Fighting to reunite our family, bring mom home.

ICE Stole Our Mom

This is the beginning of an American story:

Atcharee Buntow was driving to the grocery store to pick up food for her mother, our grandmother, who has owned a Thai Restaurant, a well-known restaurant that has been established in Fairbanks, Alaska for 17 years. On her way to pick up goods she was pulled over by two unmarked vehicles. Because she had no reason to be worried, she pulled over diligently.

Atcharee was born in Thailand, but at age 11, moved to Alabama with her mom. Her mother, Vissanee Bunnag, was looking to make a better life for herself and her children. The United States proved to be the place.

While in Alabama, Vissannee attained a Green Card. At that point in time, it didn’t matter to get her daughter a Green Card, since she was 11 years old. Vissanee worked, and paid taxes.. She became a citizen, 33 years ago.

However, it didn’t occur to Vissanne to get her child a Green Card. What occurred to her was to get the card in order to work and live and be an adult.

At 18 Atcharee had a baby with a U.S. citizen,Thurman Sims, whom she loved and then married. They then had three more children. In 2010 the couple decided to move to Fairbanks’ to help Vissannee with her restaurant. All the while, Atcharee was legally married to a U.S. citizen and took care of her four children. She helped develop her mother’s affluent Fairbanks restaurant all the while driving (with a legal driver’s license) her children to and from school and also taking care of them at home. Later in their lives, Atcheree and Thurman had one more baby, Jaebion Sims, a sweet, quaint, quiet little boy who is now 12-years-old.

But this isn’t the whole happy coming to America story.

Atcharee and Thurman’s marriage, like most, didn’t work. So they divorced.

Athcharee was then a single mother. But she had help with her four eldest children, who she reared to be family oriented. Her three daughters, Jazzeree, Jeanae, Jailah , and her son Jamari helped raise Jaebion.

Atcharee, years later, met Dominic Wilson, whom she fell in love with and married. Together they had Dmohni, who is now a relaxed, happy, absolutely gorgeous two-year-old.

But that’s the most horrible part of the story.

Three weeks ago, Thurman Sims, father of six, died, unexplainably at age 43. His five children flew to Alabama, his home, to say goodbye to him.

But then, it gets worse.

Two days ago ICE followed Atcharee to the grocery store, ripped her out of her car, took her phone and laughed at her. Laughed at her. Laughed at her. LAUGHED AT HER. They then took her to jail. Locked her up. From there they sent her to Anchorage. From there, Tacoma. Where she will sit. And wait. Wait for money to pay to get out of detainment. Wait for a judge to tell her she’s worthy to be an American citizen. Or Not. And if he deems her not worthy, she will be sent back to a country in which she has not lived since she was eleven years old.

Jazeree is getting married in Boston in eight days. Jamari has a basketball scholarship and is trying to move to Walla Walla, Washington, but his car has broken down and he is working two full time jobs to pay for moving expenses as well as trying to help his mom with lawyer fees. Jeanae is married and has a full-time job, plus helps out at her grandma’s restaurant–and now she is taking care of her brothers while her step-dad deals with his medical issues and his job. Jailah is going to school full-time and working and living with her grandmother to help take care of both of her brothers. And Atcharee, mother of six, daughter of a long-time Fairbanks restaurateur, wife,and resident of the United States of America for 32 years, sits in jail–followed and strong-armed by ICE.

This cannot be the end of the story.

Please help our mom. Please help us.

Thank you.