Pasadena Man Seeks Help After Wife’s Detention at Green Card Hearing

LOS ANGELES, CA – A Pasadena man is pleading for assistance after his wife was detained by federal agents following a scheduled green card hearing in early September. Tucker May reported that his wife, 38-year-old Barbara Gomes Marques, was on the verge of becoming a U.S. citizen when their ordeal began at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building.

During the hearing, Marques was asked to step down a hallway to make a copy of her passport. May believed this was a routine part of the process, but he now suspects it was a ruse to separate them. Shortly after, she was 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 said. “She put so much effort into looking nice because she was excited to take a step toward becoming an American.”

May described the painful moment when agents handed him his wife’s shoes in a plastic bag, a symbol of their shocking separation. Marques, a documentarian with no criminal record, has lived in the U.S. on a tourist visa for seven years.

“They put her in hand shackles and in leg shackles, as if she’s some hardened criminal,” May recounted. “She had tears streaming down her face.” He alleged that one of the ICE agents even took a selfie while laughing during the detention.

CBS News Los Angeles has reached out to both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for information regarding the incident. May claims officials told Marques she was arrested for missing a court date related to her status in 2019, something they were previously unaware of.

Marcelo Gondim, an immigration attorney representing the couple, revealed that Marques spent a week at the Adelanto ICE Facility in Adelanto, CA, before being moved to another detention center in Arizona. He expressed concern that she is being transported further away, potentially to Louisiana, ahead of possible deportation.

“They’re trying to remove her as far away as they can from her counsel and family, which cuts her ability to defend herself,” Gondim stated. “Knowing she’s married to a U.S. citizen, she has a legal pathway to become a permanent resident in a matter of months.”

The couple has filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order to prevent her transfer or deportation. While they await a judge’s decision, May continues to call for help.

“I’m a man trying to get his wife back home,” May said. “We need someone with more power than I have to help. If we allow these types of things to happen to our most vulnerable people, it’s only a matter of time before it could happen to any of us.”