Hello, my name is Tamarock Verdines and my husband's name is Cristobal Verdines. We met on May 25, 2001, and have been together now for 24 years. My husband was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and was brought to the United States when he was 8 years old. He did not have a choice but to leave and come with his family. Did he enter the US illegally? Yes, but that should not be something that he is penalized for. We got married, had two beautiful daughters, and lived as best as we could. Cris watched the girls and supported me while I went back to college to earn my teaching degree. We tried to start his paperwork to get him his legal papers but found out that we could not prove that he was a Mexican citizen since he did not have any paperwork identifying him as a citizen in Mexico. That took a long time to fix. When it was, he got his Mexican ID and passport, and we were getting ready to start the legalization paperwork when he got into a car accident in 2019. That accident caused a lot of pain, tears, frustration, and heartache, but we persevered. He was put on probation and had to pay restitution in the amount of $66,000. We paid and we paid. He was then taken by ICE at his probation appointment on June 22, 2022. They let him go, but he had to go and sign every year in Orlando. That brings us to now.

We went to his yearly signing on June 24, 2025. We were doing the right thing even though we were scared because of everything happening right now. We even asked his lawyer if we should go. The lawyer said yes and not to worry because even if they detained him, he would be able to get him out. He was wrong. My husband was detained on that day in Orlando. He was then sent to Krome Detention Center in Miami where in the first 10 days he lost 27 pounds and was not able to go outside. It was all the things that you are hearing on social media and the news, but way worse. We had a court date on July 17 to be granted voluntary deportation, and it was granted. The story doesn't stop there though. I went down to get my husband from Miami only to wait there for five days and they still wouldn't release him. Instead, they flew him to El Paso and then drove him over the border. He was not able to see his girls or get anything in order even though he was granted 60 days before he had to self-deport. I will be leaving and going with him after getting some things in order. I am asking for any help that you can give. Your donation will help with bills for my girls who are staying here and taking over all of the payments and lawyer fees so that we can fight to come back home to the US. Thank you.