Wrongfully Deported: Help Melinda Samuel Pay for Urgent Medical Needs, Reclaim Her Life, and Reunite with Her Family

UPDATE - October 7, 2026: MELINDA URGENTLY NEEDS MEDICAL TESTING

Melinda urgently needs our help accessing medical testing related to her brain aneurysms. Since being deported to Antigua, Melinda has struggled to access the consistent and affordable medical care she needs. She currently needs approximately $2,000 to pay for bloodwork and an MRI so that doctors can evaluate the current conditions of her aneurysms and determine what medical care she needs next.

Without the funds to pay for this testing, Melinda is left without answers about a serious medical condition that requires monitoring and follow-up care.

Melinda has now been separated from her home, her daughter, and the life she built in the United States for more than two years. During that time, she has had to navigate serious health problems while living without the income, medical care, and support system she had in New York.

We are asking our community to help us raise $2,000 as quickly as possible so Melinda can obtain these tests. Any amount helps, and if you are unable to donate, please consider sharing her fundraiser.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported Melinda. Your support has helped her through an extraordinarily difficult period, and we are asking our community to come together for her again.

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ABOUT MELINDA:

Melinda Samuel is a Black queer woman who lived in the U.S. for over 38 years. ICE wrongfully and unlawfully deported Melinda to Antigua on June 28, 2024. Melinda is now separated from her daughter and stripped of the medical care she desperately needs.

Short-term:

Melinda urgently needs funds for medical treatment and for basic living expenses

· She has brain aneurysms and complications from a collapsed lung but no access to specialists that she can afford and adequate healthcare in Antigua.

· She suffers from severe depression and anxiety with no access to mental health care.

· She lost her full-time job at Whole Foods in NYC (her only source of income).

· Her daughter, who relied on her care and support, is left alone in the U.S. battling lupus and is potentially facing eviction.

Long-term:

Melinda needs funds for her legal defense and return to the U.S.

· She has multiple legal pathways to return to the U.S. and is represented by a legal services non-profit but still must pay litigation, appeal, and application processing fees.

· She is represented pro bono for her current appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals and none of the donation will go to her attorneys or to the non-profit that represents her.

· Melinda will have to pay for her flight back to the U.S.

*Upon return to the U.S., Melinda would be able to economically support herself, care for her daughter, and access the medical treatment she needs.*

Background:

Melinda’s journey to the U.S. began at just 7 years old when her mother fled Antigua to escape domestic and sexual violence. Despite growing up in a new country, Melinda’s life has been a relentless battle against trauma, hardship, and domestic violence that continued in the U.S.

ICE began removal proceedings against Melinda and she filed a motion on the basis of domestic violence-based relief. Although the law says people cannot be deported while such relief is pending, ICE deported her anyway.

Melinda’s life has been defined by resilience and survival, but now she needs our help. With your support, she can access life-saving medical care and fight to reunite with her family. Every contribution, big or small, brings Melinda one step closer to healing and justice.