Today, Sunday July 12, 2026, my husband was detained by ICE early in the morning around 5:40 am. He had just finished his shift at work and came home as usual, but this time he woke me up to help him push the car that had stopped working. I quickly got ready, but by the time I reached the car, I saw ICE agents detaining him. It was a terrifying moment—four agents had him on the ground, and from a distance, he yelled at me to go back and not come any closer. I rushed home, thinking of our children, and woke up my son to tell him what had happened. Our family was devastated and scared.

My husband is the pillar of our family, a hardworking man, and a loving father. His sudden absence has left us heartbroken and facing severe financial instability. I am a mother of five, and while I am working, my income is not enough to cover our rent, bills, and car payments. We are also urgently trying to secure legal representation to fight his case and bring him home. Immigration, legal fees, and detention center phone and commissary costs accumulate rapidly, and we cannot do this alone.

We are raising funds to cover legal fees and attorney retainers, urgent living expenses like rent, bills, and car payments, and communication costs to stay in touch with him while he is detained. Any amount you can donate will go directly toward keeping our family afloat and fighting for my husband’s freedom. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Elsa Martinez Romero and family.