Keep the Caballero Family Together!
Donation protected
SUMMARY:
We are a newlywed couple expecting identical twins in October of this year. We’re so excited for this blessing. We’re both incredibly grateful to have found each other and have the opportunity to start a family together. As many young families are, we’re financially struggling. But we have a pretty daunting challenge on our hands - we’re being forced to leave the country and start from zero in a place where we have no friends or family.
Starting life over in another country is an incredibly expensive undertaking, especially because we will have to leave all of our possessions here besides a few suitcases of clothes, and buy everything again once we arrive. A baby shower will be impossible so far away from our friends and family, so we will have to buy all the baby essentials for two. Kelsey’s insurance isn’t valid in Mexico so we have to pay out of pocket for high-risk prenatal care and delivery. The following narrative explains in more detail of how we came to find ourselves in such an unfortunate circumstance.
OUR STORY:
Tito was brought to the United States by his single mother when he was a small child. She worked hard to support her family and give her children a good life. He and his sister were raised as Americans. Sadly, Tito’s mom Gladys was diagnosed with stomach cancer, likely due to pesticide exposure from years of working agriculture jobs. She passed away when Tito was just a teenager, leaving him to navigate the complex immigration system on his own. Tito didn’t fully understand his immigration status and didn’t even know how to ask for help. Only small clues of evidence could show that at one point the process of his legal immigration had been started, but after FOIA requests and consulting with a lawyer, his official status remained a big mystery.
20 something years later, we met and knew we wanted to share the rest of our lives together. Once we got married, we wanted to try to get his immigration status clarified and adjusted so that we could start a stable family. We spent thousands of dollars in filing fees, medical examinations, and biometrics appointments for a “green card” through marriage to a U.S. citizen, but in the end, his application was denied. We did everything by the book and consulted with an attorney for assistance, but ultimately there was no legal path for Tito to have legal residency. After living here for over 30 years, he has officially been asked by USCIS to leave the country immediately, and will soon face deportation proceedings. At any moment, he is at risk of being detained by ICE, which causes us to live in fear and anxiety daily.
After many weeks of mourning and heartbreak, we realized we really had only 2 options:
The first option is to stay here at home, close to our families and loved ones. This is of course what we would prefer to do. We love this beautiful area and have a great community of friends and family. Kelsey is passionate about her job working with homeless youth in Traverse City, and doesn’t want to leave her career behind. But there are serious consequences and risks of remaining here. We would have to remain in hiding and live in constant fear. We’d be very limited in economic opportunities without Tito being able to work - the government won’t grant him work authorization, so we rely on one income and live very modestly from paycheck to paycheck. This makes it impossible for us to save on our own. Furthermore, Tito can’t move freely, get a driver license, or fly. He won’t be able to pick up or drop his future children at school. He can’t call the police for help or access medical care in an emergency in fear of being detained. Our family would live literally as fugitives. If detected by ICE, Tito could be locked away in a for-profit detention center for years where his human rights would be at risk, leaving Kelsey alone and the kids without a father. We decided that these risks are too great for us, especially knowing that children are on the way soon.
The other option is to move Mexico and start over, far from our friends and family. This is a pretty complicated process with all the logistics of closing the chapter here, future immigration paperwork for Kelsey and the children, and finding a way to store and eventually move all of our personal necessities. We would be limited to only 2 suitcases of our personal belongings. Anything big that doesn’t fit (like furniture, kitchen equipment, baby supplies, etc.) we’d have to buy once we got there. Once we arrive, we will have to find and furnish a new home, find jobs in the middle of a pandemic, and learn how to navigate a new culture and way of life. We will also have to pay out of pocket for prenatal care, neonatal medicine specialists, and delivery as Kelsey’s health insurance will be cancelled. But at least we would be free and able to live in peace without fear and shame. Our childrens’ father wouldn’t be labeled as “an illegal” or criminal.
