After an agonizing week of uncertainty, Tonny has been released and is finally home with Silvia and his family! There are no words to adequately describe what this moment means to them- or to all of us who have been fighting alongside them.

Tonny and Silvia want to express their deepest, most heartfelt gratitude to every single person who showed up for their family: everyone who donated, wrote letters, made calls, shared their story, offered prayers, sent food and refused to let them face this alone.

What happened this week was a powerful reminder that community matters. When people come together with compassion, courage, and determination, we can move mountains.

To everyone who stood with Tonny: thank you. You helped bring a husband, a father, and a beloved member of his community home to his family.

Together, we are stronger than the forces that seek to divide us. And this week, you proved the extraordinary power of a community that refuses to give up on one of its own.

From the bottom of our hearts: THANK YOU.

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.