Release My Husband from ICE Detention

From Change.Org:

NYC-BASED AMERICAN CITIZEN CALLS FOR RELEASE OF HUSBAND FROM IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER

Fast-growing campaign on Change.org calls on immigration officials to release the husband of a U.S. citizen who has a baby on the way and was brought to the U.S. as a child.

NEW YORK, NY – More than 1,300 people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Sergey Golubev, who arrived in the U.S. as a child, and allow him to stay in the country with his family.

Golubev arrived from the former Soviet Union when he was 10 years old on a visa that his mother, who is mentally ill, allowed to expire by not filing the proper paperwork. Golubev only found out his undocumented status as an adult and was placed in removal proceedings after contacting police to seek help for a friend who had threatened suicide.

Golubev’s wife Angela Zikherman, an American citizen who is seven months pregnant and lives in Brooklyn, launched the petition on Change.org following the release of new guidelines by the Department of Homeland Security stating that immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and have no criminal background are not priorities for deportation.

“For four months I have tried to keep our lives private and help my husband in the best way I knew how, through hiring the most qualified attorney,” said Sergey’s wife Angela Zikherman, who started the petition on Change.org. “But things are not working as planned and I am expecting the birth of our daughter in 12 short weeks. I am very worried that my husband will be deported while we wait for the courts, which is why I chose to speak up and start a petition on Change.org.”

“Serge is a good person who was raised in the US for more the 21 years of his life,” she continued. “His family and home is right here in the United States, not in Russia.”

News of the online petition campaign’s success is likely to increase pressure on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Sergey Golubev. Within hours of the campaign’s launch, Angela Zikherman had recruited hundreds of supporters on Change.org, the world’s fastest growing platform for social change. She started a Facebook page that already has more than 500 “likes,” and the New York Daily News has already picked up the Golubev’s story.

“What Sergey Golubev’s wife, Angela, has accomplished in just a few weeks is remarkable,” said Change.org Director of Organizing Jackie Mahendra. “With no training, on bed rest while pregnant, and armed with only a laptop, Angela Maresca has managed to recruit more than 1,300 supporters from across the country and received the attention of major news outlets. It has been inspiring to watch Angela’s campaign take off.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already tried to place Golubev on a plane three times, and each time he has refused, fearing for his life and not wanting to leave behind his pregnant wife. It is expected that within the next 30 days another attempt to deport Golubev will be made. Click here to participate.

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