WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — The wife of a Wisconsin Rapids man scheduled to be deported to West Africa tells USA Today Wisconsin that her family has exhausted nearly all legal options, and that they may consider moving to keep their family together.
Katrina Jabbi says her husband Buba was detained in Mid-February during his annual checkup as part of his orders of supervision, and hasn’t seen his family since then. According to a GoFundMe page set up for the family he has been shipped around from Milwaukee to Chicago and Texas. He may be sent back to Gambia as soon as this weekend.
According to USA Today Wisconsin the family could still file a 601 waiver which would try to block the move by citing extreme hardship as a result of Buba’s deportation. Katrina says if all else fails they may move to The Gambia.
Jabbi’s GoFundMe page has raised over $10 thousand in two weeks to help support the family and cover legal costs. Katrina has been working part-time and taking care of the couple’s two children while Buba was working as a truck driver. They are expecting a third child this fall.
Buba was first scheduled for deportation following the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, which he attended on a temporary Visa. He accidentally overstayed his Visa, and incorrectly filed paperwork to change his status. He remained in the removal process for several years but was unable to be deported due to improper documentation from his home country. He has been staying in the US under supervision orders since then, which involves an annual checkup with immigration to obtain a work authorization. Katrina says he has done that every year for the last ten years.
