In a distressing sequence of events, a man from Pasadena has come forward to detail how his wife was detained by federal agents at the conclusion of her green card hearing in downtown Los Angeles. Tucker May said that following the hearing at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, his wife, Barbara Gomes Marques, was asked to accompany someone to photocopy her passport, an action that unexpectedly led to her being taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. "Going home without her that night was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do," May told CBS News Los Angeles.
Marques, 38, a Brazilian documentarian and wife to American citizen Tucker May, is said to have been detained for missing a court date regarding her status in 2019, a summons her husband contends they knew nothing about. Marques was initially taken to the Adelanto ICE Facility before being moved to Arizona, and is now potentially on her way to Louisiana, which could be her last stop before deportation. This is particularly distressing, as her husband believes moving her cross-country is a deliberate ploy to complicate her legal defense. Immigration attorney Marcelo Gondim told CBS News Los Angeles, "They're trying to remove her as far away as they can from her counsel, from her family, so that kind of cuts on her ability to defend herself."
The couple's narrative was echoed in an interview on KTLA, where Tucker May disclosed that they were assured by a USCIS representative that everything looked good with the immigration paperwork, moments before his wife was led away and detained. "We let her out of our sight. She never came back," May told KTLA. He described feelings of betrayal and deceit, asserting that he and his wife were tricked to facilitate her separation from any legal advisement which could have protected her from swift deportation proceedings.
As the case unfolds, May's pleas for higher intervention have intensified, probing the very foundation of the justice system that purports to protect, often failing those it considers "vulnerable." "I'm a desperate man trying to get his wife back, and I'm also trying to open people’s eyes that this is a danger to everyone. This is a threat to the very rule of law that underlies everything about our justice system, not just our immigration courts," May told FOX 11. The couple's plight reflects a broader concern with the immigration enforcement mechanisms and their impact on families diligently following legal pathways to citizenship. A GoFundMe page has been established to help cover the legal costs as they fight for Barbara's stay in the U.S.
In the meantime, Marques’s fate hangs in the balance as her husband tirelessly works to halt her deportation and bring her back home. All agencies involved, including the Department of Homeland Security, have yet to provide comprehensive responses to the media inquiries about this specific case, per statements obtained by CBS News, Los Angeles, KTLA, and FOX 11. Tucker May’s struggle underscores the human aspect of immigration policy and the repercussions when due process takes an unexpected detour.
