Help our friend Jessie & her family amid Mauro's deportation

Dear Friends,

Erica and I have never created a gofundme, but extreme times call upon all of us to take action however we can when confronted by injustice. We are reaching out to share the story of a woman who has had a great impact on each of our families, Jessie Delgado. Over the past five years, we have gotten to know Jessie and her family as we see her every six weeks for haircuts. We have watched her excitement welcoming a daughter Penelope (age 5), planning her wedding to her husband Mauro, and having a second daughter Kailani (age 5 months).

While Jessie is a US citizen who attended Skyline High School, her husband, Mauro is a citizen of Mexico. He, like so many others, came to the US in pursuit of opportunity and to build a life for himself. He met Jessie and her son, Angel (now age 16), and built a family. Jessie continued to cut hair when she could, but mainly cared for their children, while Mauro worked digging urban tunnels to provide a steady and safe home life for their children.

Mauro has no criminal background, but in 2016, prior to meeting Jessie, he had visited family in Mexico, and upon returning was told to self-deport due to lack of documentation. His work was in Dallas, so he accepted the (at the time) low-level offense and returned to life here. Upon Trump’s election, this formerly low-level offense was escalated to a felony, without warning.

On March 5, authorities in Dallas arrested Mauro while he was at work and have sent him to a prison in Limestone county. Jessie has been told he will eventually serve 3-6 months in U.S. prison and then be deported to Mexico. To reiterate, Mauro, has never committed any crime other than entering the US without documentation. Despite consultations with attorneys, due to court backlogs, his sentencing may not take place for up to two years. She is preparing to move her family to Mexico, at some point when he is deported directly from prison, but the timing is murky at best. Meanwhile, Jessie is at home, trying to cope with her husband being plucked from their lives, explaining dad’s absence to confused children, A BABY, and wondering how to support them all herself.

We are hoping to help Jessie however we can. If you want someone to cut your hair (or your kids, or your husband), Erica and I will be happy to share her contact information. If you can donate some money to help her find her footing, she would be so grateful.

We often feel helpless to cope with the cruelty of the broken immigration system. In helping Jessie we can do something to change the circumstances of someone who is directly impacted by this chaos. Please consider sharing what you can, and forward to anyone who might consider providing some support.

Very Sincerely, Clair Gioia and Erica Kuppin