Hi, my name is Gia, and I’m writing with a broken heart to share what happened to my family.

On the morning of June 10th, in what should’ve been a peaceful start to our day in Santa Ana, my world was torn apart. My husband had stepped out early to grab breakfast—just something small to help ease my morning sickness. I’m three months pregnant with our first child.

Walking him out the door was when I first noticed the strange cars on our block and traffic. They weren’t from the neighborhood. Then it hit me like a punch to the chest—ICE.

I tried calling my husband. He had picked up on the first try. His voice was shaking. I’ll never forget what he said:


“ICE got me. I can’t stay on the phone please come help me!”

I took my phone and ran out the door, heart pounding, belly cramping from stress. When I got there, it was already too late. They had him.

I screamed, begged them just to let me talk to him—to explain I am the mother of his child. To show he is a family man and not a criminal. I only had a few moments to see at him in the eyes before they had him taken to the car. All he did was look at me with tears in his eyes and said, translated from Spanish:


“Take care of our baby, my love.”


Then they drove off with the man I love. The father of my child.

My husband is not a criminal. He is a kind, honest, hardworking man who’s never hurt anyone. He has spent years quietly supporting our family, working two jobs, doing everything he could to build a future for us. For our baby. He is my best friend. My home.

Now I face this pregnancy without him—without my partner, my support, my heart. I’m scared. I’m devastated. And I don’t know what to do next. We urgently need legal support to fight his detention and bring him home before the birth of our child. I have great faith that the court will allow his return as he is a father and California laws have been known to be lenient on cases as such involving children. We just desperately need funds to help fight the case and the problem as a whole. This is our chance to fight back in a legal courtroom in peace.

Please, if you can—whether it’s through a donation, sharing our story, or just a simple like to boost the algorithm—we need your help. Every bit makes a difference. Every act of kindness gets us one step closer to reuniting our family.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, for caring, and for standing with us in this fight.

With love,
Gia Reyes and our unborn baby