Stand with Juanita and Her Family

My name is Jeana. I was driving through the Sam's club parking lot in Grand Junction Colorado yesterday. I saw a woman who appeared to be in great distress. She was completely distraught so I parked near her and approached to see if I could help.

Her name was Soraya. She told me that she and her sister had come to shop. Soraya went inside as her sister remained in the car. When she came out, her sister was being forcefully removed from the vehicle and was being taken by immigration to be processed. Soraya gathered her composure enough to explain to me that her sister, Juanita had come from Columbia and had legally entered the country on a tourist visa. Juanita came to help Soraya and her family while Soraya went through cancer treatment. Juanita's visa had expired and she had applied for asylum which had been pending when she was taken from the Sam's Club parking lot.

I left my number and asked her to call me.

Juanita is being detained in Aurora Colorado with no legal representation. Her family has spoken to her and she describes the conditions as as harsh. She receives only rice, beans and hard bread. She will not receive a judges attention for two weeks. Juanita is not a criminal, she is not a gang member, and she is not a danger to our society. She and her family want the suffering to end as soon as possible. Her request for self removal from the country requires a bond and is facilitated with a lawyer which costs money that her family does not have. If she is not permitted to bond out and self remove, she will remain in detainment for months waiting for group deportation.

I am setting up this go fund me to stand with Juanita and her family. There are indeed unjust things happening in our immigration system. I was witness to bit of that yesterday. We have been given a rare opportunity to show a bit of real and practical support here. Let’s see if we can hit the goal.