Help Us Reunite and Support a Father Deported Without Warning

My name is Heather, and I’m reaching out with a broken heart to ask for help.

On May 27th, 2025, my husband Jose — the father of our three children (ages 13, 11, and 9) — was suddenly detained and deported from the only country he’s called home since he was 8 years old.

Jose came to the U.S. from Venezuela as a child, brought by his parents. He lived in California for 5 years and called Florida home for 25years, went to school here, learned English, and lived like any other American kid — but without ever fully understanding his immigration status. Like many undocumented children, he grew up in the shadows, without guidance or the resources to fix his status.

By the time we married in 2011, we were a young couple with a growing family. We married for love, not for “papers.” We were naive to the reality that one day immigration enforcement could separate our family. In 2019, our worst fears came true — Jose was picked up by ICE and placed in detention in Miami. With only three weeks to find legal representation, we somehow came up with $13,000 to hire a lawyer. But due to old, nonviolent misdemeanor possession drug charge from his youth, the judge denied his plea to stay in the U.S., despite his role as a loving working father and husband.

In 2020, he was ordered removed from the U.S., but due to Venezuela refusing deportation flights at that time, he was released. Since then, Jose has lived in limbo — unable to work, unable to leave, and unable to get an ID. There is no Venezuelan embassy in the U.S. anymore, so he had no path forward — only endless waiting. He took on the role of being a stay-at-home dad and embraced their busy athletic lifestyle.

Then it happened again. On May 27th, 2025, during a routine immigration check-in, Jose was detained within minutes of walking in. He was given no chance to say goodbye. Within the day, he was sent back to Miami, where he slept on a concrete floor for two nights due to overcrowding. He wasn’t in the system, so I couldn’t send him food or money. He was trapped in a location that was not staffed appropriately where people were sleeping in bathrooms and was provided food with mold on it and told that was all they had. One week later, I finally got through to his deportation officer, only to be told he would be deported within 48 hours — and I wasn’t allowed to bring him anything or let the kids say goodbye.

Now Jose is alone in Venezuela — a country he hasn’t seen in 30 years. He left the U.S. with absolutely nothing. No clothes, no phone, no money. Just the clothes on his back. Our kids are devastated. They ask questions I don’t know how to answer. And I’m trying to hold everything together while grieving the loss of my partner and trying to explain the impossible to three young hearts.

I’m humbly asking for your help.

We need support to send Jose basic necessities: clothing, toiletries, a phone, food, and safe housing. Anything will help us get him through this transition while we figure out our next steps.

Please share this story and help us keep our family connected across the distance. We didn’t think this could happen to us — until it did.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

— Espina Family