Help Free Prince!
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Prince is an immigrant from the Central African Republic who has been living in the U.S. since he was a teenager. And he needs your help now.
Last Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Prince and, unless he can quickly pay attorney’s fees to reopen his asylum case, he will be deported away from his U.S. citizen wife, home, and life and career as an artist.
I met Prince in 2017 after he had been freed from an immigration jail in Maryland in 2015. Ironically, director Oliver Butler and I were interviewing Prince for a theater piece we hoped to create out of the voices of immigrants who have spent time in our nation’s draconian immigration detention system. As a result of his incarceration, Prince had lost his business and been forced to grieve his parents’ death behind bars, but he was rebuilding his life and career as an artist.
Prince told me and Oliver a lot about his life in the U.S. and his passion for his art, but he was reluctant to talk about his difficult past. Prince’s father was a diplomat who brought him to the U.S. when he was a young teen, but as war and violence took over the C.A.R., Prince’s father feared the government would harm him and applied for asylum in the U.S. The asylum claim was denied and, as a result, young Prince was ordered deported, although he didn’t know this at the time. Shortly after the asylum denial, uniformed officials in the C.A.R. brutally attacked Prince’s mother and she died of resulting injuries.
Heartbroken and fearing imminent return to the C.A.R., Prince’s father died shortly after his asylum claim was denied. Still suffering from the loss of his parents, Prince was picked up by ICE and held for six months in a remote jail far from Shaniece and his support system. Fortunately for Prince, he was released under the Obama administration’s policies.
Prince is now 26. He and Shaniece live in Maryland with their cat. Prince’s favorite musician is Jay-Z, he loves Chipotle, and loves watching nature and history documentaries. Prince and Shaniece have been waiting for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine that his marriage to his wife Shaniece is “bona fide.” They have been together for over seven years; she was his high school sweetheart and prom date and is the love of his life. As a U.S. citizen, Shaniece hopes that Prince can stay in the U.S. with her and, last year, started the process to get him a green card.
The cost: Prince and Shaniece are devastated by their separation. Prince and Shaniece have already rebuilt their relationship and lives once after immigration detention and know that doing so a second time will demand high financial and emotional costs.
Prince has found an attorney to represent him in reopening his asylum case, seeking bond, and pursuing his green card, but it will cost at least $7,500. Prince and Shaniece urgently need half that cost just to get the case started. Prince hopes to secure release on bond, but it will almost certainly be set in the thousands of dollars.
At a time when our nation’s immigration police is unleashing a systemic policy of cruelty, I hope you will join me in reuniting this one family and creating a bright future for these high school sweethearts. Please consider donating whatever you can to help Shaniece and Prince pay the attorney’s fees and an immigration bond that will allow him to continue to pursue his green card from home with his family.
Last Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Prince and, unless he can quickly pay attorney’s fees to reopen his asylum case, he will be deported away from his U.S. citizen wife, home, and life and career as an artist.
I met Prince in 2017 after he had been freed from an immigration jail in Maryland in 2015. Ironically, director Oliver Butler and I were interviewing Prince for a theater piece we hoped to create out of the voices of immigrants who have spent time in our nation’s draconian immigration detention system. As a result of his incarceration, Prince had lost his business and been forced to grieve his parents’ death behind bars, but he was rebuilding his life and career as an artist.
Prince told me and Oliver a lot about his life in the U.S. and his passion for his art, but he was reluctant to talk about his difficult past. Prince’s father was a diplomat who brought him to the U.S. when he was a young teen, but as war and violence took over the C.A.R., Prince’s father feared the government would harm him and applied for asylum in the U.S. The asylum claim was denied and, as a result, young Prince was ordered deported, although he didn’t know this at the time. Shortly after the asylum denial, uniformed officials in the C.A.R. brutally attacked Prince’s mother and she died of resulting injuries.
Heartbroken and fearing imminent return to the C.A.R., Prince’s father died shortly after his asylum claim was denied. Still suffering from the loss of his parents, Prince was picked up by ICE and held for six months in a remote jail far from Shaniece and his support system. Fortunately for Prince, he was released under the Obama administration’s policies.
Prince is now 26. He and Shaniece live in Maryland with their cat. Prince’s favorite musician is Jay-Z, he loves Chipotle, and loves watching nature and history documentaries. Prince and Shaniece have been waiting for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine that his marriage to his wife Shaniece is “bona fide.” They have been together for over seven years; she was his high school sweetheart and prom date and is the love of his life. As a U.S. citizen, Shaniece hopes that Prince can stay in the U.S. with her and, last year, started the process to get him a green card.
The cost: Prince and Shaniece are devastated by their separation. Prince and Shaniece have already rebuilt their relationship and lives once after immigration detention and know that doing so a second time will demand high financial and emotional costs.
Prince has found an attorney to represent him in reopening his asylum case, seeking bond, and pursuing his green card, but it will cost at least $7,500. Prince and Shaniece urgently need half that cost just to get the case started. Prince hopes to secure release on bond, but it will almost certainly be set in the thousands of dollars.
At a time when our nation’s immigration police is unleashing a systemic policy of cruelty, I hope you will join me in reuniting this one family and creating a bright future for these high school sweethearts. Please consider donating whatever you can to help Shaniece and Prince pay the attorney’s fees and an immigration bond that will allow him to continue to pursue his green card from home with his family.
Give $45 to help get this fundraiser to its goal
Organizer and beneficiary
Itamar Moses
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY
Shaniece H
Beneficiary
