The son of an East Cobb couple whom he said is being detained by federal immigration authorities said Friday that “the next week is extremely crucial to my parents’ case.”
Juan Lima, who attended Pope High School, wrote in a long social media post last Friday, May 2, that his parents, Osnei and Sandra Lima, were visited by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on April 30, and then taken into custody at the agency’s Atlanta field office.
From there, they were transferred to an ICE detention facility in Georgia several hours away, where they remain, according to Juan Lima on the social media posting.
When reached by East Cobb News on Friday, Juan Lima said he couldn’t say more about his parents’ current status because “we are trying to proceed with as much caution and wisdom as possible.”
He did not respond to follow-up questions about where they were being detained or why they were picked up by ICE.
But in an online fundraising appeal he updated Saturday, Lima said that his parents will be having bond hearings on Wednesday.
“That’s not just ‘fast’—that is a MIRACLE! When professionals said, ‘it could take weeks, months perhaps’… God says, ‘this is the perfect stage for the impossible to become POSSIBLE!’ ” Juan Lima said in the message.
Thus far, Juan Lima has raised more than $50,000, with the funds going to paying an attorney.
The Limas were apprehended during a massive nationwide immigration sweep by the Trump administration that has generated widespread controversy, and is being fought in the courts by immigration advocates.
The Limas came from Brazil in 1999, when Juan was eight months old, and according to their son, they have been model immigrants, running their own business and being involved in their church.
In an interview with “The Jim Acosta Show” on Monday, Juan Lima indicated that the immigration issue with his parents involved overstaying their visas, but he didn’t elaborate.
“My parents have lived in the U.S. for 26 years. They have no criminal record,” Juan Lima said in the Facebook post, which he later copied to a GoFundMe page to solicit donations.
“They pay taxes, knowing they may never benefit from them. They are loving, faithful, hardworking people who have spent their lives giving back to their community and church. They are worship leaders, volunteers, Bible study teachers—always helping others.
“My parents have been placed in one of the worst detention centers in the state—described by our attorney as ‘a tier above hell itself,’ ” Juan Lima continued in his appeal.
“It breaks my heart to know they are suffering simply for wanting to build a better life, and I cannot bring them home without your help.”
The Limas have been living in a rental home off Holly Springs Road and are the owners of a house cleaning business.
Their son said ICE personnel arrived at the home in unmarked cars and wearing plainclothes attire early on the morning of April 30, as the Limas prepared for work, and ordered the couple to come with them to the ICE office in Atlanta.
Juan Lima, a youth pastor at a non-denominational church in Cumming, said his parents were told to bring with them some personal belongings and their passports. Since then, he and an attorney have been trying to get answers.
There are two ICE detention facilities in Georgia, in Lumpkin, south of Columbus, and in Folkston, on the Florida state line near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
A search of the ICE online detainee locater tool did not turn up any results naming the Limas; East Cobb News has contacted the Atlanta ICE field office seeking more information.
In the interview with Acosta, a former CNN anchor who recently went independent on the Substack media platform, Juan Lima said the ICE detention facility where his parents are staying is overcrowded.
He said his father didn’t have a mattress, and was sleeping on the floor in a cell.
“I’m just a son trying to advocate for my parents,” Juan Lima told Acosta. “These are the real Americans we need to embrace. . . . Amid the questions, we still have hope.”
He was speaking to Acosta with an American flag hanging behind him on a wall.
“All I’ve ever known is this country,” Juan Lima said. “All I’ve ever known is this community that surrounds me.
“It hurts that my parents are treated this way. They came with nothing and gave me everything. They were not told why this happened.”
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