Bring Jairo Home: Support His Family During ICE Detention

Melanie and her 3 children under the age of 14 months haven’t seen their husband and dad since July 1st, when he was detained without warning at their regular immigration appointment in downtown LA. Melanie was handed a plastic bag with her husband's watch and necklace then thrown out of the building.

Melanie Lesage, 21, an American citizen, and her husband, Jairo Steven Palma-Mercado, 25, a Nicaraguan, had done everything by the book. Jairo had no criminal record and entered the US legally through "CHNV" humanitarian program. After getting married, they retained an immigration attorney, kept meticulous records, and never missed an appointment.

Now, Jairo is detained in Adelanto Detention Center and he and his family are desperate to be united.

“We’ve done everything right,” Melanie says. “We have all the receipts, we've paid everything, we showed that and they just detained him. I haven't been able to walk into our apartment since because I see his things but he’s not there.”

Jairo is the family's sole breadwinner, and now Melanie and her three children face mounting bills for rent, diapers, formula, groceries, doctors' appointments for the children, transportation, and legal fees.

Best case scenario: Jairo is released on bond in the next couple of weeks (no court date has been set). But with the Trump administration ending the humanitarian program that allowed Jairo to live here legally, it's a race against time.

We can help by fighting for this family to stay together and cared for.

$1700.00 - July rent (plus late fees)

$1500.00 - bond to release Jairo (this is a low estimate)

$3500.00 - retaining fee for the lawyer

$1600.00 - diapers and formula for three children

$1200.00 - groceries

$1500.00 - incidentals (utilities, phone, transportation, doctor's visits)

A friend recently said that the best way to support trauma victims is to help them survive. Your donation of any amount will help this family survive.

Anything you can contribute will be helpful and appreciated. All donations go directly to Melanie and her family.

For now, Melanie and the children are staying with other family members. She can't bear the thought of returning to their apartment alone.

“Sometimes my daughter just cries out, ‘Papa!’” she said. “I don’t know how to explain this to her.”

Every day her husband remains in detention, the chances he could be moved out of state, deported to Nicaragua, or worse, to a third-party country, increase.

“I haven't been able to stop replaying Jairo’s screams in my head every time I close my eyes,” she said. “I just want my husband to come home.”