Sabrina
06-01-2009, 12:04 AM
<style></style>For those not familiar with the whole story of what happened to my husband, Okili Nguebari, a web page has been set up to donate money and with links to most of my updates, although I see it's only been updated to May12 as of today's date, but I think it will have more shortly. I think Michelle Hill, the wonderful person who made us the web page, is probably waiting for me to get her more info so she can further update. If you are anxious to see an update between May 12 and now, and have not heard how the fundraiser went, etc., please don't hesitate to contact me directly for me to send you a copy of something, i.e what happened right up to the point and after the fundraiser. Here's the web page that should eventually be all updated: https://okili.chipin.com (https://okili.chipin.com/). YOU can also look at all other Okili Update, etc. info pages here in Wacco under Community, and Events (past)
UPDATE AS OF MAY 31, 2009
Just want everyone to know that Okili is still in the US!. I am waiting to hear back from our lawyer whom I left several messages for last week. I'm still pretty exhausted from the whole fundraiser organizing and all of the nail biting nerve racking things that happened w/ Okili almost being deported and what not. But I've gotten several calls and emails from folks wanting an update.
The last thing I did, after the bond hearing was cancelled from May 20, when they almost deported Okili right then and there, was speak w/ Mike Thompson's office and complete an I-130 which is an application for Alien Relative (he's my relative as a spouse, and the kids relative as their father). Also, the lawyer sent off the application for the class action law suit membership to the correct address. For the last week I've been trying to contact the lawyer to confirm that the application was received at the correct address, and to see what our next plan is for a hearing. I assume he's just not contacted me because he's still formulating and researching the correct plan. I just wish he'd let me know, though.
Even though we had a successful fundraiser, this is NOT OVER YET! Right now I'm feeling like we could raise all the money in the world, and these ICE people still have the keys. I feel that if we can just get in front of a judge, things will be ok. But some people say getting him out is just the beginning of a long and expensive fight ahead of us. We just don't know how long it will all take and how much it will all cost, but it is worth it to keep the fight up right now vs. having him deported and banned from the country for minimum 10 years!
THANK YOU TO US CONGRESSMAN MIKE THOMPSON'S OFFICE
As many of you know it was a BIG THANK YOU to US Congressman Mike Thompson's Napa office for his staff member Melissa Rodezno actually calling the ICE office in Eloy, AZ and requesting them to actually give her the date of his deportation. I believe they take a request like that from a Congressman's office very seriously, and thus looked more closely at his case and saw that he may indeed be a member of the Class action law suit that they did not want to recognize. They had stated to Ms. Rodezno that he would not be deported any time soon because of the class action law suit. To read a little more of what happened with Mike Thompson's office I kind of reiterated the whole little anecdote below Mike Thompson's address. If anyone wants to help by sending Mike Thompson Thank you letters, here is his address / contact info:
MIKE THOMPSON'S NAPA DISTRICT OFFICE
1040 Main Street, Suite 101
Napa, CA 94559
Phone: (707) 226-9898
Fax: (707) 251-9800
If you want to EMAIL him, here is the link to his email page: https://mikethompson.house.gov/contact/email.shtml (https://mikethompson.house.gov/contact/email.shtml)
Here is the little background anecdote of what Mike Thompson's office had done for us, and the situation that lead up to it:
On the morning of May 20 when Okili was to have a Bond Hearing I received the shocking news that they were in the process of deporting Okili even though we filed his membership in the class action law suit in a timely fashion which is in and of itself supposed to stop any deportation (It states it very clearly that class members cannot be deported while under the application process). The lawyer says the government is opening themselves up to a major law suit if they do deport him.
Okili called me urgently notifying me that they were deporting him now. The lawyer indicated that it was definitely illegal for them to deport him at this point. They did not even get to have the hearing; it was about to start when guards came into the court room to whisk Okili away. Then Okili had called me urgently on a 1 minute complimentary call to say they are deporting him now.
We had thought that the ICE was now deporting him illegally, but it turned out my lawyer had actually mailed the application for the class action membership to the wrong address!
It was by an act of God that the lawyer ended up convincing an Attorney on the Government side that we had a good case and to bring Okili back to the detention center. They actually brought him all the way back from the Airport where he had been about to get on a plane for France. The Govt. Attorney had given my lawyer until Fri., May 22 to have his papers filed in order. On May 22, even though the papers were now filed properly we had no confidence that they would not deport him because the ICE dept. was acting like they'd never heard of the class action suit, nor would they recognize it (NWIRP vs. USCIS). This is when I contacted Mike Thompson's office through the help of a friend.
