tl;dr: This is a legal emergency, and your support will decide if we survive.
Our names are Zac and Alan, but many of you know us online as Krech and Bastion.
We are a married couple, and we have been active in the furry community since early 2011. We primarily support ourselves and others through our art, and through the love and generosity of the fandom.
Back in 2019, we asked for your help to move Bastion out of Venezuela, and the community really stepped up to the plate. Your support helped us move to Colombia and get legal status there, as well as get a lawyer and start the long and incredibly painful process of US Immigration.
Since then, we have been fighting like hell to secure a valid, legal, rock solid, 100% legitimate immigration visa. I cannot overstate how difficult and draining these past 6 years have been, clawing our way forward inch by painful inch until we finally received a Visa on October 4th of this year.
Words cannot describe how relieved we were, and how excited Bastion was to finally be able to come home to the States with me. To finally be able to meet the family, the in-laws, the friends, the furs... everyone that they have been talking with and working with for years and years while trapped alone in a small apartment in Colombia. When we left for the airport, we were overflowing with hope and optimism...
When we landed, things turned sour fast.
As we were going through customs, we were taken to a secure area and detained. All of our devices were taken from us, and our bags were pulled apart. They spent hours questioning us, picking apart our lives, asking humiliating questions about us... and then after 5 hours, they released me as I was a US citizen, and kicked me out into the airport. I waited outside for over 2 hours before they came out to tell me that they were not going to allow Bastion to enter.
They were revoking his visa, which we had fought for 6 years to obtain. They are challenging the validity of our petition. They are planning to deport him.
I was not given a reason for that decision, nor was I allowed to see or speak to him. I was escorted away by security, and barely given any time to return Bastion's wallet and other items he would need if they sent him home... I was put on a connecting flight home, and he was left detained at the airport. He would remain detained there for 34 hours before they finally transferred him to an ICE Processing Center. This is effectively a low-security prison for immigrants. He does not have any of his possessions, and their limited visitation hours are non-contact, so I cannot even give him the hug that he desperately needs right now.
I cannot stress enough that our documents are legitimate. They are real. We worked with a legal team and we fought hard to make sure we did everything correctly every step of the way. No matter how many times they broke the law, or failed to respond to us, or denied us for frivolous reasons, or simply stonewalled us for months and months at a time. We kept our cool, we kept providing them the information and forms they needed, we kept moving forward, no matter how ridiculous the requests got.
We made certain we did this RIGHT! Our documents and our petition are absolutely legitimate.
As soon as I was able, I went to work finding law firms in the area, getting multiple consultations, and auditioning lawyers to find one who was both competent and affordable. I am very grateful to say that I found one who has already sprung into action, getting herself on record within hours, and working with our existing attorney out of state to review our case. The catch is, she is very expensive, and there is no guarantee that this will work.
The stakes could not be higher. If our petition is reversed and Bastion is deported, even if we did nothing wrong, there will be a 5-year ban on reentry, and a permanent stain on his record that will make future entries even more difficult. Frankly, it would make the prospect of immigrating to the US in the future almost unthinkable...
On the flip side, if we win this fight, Bastion will be a green card-carrying permanent resident, and we will immediately be able to start working on naturalized citizenship. His future here will be secure, and he will finally be a part of a country he has loved since his youth. He will be able to see you at cons, hug you, shake your hand, continue drawing for you, and continue making things for this wonderful community. He will finally be able to live the life he has fought so hard to earn.
So what can you do to help?
Unsurprisingly, this is going to come down to money. The more funding we have, the more time and resources our legal team can put into researching our case, building a defense, visiting and giving counsel to Bastion, and overall just trying to win this thing. Any excess will go towards future legal costs to ensure Bastion gets their citizenship.
Right now, Bastion is alone, scared, confused, and being kept away from myself and his legal counsel. But they can't keep us away forever, and we are going to fight like hell to make this thing work. The price of failure is too high to even consider. We either win this, or we lose everything in this world that we care about.
Please, if you are able to donate even a few dollars, it is greatly appreciated. You don't need to send any more than you can afford, but please consider sending something. I know we can't thank you all individually, but when we get through this thing, we will find some way to thank you all.
We love our community, and we want nothing more than to continue serving you for years to come. Please help us in this dire time of need, so that we will continue to be here tomorrow.
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