On Friday, August 7, 2026, our friend and neighbor, Tonny Quesada-Ramirez, who goes by Tony, was arrested by ICE. He is being held in Delaney Hall in Newark.

Tony lives in South Orange with his wife and two children. He is from Costa Rica, and has lived in The United States for 26 years. Several years ago, he began the process to get a green card.

Our family has known Tony for five years, ever since he made for us a beautiful wooden cover for a radiator. He lived in an apartment on our street, and we turned to Tony again and again whenever we needed work done in our home. His work was beautiful, and we got to know Tony. He was kind. He was easy to work with. He lit up when talking about his family, most of all his two sons, the older of whom has Down’s syndrome.

Last year, we decided to build an addition onto our home. We turned to Tony. He and his team started on the job in April. Five months later, they have nearly completed it. They’ve done magnificent work, and on Friday morning, after seeing Tony, we wrote a note (with his blessing) that we intended to share with the SOMA community. Tony and his team, we wrote, not only did beautiful work but were conscientious, honest, affordable and fast.

We had, strangely, just finished writing those words when we got a phone call telling us that Tony had been handcuffed and arrested by ICE agents one block from our home.

We have retained an excellent lawyer for Tony. We are turning to you for help to cover his legal costs, as well as Tony’s likely bond and his family’s living expenses. Any sized donation will be a great help. Please share this fundraiser with any and all.