We are staying optimistic about starting a new life there. We are both bilingual. Tito is a chef with over 20 years of experience in hospitality. Kelsey lived in Mexico for several years in her 20s and is a certified ESL teacher, so our skill sets will allow us to transition to life there fairly easily.
It was a difficult decision to make, but we decided that we needed to do what’s best for our future children. They deserve a stable home where there isn’t a risk of their father being taken away at any minute, and a place where their parents can both provide for them. However, getting to safety will not be easy or cheap. After carefully planning the moving costs, it appears that we will need at least $15,000 dollars to just be able to start from zero.
At first, we planned to move in with loved ones for a year to reduce our living expenses while we saved money for the move. But now we are working with an urgent deadline with our twins due in October, so we don’t have the luxury of time. Every single day we stay here, there is a risk of Tito being detained and sent to a private prison for immigration offenses. Furthermore, we realized that if we wait until after the twins are born, our move will be even more expensive and difficult. And because Kelsey’s pregnancy (monochorionic, diamniotic twins) is considered high-risk, requiring frequent monitoring, especially in the third trimester, we need to move even sooner than we can possibly financially prepare to do.
To share our story and ask for so much help from our community makes us feel very vulnerable and quite ashamed, but it’s truly our last resort. We know we cannot do this on our own, so we have to move past our embarrassment and ask for help from our friends and family. We understand that with this pandemic, many of us are all at a time of incredible economic hardship, so we see that your support may be a big ask at this time. If you cannot financially assist us, we’d appreciate you sharing this story with someone who might be able to. Also, please consider voting for politicians who support positive immigration reform so that maybe one day we can come back home with our children to visit you all.
Tito’s passport: $150
Kelsey’s passport: $120
First month’s rent, deposit, and living expenses (no income): $2000
Prenatal Care (apx 16 visits at $50 per visit) $1000
Delivery for high risk care in private hospital: $6000
Basic furnishings for new home: $2000 (kitchen necessities, bed, linens, table, etc)
Baby essentials for 2: $2000
Plane tickets for 2: $1000
TOTAL: $14,270
We are a newlywed couple expecting identical twins in October of this year. We’re so excited for this blessing. We’re both incredibly grateful to have found each other and have the opportunity to start a family together. As many young families are, we’re financially struggling. But we have a pretty daunting challenge on our hands - we’re being forced to leave the country and start from zero in a place where we have no friends or family.
Starting life over in another country is an incredibly expensive undertaking, especially because we will have to leave all of our possessions here besides a few suitcases of clothes, and buy everything again once we arrive. A baby shower will be impossible so far away from our friends and family, so we will have to buy all the baby essentials for two. Kelsey’s insurance isn’t valid in Mexico so we have to pay out of pocket for high-risk prenatal care and delivery. The following narrative explains in more detail of how we came to find ourselves in such an unfortunate circumstance.
OUR STORY:
Tito was brought to the United States by his single mother when he was a small child. She worked hard to support her family and give her children a good life. He and his sister were raised as Americans. Sadly, Tito’s mom Gladys was diagnosed with stomach cancer, likely due to pesticide exposure from years of working agriculture jobs. She passed away when Tito was just a teenager, leaving him to navigate the complex immigration system on his own. Tito didn’t fully understand his immigration status and didn’t even know how to ask for help. Only small clues of evidence could show that at one point the process of his legal immigration had been started, but after FOIA requests and consulting with a lawyer, his official status remained a big mystery.
20 something years later, we met and knew we wanted to share the rest of our lives together. Once we got married, we wanted to try to get his immigration status clarified and adjusted so that we could start a stable family. We spent thousands of dollars in filing fees, medical examinations, and biometrics appointments for a “green card” through marriage to a U.S. citizen, but in the end, his application was denied. We did everything by the book and consulted with an attorney for assistance, but ultimately there was no legal path for Tito to have legal residency. After living here for over 30 years, he has officially been asked by USCIS to leave the country immediately, and will soon face deportation proceedings. At any moment, he is at risk of being detained by ICE, which causes us to live in fear and anxiety daily.
