I'm Neil Marshall and I run Dallas Legends Soccer Club. In 2022, we took in Juan, a 2012 boy whose family had just arrived from Venezuela on asylum. Juan is your typical South American young soccer player who grew up playing street soccer. Great technique and skills. But what Juan is known for the most is his bright, wide smile. He is no happier than when he is on the soccer field. I affectionately call him Juanaldinho.

Juan's father, Jose, was a police officer in Venezuela. Due to the levels of corruption and escalating threats to him and his family, they were in a very unsafe situation and managed to attain asylum in the US. They have been living here under TPS (Temporary Protected Status) since. Unfortunately, this year TPS status has been terminated by the US government for Venezuelans, and they have to return. With TPS lifted, you immediately become illegal. They were routinely interviewed by ICE last month, and Jose was immediately detained. He is now being deported. He has been separated from his family for over a month. Mom, Francys, and her three boys are reluctantly faced with returning to Venezuela in December. She is trying to leave as soon as she can with her boys to avoid deportation proceedings, which would bring undue stress to them. This is an awful situation... a good family, living lawfully, paying taxes, that have to return to a potentially very dangerous situation. As a foreign born United States citizen, having been sworn in, and understanding what a symbol of hope the United States is as a safe harbor, these are not the kinds of people that we need to be deporting. But unfortunately that's open to debate in today's political climate. Regardless of your views on this, what's important right now is that we look after this beautiful family as best we can.

This GoFundMe is to raise funds for Francys' flights for her and the boys, and to provide them as much of a financial safety net as we can, so upon their return they are well positioned to try and rebuild their life in Venezuela. They will be flying to Colombia because there are no commercial flights from the US into Venezuela, and then will travel by bus to Caracas.

If this appeal speaks to you, if you have any empathy for their situation, please consider a donation.

PS - IF YOU ARE AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY OR INVOLVED IN THAT INDUSTRY AND BELIEVE YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP THIS FAMILY PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME.