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| Barbara Gomes Marques |
Actor Tucker May, the husband of director, documentarian and actor Barbara Gomes Marques, today expressed concern for her welfare after it emerged that she is being held in Louisiana. The filmmaker, who has no criminal record, was seized by ICE agents at a green card meeting earlier this month, reportedly on account of a missed court date six years previously, which she was allegedly never notified of. She was held at a facility in Adelanto, California, and according to May was then moved to Arizona in defiance of a restraining order filed by the couple's lawyer. Her subsequent whereabouts were unknown to her loved ones for several days.
Originally from Brazil, Marques has been a US resident for seven years and married May in April this year. According to him, she has had difficulty maintaining contact with legal representatives working to secure her freedom.
"After nearly 3 days of travel in shackles, with spans of 12+ hours without food or water and little or no sleep, she has not been provided a bed at [the Louisiana] facility," said May. Noting that she needs medical equipment for a chronic back issue, he claimed that she has been denied access to this and was attempting to sleep on the ground. Although a further court order has been filed to prevent her being taken out of the country, May is afraid that she may be deported, with no guarantee that she would even be returned safely to Brazil.
At the the time of writing, the US Department of Homeland Security has yet to comment directly on her case.
According to Syracuse University nonprofit Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, just under 60,000 people are currently being held by ICE, over 70% of them with no criminal convictions.