After many weeks of mourning and heartbreak, we realized we really had only 2 options:
The first option is to stay here at home, close to our families and loved ones. This is of course what we would prefer to do. We love this beautiful area and have a great community of friends and family. Kelsey is passionate about her job working with homeless youth in Traverse City, and doesn’t want to leave her career behind. But there are serious consequences and risks of remaining here. We would have to remain in hiding and live in constant fear. We’d be very limited in economic opportunities without Tito being able to work - the government won’t grant him work authorization, so we rely on one income and live very modestly from paycheck to paycheck. This makes it impossible for us to save on our own. Furthermore, Tito can’t move freely, get a driver license, or fly. He won’t be able to pick up or drop his future children at school. He can’t call the police for help or access medical care in an emergency in fear of being detained. Our family would live literally as fugitives. If detected by ICE, Tito could be locked away in a for-profit detention center for years where his human rights would be at risk, leaving Kelsey alone and the kids without a father. We decided that these risks are too great for us, especially knowing that children are on the way soon.
The other option is to move Mexico and start over, far from our friends and family. This is a pretty complicated process with all the logistics of closing the chapter here, future immigration paperwork for Kelsey and the children, and finding a way to store and eventually move all of our personal necessities. We would be limited to only 2 suitcases of our personal belongings. Anything big that doesn’t fit (like furniture, kitchen equipment, baby supplies, etc.) we’d have to buy once we got there. Once we arrive, we will have to find and furnish a new home, find jobs in the middle of a pandemic, and learn how to navigate a new culture and way of life. We will also have to pay out of pocket for prenatal care, neonatal medicine specialists, and delivery as Kelsey’s health insurance will be cancelled. But at least we would be free and able to live in peace without fear and shame. Our childrens’ father wouldn’t be labeled as “an illegal” or criminal.
We are staying optimistic about starting a new life there. We are both bilingual. Tito is a chef with over 20 years of experience in hospitality. Kelsey lived in Mexico for several years in her 20s and is a certified ESL teacher, so our skill sets will allow us to transition to life there fairly easily.
It was a difficult decision to make, but we decided that we needed to do what’s best for our future children. They deserve a stable home where there isn’t a risk of their father being taken away at any minute, and a place where their parents can both provide for them. However, getting to safety will not be easy or cheap. After carefully planning the moving costs, it appears that we will need at least $15,000 dollars to just be able to start from zero.
At first, we planned to move in with loved ones for a year to reduce our living expenses while we saved money for the move. But now we are working with an urgent deadline with our twins due in October, so we don’t have the luxury of time. Every single day we stay here, there is a risk of Tito being detained and sent to a private prison for immigration offenses. Furthermore, we realized that if we wait until after the twins are born, our move will be even more expensive and difficult. And because Kelsey’s pregnancy (monochorionic, diamniotic twins) is considered high-risk, requiring frequent monitoring, especially in the third trimester, we need to move even sooner than we can possibly financially prepare to do.
To share our story and ask for so much help from our community makes us feel very vulnerable and quite ashamed, but it’s truly our last resort. We know we cannot do this on our own, so we have to move past our embarrassment and ask for help from our friends and family. We understand that with this pandemic, many of us are all at a time of incredible economic hardship, so we see that your support may be a big ask at this time. If you cannot financially assist us, we’d appreciate you sharing this story with someone who might be able to. Also, please consider voting for politicians who support positive immigration reform so that maybe one day we can come back home with our children to visit you all.
Tito’s passport: $150
Kelsey’s passport: $120
First month’s rent, deposit, and living expenses (no income): $2000
Prenatal Care (apx 16 visits at $50 per visit) $1000
Delivery for high risk care in private hospital: $6000
Basic furnishings for new home: $2000 (kitchen necessities, bed, linens, table, etc)
Baby essentials for 2: $2000
Plane tickets for 2: $1000
TOTAL: $14,270
Organizer and beneficiary
Dana Eardley
Organizer
Grand Rapids, MI
Kelsey Caballero
Beneficiary