Freeing Enrico from ICE and getting back HOME!
Donation protected
My husband Enrico Rinaldi and I drove with our friend from Baja Mexico to Tijuana through the San Ysidro port to go to California on March 20, 2019. Little did we know, that was the last place we would see Enrico before being detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Enrico and I conceived of our baby on the winter solstice in Guatemala, so at the time of the border, I was 3 months pregnant.
We were inseparable for the 3 months traveling in Guatemala and Mexico working with sacred medicine and providing healing ceremonies. For anyone who knows Enrico, he is one of the most passionate, positive, genuine, loving, and full of life people on the planet. For this to happen to him, of all people, is mind blowing.
Our car was pulled aside to be inspected by US border patrol officers. They asked at the gate if Enrico who has an Italian passport had a visa. He didn't, we were hoping we could enter on a tourist visa or something and just get a visa at the border since his last one expired. When inspecting the car after the gate, he was pulled aside to talk to 3 officers and went inside a building. We were assuming he would just explain our situation, that I'm 3 months pregnant, we wanted to work and then go home to Italy where I’m giving birth and everything would be ok.
Next thing I know, 5 officers are outside our vehicle telling us that he is detained and the process would take up to a week for us to know what will happen to him. They didn't even let him get any of his clothes or personal items, no phone, just the clothes on his back and his documents are with him. Didn't let him back into Mexico either. They never gave us ANY warning that we may not see him again for a while, that they were taking him, absolutely NO WARNING. I wasn’t able to hug my husband and best friend and say goodbye.
During a grueling 10 days waiting for him, missing him intensely, updating family and friends about his situation, talking to the Italian Embassy, I finally saw he was transferred to Otay Mesa prison in San Diego. I talked to him on the phone today and the things he told me were HEARTBREAKING and absolute inhumane acts by the United States government. He told me the San Ysidro holding center was like literal hell for 10 days.
Where he stayed was underground, with no sunlight. The white lights never went off, even at night when people needed to sleep. He was in a room with 14 other people sleeping on the ground. He said there were so many children who were separated from their families and crying day and night, extremely terrified. The food was awful, yet he managed to stay positive (like he always does) and eat as healthy as he could. Many Central Americans are seeking asylum there, and once on US soil, people have a legal right to seek asylum. That can happen whether they enter at a port of entry (an official border crossing) in full accordance with US law, or enter between ports of entry and are apprehended by Border Patrol agents. But because of the current Trump administration, many people are kept for months there waiting for their case, and many who have legitimate cases are denied. The guards (as I felt from my encounter at the border) are trained to be soulless. They did not provide adequate care for the amount of people who were detained there and just did not care. All this grotesque treatment to thousands of people including him, all for an expired visa.
What I am asking NOW, is help to get him out of Otay Mesa as soon as possible to end this nightmare. He has papers from ICE for his case which he’ll be able to use to request deportation back to Italy where I’ll meet him. If he is deported, it will be about a week for him to get to Italy, but the downside is that we have to pay $10,000 to ever enter California again - which is where many of our friends are, and my family lives. We are seeing if there’s another quick way we can bypass being banned like this, like getting legally married in prison, etc. I need the funds to hire an immigration lawyer to sort this out, and give us clear and knowledgeable counsel. I would also use the funds for transportation down to San Diego by car or train and to pay the costs of talking on the phone with him, visitation, money towards plane tickets to get home, and any costs of getting legally married. The reality is also that we both have significant trauma from the experience, especially him who I think may develop PTSD, so the money would help in his deep healing process.
I also want to give back to all the beautiful people of Mexico and Guatemala who I had the great honor of learning their language and soulful cultures. This would be via donations to a nonprofit. It would mean the world to us for this help, and if we get more donations, more hope and light for the families and children of migrant and asylum seeking families who have had to face unspeakable things in their lives. Hope is found in the darkest of places, love always prevails in the end. For the donations, I am greatly honored and humbled. Infinite gratitude, thank you, muchas gracias por todo.
We were inseparable for the 3 months traveling in Guatemala and Mexico working with sacred medicine and providing healing ceremonies. For anyone who knows Enrico, he is one of the most passionate, positive, genuine, loving, and full of life people on the planet. For this to happen to him, of all people, is mind blowing.
Our car was pulled aside to be inspected by US border patrol officers. They asked at the gate if Enrico who has an Italian passport had a visa. He didn't, we were hoping we could enter on a tourist visa or something and just get a visa at the border since his last one expired. When inspecting the car after the gate, he was pulled aside to talk to 3 officers and went inside a building. We were assuming he would just explain our situation, that I'm 3 months pregnant, we wanted to work and then go home to Italy where I’m giving birth and everything would be ok.
Next thing I know, 5 officers are outside our vehicle telling us that he is detained and the process would take up to a week for us to know what will happen to him. They didn't even let him get any of his clothes or personal items, no phone, just the clothes on his back and his documents are with him. Didn't let him back into Mexico either. They never gave us ANY warning that we may not see him again for a while, that they were taking him, absolutely NO WARNING. I wasn’t able to hug my husband and best friend and say goodbye.
During a grueling 10 days waiting for him, missing him intensely, updating family and friends about his situation, talking to the Italian Embassy, I finally saw he was transferred to Otay Mesa prison in San Diego. I talked to him on the phone today and the things he told me were HEARTBREAKING and absolute inhumane acts by the United States government. He told me the San Ysidro holding center was like literal hell for 10 days.
Where he stayed was underground, with no sunlight. The white lights never went off, even at night when people needed to sleep. He was in a room with 14 other people sleeping on the ground. He said there were so many children who were separated from their families and crying day and night, extremely terrified. The food was awful, yet he managed to stay positive (like he always does) and eat as healthy as he could. Many Central Americans are seeking asylum there, and once on US soil, people have a legal right to seek asylum. That can happen whether they enter at a port of entry (an official border crossing) in full accordance with US law, or enter between ports of entry and are apprehended by Border Patrol agents. But because of the current Trump administration, many people are kept for months there waiting for their case, and many who have legitimate cases are denied. The guards (as I felt from my encounter at the border) are trained to be soulless. They did not provide adequate care for the amount of people who were detained there and just did not care. All this grotesque treatment to thousands of people including him, all for an expired visa.
What I am asking NOW, is help to get him out of Otay Mesa as soon as possible to end this nightmare. He has papers from ICE for his case which he’ll be able to use to request deportation back to Italy where I’ll meet him. If he is deported, it will be about a week for him to get to Italy, but the downside is that we have to pay $10,000 to ever enter California again - which is where many of our friends are, and my family lives. We are seeing if there’s another quick way we can bypass being banned like this, like getting legally married in prison, etc. I need the funds to hire an immigration lawyer to sort this out, and give us clear and knowledgeable counsel. I would also use the funds for transportation down to San Diego by car or train and to pay the costs of talking on the phone with him, visitation, money towards plane tickets to get home, and any costs of getting legally married. The reality is also that we both have significant trauma from the experience, especially him who I think may develop PTSD, so the money would help in his deep healing process.
I also want to give back to all the beautiful people of Mexico and Guatemala who I had the great honor of learning their language and soulful cultures. This would be via donations to a nonprofit. It would mean the world to us for this help, and if we get more donations, more hope and light for the families and children of migrant and asylum seeking families who have had to face unspeakable things in their lives. Hope is found in the darkest of places, love always prevails in the end. For the donations, I am greatly honored and humbled. Infinite gratitude, thank you, muchas gracias por todo.
Organizer
Ava Klein
Organizer
Thousand Oaks, CA
