Concord Family Racing to Raise $5,000 Bond for Father Held in Louisiana ICE Detention

Federal judge grants release following habeas petition, but funds must be processed by Monday to prevent possible deportation.

Rebecca Rodrigues with her father Fernando “Brasil” Luiz Da Silva Rodrigues. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Rodrigues.

A Concord family is racing against the clock to raise $5,000 by Monday so that Fernando “Brasil” Luiz Da Silva Rodrigues — a longtime Cabarrus County resident currently detained in a Louisiana immigration facility — can be released on bond and return home.

His daughter, Rebecca Rodrigues, said Friday evening that a federal immigration judge has agreed to release her father on a $5,000 bond following a successful habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of his detention.

“The judge has agreed to let him go for $5,000 on Monday,” Rodrigues, 25, told The Cabarrus Compass. “Please help me spread the word so we can raise this money and do this.”

The writ of habeas corpus was first granted Feb. 12, ordering the government to justify why Rodrigues was being held. At a hearing Friday, the judge set the bond amount at $5,000, which must be processed by Monday for his release.

As of Friday evening, she said about $800 had been raised toward the bond in just a few hours. The family is also attempting to sell her mother’s car to help cover the cost.

Rodrigues, a Concord High School graduate and Wake Forest University alumna who now teaches at Concord Academy, posted on Facebook Friday asking supporters to help raise the $5,000 bond. She shared her Venmo handle (@Rebeccarodrigues00) and phone number, 704-245-5611, for those who wish to contribute directly.

“PLEASE SHARE. SHARE. SEND FAR AND WIDE. CONCORD IS COMING FOR YOU PAI!” she wrote.

Screenshot of Venmo information provided by Rebecca Rodrigues, who authorized its publication in this story.

Rodrigues said the timing is critical.

She said that if the bond is not paid and processed quickly, federal authorities could move forward with deportation proceedings before his next court date on Feb. 27, adding that she believes immigration officials are “not playing by the book” in how some cases are handled.

The family fears that if the bond is not paid by Monday, federal authorities could move forward with deportation proceedings and remove him to Brazil.

Fernando was first detained Jan. 22 in Mobile County, Alabama, while returning to Concord from Texas after delivering a used car to a buyer. He was transferred Jan. 27 to a detention facility in Louisiana.

For several days, the family lost contact with him before he called on Feb. 5.

“He was disoriented and confused and crying,” Rebecca Rodrigues said. She said her father told her he had been sleeping on the floor beneath trash bags and that the lights inside the facility remain on 24 hours a day. He was later moved to a dorm setting and provided regular meals.

Speaking with her father “gave us strength through this very dark time,” she said.

More recently, she said, officials emptied his commissary and phone accounts.

“He gave us one last call at 5 p.m. today, saying he cannot call or communicate anymore,” she said Friday. “So they want him out of there by any means.”

Fernando “Brasil” Luiz Da Silva Rodrigues with Rebecca Rodrigues. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Rodrigues.

Fernando, 56, has lived in Concord for 25 years. He is known locally as a drummer at Multiply Church, where he has played for roughly a decade, and as a regular at the King of Concord soccer complex, where he plays most weekends.

“Without him, there is no us,” Rodrigues told The Cabarrus Compass last month, calling him an “honorable and respectable man.”

To cover mounting legal costs, Rebecca Rodrigues created a GoFundMe account Jan. 22. The campaign has raised about $20,000 toward a $22,000 goal, funds she said were used to hire a three-person legal team to argue his case. The account is still active.

Rebecca Rodrigues with her father Fernando “Brasil” Luiz Da Silva Rodrigues. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Rodrigues.

If the money is raised and Fernando is released, Rodrigues said her sister Gabriella will leave Wednesday and pick up him. The hope is that he can then be back in Concord by next Friday.

Though the past several weeks have been deeply painful for Rodrigues and her family — including Gabriella and her brother Nicholas — she remains hopeful that her father will soon return home to Concord.

“We feel like God has been providing for us the entire time,” Rodrigues said. “Our community continues to fight for our father — and we will see this victory.”