On September 6, 2025, my best friend of 31 years and her husband were traveling from Iowa to New Hampshire for a landscaping job I had contracted Angel for. Unbeknownst to them, while stopping for gas in Buffalo, NY, they were watched by an NYPD officer. When they pulled from the parking lot and turned toward the ramp to get back on the highway toward me, they were pulled over. The officer admitted he had been watching Angel's interaction with others at the gas station but had pulled them over for the trailer they were pulling. You see, Angel, my friend's husband, is Venezuelan and speaks Spanish. Angel is here seeking asylum and had his authorization to work, tax ID, driver's license, and all paperwork through his pending asylum case. Angel had been here for over 3 years as a productive member of society, doing everything that had been asked of someone seeking asylum.
The officer took their information and disappeared into his cruiser. I was contacted that they would be a little later than they originally thought, but suspected it was a routine traffic stop; until the search dogs appeared. The original officer never spoke to them again, never even issued them a ticket or warning, and the search dogs circled the truck for nearly 40 minutes. This is when Border Patrol showed up and Angel's life and my friend's life would forever be changed for what's now been ongoing for 3 months.
Angel was taken first to the Buffalo ICE detention center. Within 2 weeks, he was transferred to East Camp Montana in El Paso, TX. On their wedding anniversary (November 15), my best friend lost contact with him for nearly 5 days as he was transferred to a New Mexico ICE detention facility where he currently resides.
He has been in detention this whole time with no NTA or Master Hearing on the docket. Last month, my best friend retained a lawyer to file a habeas case, and yesterday (December 4), he was finally issued his Master Hearing for the end of the month with his lawyer hoping for a bond hearing before Christmas. All of this will cost approximately $10,000 (on top of what my friend has already spent) and could take months, if not years, to fight.
Both my best friend and Angel work hard doing construction and concrete work. Heat, snow, rain, they are the ones out there building, repairing, and patching many of the local buildings, some historic, in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa.
Angel being detained has greatly reduced their income to even pay daily expenses and bills on top of fighting what is proving to be a lengthy (and costly) court battle.
Everyone who knows Angel knows he is an upstanding human being, often going out of his way to help elderly neighbors with repairs to their homes, helping neighborhood kids who need help fixing their bikes, or helping friends out with fixing up their vehicles.
Angel was detained for no other reason than he was an immigrant, profiled from the moment he was spotted at that gas station in Buffalo, NY, and heard speaking fluent Spanish.
I seek your help in returning this man to his wife and family in time for Christmas should bond be granted.
He has already spent Halloween, his birthday, his wedding anniversary, and Thanksgiving in detention. Our immediate wish for this holiday season, our "Christmas Miracle," is to have him at our table and in his wife's arms for the holidays and out on bond to fight his deportation.