On the Eve of May 22, '09 at the Free Okili fundraiser, I told a wonderful turn out of people how my good and long time family friend Marylyn Motherbear (aka Marylyn Brandon / Marylyn Scott) had had the connection with a friend in US Senator Mike Thompsons office up in Humboldt, (Heidi) whom I spoke to and told the whole story to who immediately had Melissa Rodezno in Mike Thompsons Napa office call me and listen to the whole story; and, without ANY red tape (oh, you've gotta fill out this form, etc) just asked for Okili's full name, Alien Reg # , and where he was being held. Friday AM she called the ICE Congressional contact number in Eloy, AZ and asked them about his case. They first told her that he was on a final order of deportation and that they'd never heard of the class action law suit he qualifies for and were not recognizing it. She then proceeded to demand (which a Congressional office has the right to do and not me or the lawyer) when they exactly plan to deport him, i.e. a date. They got back to her by that afternoon with an answer. I believe because of the fact that it was a Congressional office calling they thought twice about just giving a deportation date, and told her he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, because they now see that they
must take a closer look at the Class Action law suit. Thank God/dess! Thus, I do believe the deportation has been interrupted! Yay! (knock on wood). THANK YOU MIKE THOMPSONS OFFICE!
How is Okili doing?
Well, at least he's still here, but he is not happy. It's starting to wear on him. All of you know what a happy and joyful person he is, and in the beginning he was laughing on the phone telling me how he was making other inmates laugh in the place; some people told him they hadn't laughed in weeks, and he was making them laugh. But now, it's getting to wear on Okili.
After he was brought back to the detention center from the Airport, when he was almost deported, it seems the guards in the detention facility were ready to "get him back" revengefully somehow. Upon coming back, only a few hours later, and giving him back his prison clothes, they issued him shoes that were too small. When he told them the shoes didn't fit, they said he'd have to wait at least two weeks before they could get him shoes that fit. Then they put a new partner in his cell that snored super loud all night long. They also do other things to make life harder on you in there. He was afraid of having me complain about the treatment because he thought they could make it worse somehow.
If anyone wants to write to Okili, here is his address:
Eloy Detention Center
Delta Building
Henri Roger Nguebari
#A25370867
1705 E. Hanna Rd.
Eloy, AZ 85231
If anyone wants to send Okili money on his books to buy extra food, toothbrushes or other toiletries, phone cards, etc. you can send him money via payments at
Western Union Quick Collect
Pay to: Corrections Corp. of America
State: TN
Code City: Trust CCA
Senders Account #: 1358214NGUEBARI (must be all CAPS here)
(don't worry about it saying State: TN, even though he's in AZ - this is how it's done)
STILL GETTING THE WORD OUT AND WANT TO STAY PUBLIC
Please continue to write Congress people, i.e. Mike Thompson, and Lynn Woolsey. Even though I'd not gotten a great response initially from her office, there are some others trying to get through to her office in a different way.
Also, news, and letters to the editors. Please continue to write letters to the editor. I'm almost ready for a follow up story w/ the Press Democrat., or anyone else just as soon as I know our new plan of action from the lawyer. I'll be keeping everyone informed as things progress here. If anyone does not have links to radio or news articles that they'd like to see, let me know.
Thanks, Love, Sabrina
UPDATE AS OF MAY 31, 2009
Just want everyone to know that Okili is still in the US!. I am waiting to hear back from our lawyer whom I left several messages for last week. I'm still pretty exhausted from the whole fundraiser organizing and all of the nail biting nerve racking things that happened w/ Okili almost being deported and what not. But I've gotten several calls and emails from folks wanting an update.
The last thing I did, after the bond hearing was cancelled from May 20, when they almost deported Okili right then and there, was speak w/ Mike Thompson's office and complete an I-130 which is an application for Alien Relative (he's my relative as a spouse, and the kids relative as their father). Also, the lawyer sent off the application for the class action law suit membership to the correct address. For the last week I've been trying to contact the lawyer to confirm that the application was received at the correct address, and to see what our next plan is for a hearing. I assume he's just not contacted me because he's still formulating and researching the correct plan. I just wish he'd let me know, though.
Even though we had a successful fundraiser, this is NOT OVER YET! Right now I'm feeling like we could raise all the money in the world, and these ICE people still have the keys. I feel that if we can just get in front of a judge, things will be ok. But some people say getting him out is just the beginning of a long and expensive fight ahead of us. We just don't know how long it will all take and how much it will all cost, but it is worth it to keep the fight up right now vs. having him deported and banned from the country for minimum 10 years!
THANK YOU TO US CONGRESSMAN MIKE THOMPSON'S OFFICE
As many of you know it was a BIG THANK YOU to US Congressman Mike Thompson's Napa office for his staff member Melissa Rodezno actually calling the ICE office in Eloy, AZ and requesting them to actually give her the date of his deportation. I believe they take a request like that from a Congressman's office very seriously, and thus looked more closely at his case and saw that he may indeed be a member of the Class action law suit that they did not want to recognize. They had stated to Ms. Rodezno that he would not be deported any time soon because of the class action law suit. To read a little more of what happened with Mike Thompson's office I kind of reiterated the whole little anecdote below Mike Thompson's address. If anyone wants to help by sending Mike Thompson Thank you letters, here is his address / contact info:
MIKE THOMPSON'S NAPA DISTRICT OFFICE
1040 Main Street, Suite 101
Napa, CA 94559
Phone: (707) 226-9898
Fax: (707) 251-9800
If you want to EMAIL him, here is the link to his email page: https://mikethompson.house.gov/contact/email.shtml (https://mikethompson.house.gov/contact/email.shtml)
Here is the little background anecdote of what Mike Thompson's office had done for us, and the situation that lead up to it:
On the morning of May 20 when Okili was to have a Bond Hearing I received the shocking news that they were in the process of deporting Okili even though we filed his membership in the class action law suit in a timely fashion which is in and of itself supposed to stop any deportation (It states it very clearly that class members cannot be deported while under the application process). The lawyer says the government is opening themselves up to a major law suit if they do deport him.
