The son of an East Cobb couple we wrote about last month after their detention on immigration grounds said Friday that his mother has been released, but that his father is still in custody.
Juan Lima wrote on a GoFundMe page he started to pay for his parents’ legal expenses that Sandra Lima was released on bond three weeks ago, “and is now home, healing, and working alongside me to continue our efforts in fighting for my dad’s release, which is priority number 1.”
Lima also wrote that his father, Osnei Lima, was transferred “without warning” from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Georgia to another in Natchez, Miss., more than seven hours away.
“With that being said, please continue praying for our family, and that although what may look like a setback, may actually turn into a divine set-up for God to show off and perform a miracle before our very own eyes,” Juan Lima said in the GoFundMe message.
“We are believing for speedy connections and a divine release for my dad—we will not settle for anything less.”
The Limas emigrated from Brazil in 1999, according to their son, who was an infant at the time, and settled in the East Cobb area, where they have been running a house-cleaning business. Juan Lima said that plainclothes ICE officials visited the Limas’ home on April 30, then took them into custody at the ICE Atlanta office before sending them to a detention facility in Georgia.
But other specifics about the Limas’ situation are lacking.
Juan Lima, who attended Pope High School, has not explained why his parents were being detained. In an interview with former CNN anchor Jim Acosta in early May he indicated that the matter may have involved them overstaying their visas but he didn’t elaborate.
Juan Lima has declined to be interviewed by East Cobb News, saying that “we are trying to proceed with as much caution and wisdom as possible.”
East Cobb News also has left messages with ICE in Atlanta, but has not received any response, and has left a message with ICE seeking information on Osnei Lima’s relocation to Mississippi.
The Limas were detained 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.
When announcing his parents’ detention in early May, Lima said that they have been model immigrants, with no criminal background and have been very involved in their church.
“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.”
The fundraiser for the legal challenge has raised more than $53,000.
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racist chumps running the country now-watch out everyone-he wants to be ‘just like hitler’ and he has millions of stupid minions doing his dirty work, like the gestapos/’ice’ wanna be gestapos. weak criminal/thief/sexual assaulter chump can’t do anything by himself-he has dummies do his bidding, trying to get power
The Supreme Court has ruled on several occasions that due process applies to citizens and aliens (non-citizens). Even conservative Justice Antonin Scalia wrote opinions that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens [non-citizens] to due process of law in deportation proceedings and also that due process applied to illegal or undocumented immigrants.
If we have open borders, half the world would move here. Many of the immigrates have the impression that they can come here and get housing, food, healthcare, medical care, and education all for free. Nothing is free, you either pay for it yourself or the government collects money from taxpayers and redistributes the funds. There are American immigration procedures/laws, either follow them or please don’t come. Believe most developed countries have similar immigration laws, and in some countries an illegal immigrate doesn’t get anything free and they are not allowed to work.
My son was detained in Switzerland for overstaying his tourist visa. Put him on the next flight out. I guess that can happen here too. It is unfortunate that the US immigration service waited so long to enforce laws which they should have been doing all along. But does that excuse the one who didn’t follow the laws? I don’t think so. This day was coming. . .
Sounds like East Cobb News is swinging further left with this one sided, liberal story. Get the facts…all the facts…before writing this “hit piece” on ICE. If people are here illegally, squeeze them into seats on the next plane leaving the USA. ICE is fixing what Democrats created by refusing to support our laws, leaving the door wide open for millions of illegals to pop in whenever they got the itch. Don’t wait by your mailbox for my check to support this type of one sided reporting.
There is something here we are not being told.
“But other specifics about the Limas’ situation are lacking.”
Says it all.
If they are in the US illegally, then they broke immigration law and need to be deported, after receiving due process.
I can’t believe there’s any question about that.
I don’t know these people. They seem like nice folks who made a bad decision many years ago and didn’t correct it themselves. Everyone who “enabled” this decision to continue is at fault, but mainly the husband and wife are at fault for being in the US illegally, which appears to be the most likely situation. They have only themselves to blame for causing this situation.
OTOH, if they are in the US legally, have a green card or are naturalized citizens, then that should already have been discovered and they have cause to sue the Federal Govt for improper imprisonment.
I wonder if they paid taxes and how we could collect tax on undocumented people. I agree that all should follow the process for citizenship and immigration best practices but maybe our whole approach to attaining that is imperfect and need to be reviewed and overhauled, not just enforced.