IF YOU EMAIL MY SENATOR AND GOVERNOR ILL GIVE YOU FANART!!!
Hi friends, I didn’t want to ever think it would come to this, but up here in Texas we have been hemorrhaging people to ICE raids. It’s awful. It’s so awful. Even worse is that now they’re trying to deport a young couple my friends sponsored. A more detailed explanation will follow below (feel free to modify and use as your email script and/or phone script). If you send me a screenshot (@notnov8or) I will draw you some fanart of any of the following fandoms: House MD, Good Omens, Greys Anatomy, BBNO$, DOCTOR WHO, anything DT or MS related really, and Staged. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL! I have never taken commission. I will be as quick as possible but I am a high school student who is graduating. I can’t promise professional quality but this is voluntary and free.
we are in desperate need, we have less than a month to save this couple in my area.
below is a post written by my friend:
Many of you have personally met my friends Kevenson & Sherlie Jean. They have lived in Texas since being granted humanitarian parole by the U.S. government in July 2023. Their specific parole program was available to residents of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and it required them, in addition to passing rigorous background checks, to have a financial sponsor. Without hesitation, Jered and I signed up to be their sponsors.
This sponsorship meant Jered and I would bear the cost of their immigration and acclimation to the United States, as well as be financially responsible for them throughout their entire stay under parole. Not the government or taxpayers. Under this parole, Kevenson and Sherlie were not eligible for government aid of any kind. It cost the U.S. government ZERO dollars for our friends to immigrate.
Kevenson and Sherlie arrived in the U.S. with one suitcase each and less than $5,000—savings they had accumulated over their lifetime (a small fortune in Haiti). They both wanted to work immediately, but they could not without a U.S. government-issued work permit. Jered and I applied for those permits during their first week here, paid $520 per application, and waited four months for approval. During this period, Kevenson and Sherlie lived with us, ate meals with our family, volunteered at a local food pantry, and waited—at no cost to the U.S. government—to join the workforce.
Once they received their work permits, they applied for and accepted jobs. Sherlie at Cefco (and now also at Subway), and Kevenson found two day jobs and a night job. Once they were more stable, we helped them find and rent a house. They paid their own deposits, utilities, and living costs. Our families and community came together to gather furniture and provisions, helping them settle into their new home. By last fall, they had saved enough for Kevenson to quit his day job and attend truck driving school, which he completed and graduated from. We were proud of them and the sacrifices they made to invest in their future.
Do you see the pattern here? Jered and I invested. Kevenson and Sherlie invested. Our extended families invested. Our community invested. The U.S. government and its taxpayers did NOT invest.
Since receiving their work permits, Kevenson and Sherlie have paid U.S. Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, and federal income taxes. Their presence here actually benefits U.S. taxpayers, since they will never be eligible for the benefits they are contributing to.
Yesterday, they received a notice from the U.S. government stating that their parole has been terminated. They have until April 25th to self-deport, at which time their work permits will be revoked and they will become illegal in the U.S. Kevenson and Sherlie are not criminals. They are not burdens on society. They are not stealing American jobs.
There are an estimated 160,000 people in the U.S. under the same parole program as Kevenson and Sherlie. I personally know around 50 of these individuals, many of whom work at places here. Who is going to fill these jobs when they are deported? How does their deportation help the American people?
I can assure you that it doesn't help the immigrants. Kevenson and Sherlie will return to Port-au-Prince, Haiti—the city recently named the most dangerous in the world. Not just the most dangerous city in the country or hemisphere, but THE WORLD. Factors like the elimination of U.S. aid, which used to provide essential food like rice, have contributed to this crisis. A country already struggling with food insecurity now faces an even more dire situation. The return of these individuals will only add to the strain: there will be no jobs, homes, or food for them to rely on.
My Congressional and Senate representatives have supported the current administration's stance on immigration reform, but it’s time for them to hear from us. We all heard the soundbites about illegal criminals infiltrating our country and how the next four years would be spent expelling them from our communities. But Kevenson and Sherlie are not criminals. They are not a drain on our community. So why are they being targeted?
Please, contact your U.S. congressional and senate representatives today. Call them, email them, write to them.
In the Texas Panhandle, our Congressman is Ronny Jackson, and our Senators are Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Contact them today.
