In ten months, Marius is one of only two African asylum seekers we have seen given a bond offer in the El Paso Immigration Court.
Unfortunately, Marius has no family in the U.S. and no way to pay his $15,000 bond without your help!
Marius told us that "Psychologically, they are slowly driving me crazy. I do not have contact with my family and I'm going to lose hope without any support. I need to leave here to be able to focus on preparing my (asylum) case."
Marius is the only Togolese detainee in El Paso. He comes from a family of political dissidents fighting for greater democracy, and was forced to flee his country after his parents were murdered by the government. He has been threatened everywhere he's tried to rebuild his life, and this year decided to journey across South and North America to seek asylum in the United States.
Marius has denounced conditions in detention, especially for African migrants: "Refugees should never be treated this way. In detention we're discriminated against. Guards refuse to speak a language we can understand. We get punished just because guards feel like it. They throw away food even though there are people here dying of hunger. We're not animals--we're human beings."
After over three months detained and without a lawyer, Marius was offered release on bond by a judge. He has until October 30 to post the bond, or else he could remain in detention for over a year while his asylum claim runs through the legal process. Just getting out of detention raises a person's chance of winning asylum! Please donate now and help Marius get out of detention!
UPDATE (10/21/18): We are over $4,000 in donations for Marius!! We still have a ways to go--help us get closer to our goal by sharing this page (bit.ly/FREEMARIUS)
UPDATE (10/16/18): Since we published this fundraiser, we've received $1,500 in generous support for Marius! Thank you to all our donors so far and especially to UndocuBlack Network!! But we still have a long way to go--please donate what you can and SHARE with your networks!
Unfortunately, Marius has no family in the U.S. and no way to pay his $15,000 bond without your help!
Marius told us that "Psychologically, they are slowly driving me crazy. I do not have contact with my family and I'm going to lose hope without any support. I need to leave here to be able to focus on preparing my (asylum) case."
Marius is the only Togolese detainee in El Paso. He comes from a family of political dissidents fighting for greater democracy, and was forced to flee his country after his parents were murdered by the government. He has been threatened everywhere he's tried to rebuild his life, and this year decided to journey across South and North America to seek asylum in the United States.
Marius has denounced conditions in detention, especially for African migrants: "Refugees should never be treated this way. In detention we're discriminated against. Guards refuse to speak a language we can understand. We get punished just because guards feel like it. They throw away food even though there are people here dying of hunger. We're not animals--we're human beings."
After over three months detained and without a lawyer, Marius was offered release on bond by a judge. He has until October 30 to post the bond, or else he could remain in detention for over a year while his asylum claim runs through the legal process. Just getting out of detention raises a person's chance of winning asylum! Please donate now and help Marius get out of detention!
UPDATE (10/21/18): We are over $4,000 in donations for Marius!! We still have a ways to go--help us get closer to our goal by sharing this page (bit.ly/FREEMARIUS)
UPDATE (10/16/18): Since we published this fundraiser, we've received $1,500 in generous support for Marius! Thank you to all our donors so far and especially to UndocuBlack Network!! But we still have a long way to go--please donate what you can and SHARE with your networks!