Families scramble to pay for lawyers after ICE raid in Florida
Britney Padron hadn't spoken to her father in four days. But on Friday, she finally had three minutes to make sure he was OK.
The last time her father, Jose Padron, spoke to her was on Monday from a detention center in El Paso. Days before, he was grabbed and detained by ICE in an immigration raid at a Tallahassee construction site.
"He would always give us a hug and kiss our cheeks every time we left and returned home and I miss that so deeply right now," Britney said.
She and other family members of those who were detained in Florida's largest immigration raid of the year are trying to raise money for lawyers to advocate for their loved ones, who can only call every so often for a few minutes at a time.
They've set up GoFundMe online fundraisers, hoping others can help with the costly fees associated with the immigration process.
Britney and her sister have tried to find lawyers who offer free consultations, but some immigration firms have asked $300 to $900 for a initial talk. As for taking on her father's case, she's been quoted $3,500 from one firm and $3,800 at another.
Hilda Castro, whose husband was also detained, said a lawyer quoted her $5,500. Currently, her GoFundMe has raised none of the $1,600 she is asking for.
Some of the detained laborers were on their way to Texas as soon as the day after the raid. Others were sent to Miami's Krome Detention Center. But not everyone could find their friends and family; ICE's Online Detainee Locator System has been unreliable in recent months.
While Britney's father was in El Paso on Monday, the ICE Online Detainee Locator System only said "Texas" when she put in his information. Now, he's in the Rio Grande Detention Center in Laredo, Texas, with other laborers from Tallahassee.
She was finally able to put money on his commissary tab on Friday.
When Britney speaks to her dad on the phone, the call is always brief. Just three minutes, enough to check in and say "I love you." She was relieved to hear his voice on Friday. "Thank God," she said.
It's a heartbreaking game of telephone to try to locate loved ones who haven't been able to update family on their removal status. Family members of her father's friends have given her information, but it's been hard to verify, which makes it even more difficult to relay that information to lawyers.
Amanda Parrish said she hadn't spoken to her husband in four days, but he finally called Friday morning to say he was also at the Rio Grande Processing Center.
In a public post on Facebook, Parrish shared a text-message conversation she had with his bond lawyer. "We haven't heard from him in four days. We're just really worried," Parrish wrote.
"Hi, he hasn't been assigned to a judge yet. I'll see what I can do today to find out some information," the bond lawyer replied.
Parrish and her husband got married in 2018, and he's been in the process of applying for citizenship since 2019. He was approved for his I-130, a "petition for alien relative," and was waiting for approval for permanent residency, also known as a Green Card.
"This is unfair. This should not have happened," Parrish said. "He should not have made it all the way to Texas. He said he is fine but I know he's only telling me that because he does not want me to worry."
On May 29, the day of the raid, she was outside of the chain-link fence when she saw her husband, Tino, walk onto a white school bus, hands bound.
"I love you so much, and I will always fight for you. I hope you're doing OK and just know that we are doing everything possible for you," Parrish wrote in a Facebook post.
Castro hasn't heard from her husband, Ramiro, since Saturday, when he called and said he was in El Paso. The Quincy resident said when her husband was detained by ICE, he was in the process of getting his I-130 as well. Castro is a citizen, and the two are married.
Federal officials at the detention facility offered her husband paperwork to self-deport, but Castro told her husband not to sign anything. She's now trying to raise money for his defense.
'I found a lawyer in El Paso, but I need to figure out how I'm going to get the money to pay," she said. "I can't leave him there.'
Help this family reunite NOW! ICE Raid, May 29 Tallahassee
Support Legal Aid for Detained Husband
Fighting for Jose Padron While Holding Our Family Together
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: GoFundMe pleas rise as ICE detainees await legal help
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