protect the children.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $25 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Jennifer Paz
Organizer
Auburn, AL
Alethea Teh Busken
Beneficiary

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