This is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever had to write.

I'm Matthew Slagle and I'm trying to bring my wife home and raise money for legal funds. The total cost is around $7000, and I have some of the funds already, but I will undoubtedly need more.

My wife was detained by ICE and taken to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. I have spent countless hours trying to locate her, advocate for her, and do everything in my power to protect her. When I come home to our apartment without her, I break down. My best friend is gone.

ICE has no just reason to take my wife. She followed the law. She went through the proper legal channels to seek lawful status in this country and did everything she was supposed to do—by the book.

My wife has been my rock, my best friend, and my greatest source of strength. She has supported me through my greatest tribulations, and while I have done the same for her, there is no greater tribulation than this.

In the brief phone calls I have been able to have with her over the last two days, my wife told me things that no human being should ever experience. She told me that immigration officers said no one would care what happens to her because she is Hispanic, and that they can do whatever they want in America right now. She told me she was repeatedly forced to strip and subjected to inappropriate and degrading treatment by officers while in custody.

What is happening to my wife is not an isolated incident.

This could not have come at a worse time. I was directly impacted by the last government shutdown. With another shutdown looming this Friday, I am still trying to catch up financially while now facing the sudden and overwhelming cost of legal representation. I have found the right attorney, but obtaining a lawyer is expensive—and absolutely necessary. I will do whatever it takes to make sure my wife is safe and to bring her home.

Asking for help is not easy. I never imagined I would be in this position. But I am reaching out because I have no other choice. Any support—no matter how small—would mean more than I can express. I know everyone is struggling, and I do not take this lightly.

I am determined to fight for my wife through every legal means available and to support her in a process that has treated her—and so many others—with cruelty, indifference, and dehumanization. Please help me bring Maryan home.

Home is not the same without my wife.