Okili called me urgently notifying me that they were deporting him now. The lawyer indicated that it was definitely illegal for them to deport him at this point. They did not even get to have the hearing; it was about to start when guards came into the court room to whisk Okili away. Then Okili had called me urgently on a 1 minute complimentary call to say they are deporting him now.
We had thought that the ICE was now deporting him illegally, but it turned out my lawyer had actually mailed the application for the class action membership to the wrong address!
It was by an act of God that the lawyer ended up convincing an Attorney on the Government side that we had a good case and to bring Okili back to the detention center. They actually brought him all the way back from the Airport where he had been about to get on a plane for France. The Govt. Attorney had given my lawyer until Fri., May 22 to have his papers filed in order. On May 22, even though the papers were now filed properly we had no confidence that they would not deport him because the ICE dept. was acting like they'd never heard of the class action suit, nor would they recognize it (NWIRP vs. USCIS). This is when I contacted Mike Thompson's office through the help of a friend.
On the Eve of May 22, '09 at the Free Okili fundraiser, I told a wonderful turn out of people how my good and long time family friend Marylyn Motherbear (aka Marylyn Brandon / Marylyn Scott) had had the connection with a friend in US Senator Mike Thompsons office up in Humboldt, (Heidi) whom I spoke to and told the whole story to who immediately had Melissa Rodezno in Mike Thompsons Napa office call me and listen to the whole story; and, without ANY red tape (oh, you've gotta fill out this form, etc) just asked for Okili's full name, Alien Reg # , and where he was being held. Friday AM she called the ICE Congressional contact number in Eloy, AZ and asked them about his case. They first told her that he was on a final order of deportation and that they'd never heard of the class action law suit he qualifies for and were not recognizing it. She then proceeded to demand (which a Congressional office has the right to do and not me or the lawyer) when they exactly plan to deport him, i.e. a date. They got back to her by that afternoon with an answer. I believe because of the fact that it was a Congressional office calling they thought twice about just giving a deportation date, and told her he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, because they now see that they
must take a closer look at the Class Action law suit. Thank God/dess! Thus, I do believe the deportation has been interrupted! Yay! (knock on wood). THANK YOU MIKE THOMPSONS OFFICE!
How is Okili doing?
Well, at least he's still here, but he is not happy. It's starting to wear on him. All of you know what a happy and joyful person he is, and in the beginning he was laughing on the phone telling me how he was making other inmates laugh in the place; some people told him they hadn't laughed in weeks, and he was making them laugh. But now, it's getting to wear on Okili.
After he was brought back to the detention center from the Airport, when he was almost deported, it seems the guards in the detention facility were ready to "get him back" revengefully somehow. Upon coming back, only a few hours later, and giving him back his prison clothes, they issued him shoes that were too small. When he told them the shoes didn't fit, they said he'd have to wait at least two weeks before they could get him shoes that fit. Then they put a new partner in his cell that snored super loud all night long. They also do other things to make life harder on you in there. He was afraid of having me complain about the treatment because he thought they could make it worse somehow.
If anyone wants to write to Okili, here is his address:
Eloy Detention Center
Delta Building
Henri Roger Nguebari
#A25370867
1705 E. Hanna Rd.
Eloy, AZ 85231
If anyone wants to send Okili money on his books to buy extra food, toothbrushes or other toiletries, phone cards, etc. you can send him money via payments at
Western Union Quick Collect
Pay to: Corrections Corp. of America
State: TN
Code City: Trust CCA
Senders Account #: 1358214NGUEBARI (must be all CAPS here)
(don't worry about it saying State: TN, even though he's in AZ - this is how it's done)
STILL GETTING THE WORD OUT AND WANT TO STAY PUBLIC
Please continue to write Congress people, i.e. Mike Thompson, and Lynn Woolsey. Even though I'd not gotten a great response initially from her office, there are some others trying to get through to her office in a different way.
Also, news, and letters to the editors. Please continue to write letters to the editor. I'm almost ready for a follow up story w/ the Press Democrat., or anyone else just as soon as I know our new plan of action from the lawyer. I'll be keeping everyone informed as things progress here. If anyone does not have links to radio or news articles that they'd like to see, let me know.
Thanks, Love, Sabrina