Ochoa Restrepo Family

We are the three immigrant children of two immigrant parents who are the perfect example of the kind of people this country should be proud to have. Today, we are reaching out to our community because we are going through very difficult times in our lives. On September 5th 2018, when we showed up to our supervision order, our father was taken under custody and both our father and mother, are facing deportation.
We moved to the United States from our country of Colombia a little over twelve years ago and ever since, we have witnessed how hard our parents have worked to provide us with a better and more safe life. We came here seeking political asylum but to our disadvantage, were badly represented by a lawyer that made harmful, careless mistakes that jeopardized our entire case. However, we kept fighting and searching for ways to legally remain here. In fact, we have always had a social security number, drivers license and work permits. We have strictly followed the law: attending to all of our supervision orders, notifying Immigration Services every time we moved homes, providing all information we were asked for, etc. Unfortunately, after all these years of building a life here and trying to be fully accepted into this country, the government has decided to separate us and only God knows when we will see each other again. Us three are DACA recipients, however we cannot travel outside of the country and of course, our parents cannot come back to the US in at least ten years. This has been an extremely devastating situation for us because we simply cannot imagine how our lives are going to be without our parents. All five of us are tremendously close to each other and being separated was our biggest fear. Now, it is a reality that we need to face. It is so hard for us to understand why people like us, who are good hearted people and who have never done any wrong to anyone, have to experience so much humiliation and unjust treatment.

We aren’t exactly sure how much time our parents have before they are deported so we need to help them NOW. The reason for our GOFUNDME page is because now that our father is detained, our mother is facing a lot of financial responsibilities as the new head of the household; apart from having to save money to start their new lives in a different country. We as their children, wanted to take the initiative to help our parents financially and give back to them even if it’s just a fragment of what they have given us throughout our lives.
Any contribution, large or small, will be greatly appreciated. We thank those of you with a kind and generous heart that are willing to help in any way you can.
Thank you and God Bless you all.