Tell ICE: Stop separating families.
Click here to sign the petition demanding immigration enforcement release Nicole and Petra, and reunite Jayson with his family.
Grandma Albrecht, Jayson, Richard, Nicole & Petra.
My name is Richard Wheeler. I’m a Catholic and a year and a half ago, I fell in love with and married my wife, Nicole, a Jewish immigrant.
I’m writing because both my wife and her mother, Petra, have been held in separate immigration detention centers for almost a year. They are in danger of deportation any moment now.
And the heartbreak continues — Nicole has an 11-year-old brother named Jayson, who was suffering from anti-Semitic bullying at his school in Germany. Their mom made the difficult decision to homeschool Jayson, though outdated laws make this illegal in Germany. When the government stripped Petra of her parental rights for protecting her son, the family fled to the United States. But when ICE raided their home, Jayson was sent back to Germany alone and placed in an orphanage, though this violated his pending asylum claim. We have no way to reach him because the government refuses to tell us where he is.
My family needs your urgent support. Will you sign the petition demanding ICE release Nicole and Petra, and work with the German government to reunite us with Jayson?
My Catholic tradition and Nicole’s Jewish heritage share a beautiful teaching: To “welcome the stranger” as you would a friend. There’s no doubt I welcomed Nicole and her family with open arms – but our country did not.
Just like Germany’s homeschooling laws, the United States’ immigration system is outdated and unjust, leaving many families like ours broken and separated by detention and deportation.
I believe that as people of faith and moral courage, regardless of tradition and background, we are responsible for each other. And I’m calling on that kinship now to ask that you help me reunite this beautiful family that I love so much.
Click here to join me and people of faith standing with Nicole, Petra, and Jayson.
In his last letter to his family before being extradited to Germany, Jayson wrote, "I promise you that we will be together again soon..."
I pray that Jayson’s hopeful promise will be fulfilled with your support.
In faith,
Richard Wheeler
P.S. You can read more about our story in the Huffington Post.
This email was sent on behalf of Richard Wheeler in partnership with Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), a non-profit organization ending the isolation and abuse of people in U.S. immigration detention through visitation, independent monitoring, storytelling, and advocacy. Special thanks to the Albrecht family’s attorney Josh Effron for his continued advocacy.
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