On Saturday, August 9th, our world came crashing down when my husband, Ricardo, was stopped on his way to work and detained by ICE. The United States has been his home for over 9 years. Here, we met and were married, he became a step-father and became a father, as well as an uncle, son-in-law, brother-in-law, friend to many, small business owner, and a trusted friend and contact for many wonderful, loyal clients over the years.

The entire time he has been here, he has been trying to adjust his immigration status. We decided in 2020, shortly after we were married, to begin the slow, expensive, time consuming process that is the green card process. We are a short 12-15 months from the finish line. But unfortunately this did not matter to the ICE officials who came into our neighborhood to detain him.

Ricardo is a loving, dedicated husband to me, and an absolutely amazing father to our 4 children, for whom he is the sole financial provider. He worked hard, without stopping, to create and grow his small painting business from the ground up. I have had to now step out of my role as stay-at-home mother and homeschool teacher to our 11, 10, 3, and 1 year-old children and become the manager of the business, in order to keep our household afloat. I am thankful to have a small group of friends who help care for the children while I have to be out of the house at the job site.

Ricardo was detained in a local county jail that works with ICE, for over a month. He then was transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana for 3 days, until he was finally deported back to Costa Rica on Tuesday, September 16th. After 39 days in detention, having endured being shackled, cuffed, and chained hands and feet, being denied food and water, not being given a change of clothes for 5 days, and losing 15 pounds, he is now back in a country he no longer calls home, with people who are no longer his primary family.

All 6 of us are now left heart broken, a piece of our family puzzle is missing, and we will not be complete until he is back with us. We have been apart now for just over 7 weeks, although it seems like a lifetime. Although we are thankful he is out of the inhumane detention centers and in a safe place with family, it's no longer the place he belongs, nor where he wishes to be, nor is he surrounded by the people with whom he wishes to be. We are thankful for technology and the capability to have video calls and be in constant contact, as we are just a phone call or message away, but nothing compares to his hugs that make every worry disappear for a minute. Nothing compares to being able to look in his eyes that melt all my worries away.

For this reason, we are asking for a little bit of help. As the painting business slows with the cold Ohio fall and winter weather creeping in, then stopping completely during the holiday season, our plan is to take an extended vacation to Costa Rica to be able to spend the holiday season together as a family. Our goal is to raise enough, when combined with what we have saved up, to be able to buy the plane tickets and cover our house expenses here while we are reunited as a family again for a short time. The more we receive, the longer we are able to be together and have my husband and the kids' "dada" back. The longer we will be able to put this absolutely devastating, life-altering event behind us and be able to live in the moment, together.

We thank each and every one of you, for reading this far, and for giving any amount you are able at this time. Ricardo and I are both people who have an extremely difficult time receiving help, so you can imagine how we are so incredibly uncomfortable actively asking for financial support. However, we both know that we cannot do this alone, and at the end of the day, we just want to be together, where we belong. Our children deserve to be able to hug their father, receive goodnight kisses from their father, and have him present in more than video calls, even if it is just for the holiday season, until we are reunited once his green card is approved in late 2026.

These past few months have been the absolute most difficult and heartbreaking months we have had to live through. We just want to be able to hug him again soon.