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Ashley DeAzevedo

@afuashley.bsky.social

380 followers 54 following 110 posts

Executive Director of AmericanFamiliesUnited.org. Jersey girl. Blessed mom and devoted wife. Proud Catholic. ✝️ Small business owner. Believer in the sacred bond of family and the power of everyday Americans to create extraordinary change. 🇺🇸

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 27d

Hi, Bluesky! My name is Ashley DeAzevedo & I'm the Director of American Families United.

This is my first post 🎉 and I’m excited to connect with everyone here.

I'm from New Jersey. I'm a mom, wife, proud Catholic, small business owner, and I haven't given up hope in the promise of America.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 14h

Check out the great immigration reporting over at Migrant Insider: migrantinsider.com

Migrant Insider | Pablo Manríquez | Substack

Migrant Insider is a subscription-based immigration news startup founded by Pablo Manríquez as the first and only immigration news outlet in the Washington press corps granted full press access to the...

migrantinsider.com

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 14h

“My Husband Self-Deported So He Could Be Free”

As ICE raids intensify, a New Jersey woman’s heartbreak spotlights a growing wave of mixed-status couples choosing exile over the trauma of detention.

Thank you for sharing our stories, @pabloreports.bsky.social.

migrantinsider.com/p/my-husband...

“My Husband Self-Deported So He Could Be Free”

As ICE raids intensify, a New Jersey woman’s heartbreak spotlights a growing wave of mixed-status couples choosing exile over the trauma of detention.

migrantinsider.com

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 17h

ICYMI: Jenni, one of AFU's beloved members, was forced to say goodbye to her best friend and husband of 17 years yesterday. This is NOT okay. The family courageously chose to share their story publicly, so please do YOUR part to share this with people in your lives. 🧵 below

Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

ANOTHER FAMILY SEPARATED BY OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

Immigration Laws Drive North Carolina Father Out of Country, Separating Him from U.S. Citizen Wife and Two Daughters

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Jenni, Mackenzie, Fidel, and Isabella this afternoon on the way to the Raleigh-Durham airport.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

American Families United supports mixed-status couples across the country in the hopes that U.S. citizens and their immigrant spouses can live together in the country they all love.

If you would like to speak to Jenni Rivera or Ashley DeAzevedo, please email [email protected].

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

"Something in our nation’s moral compass is broken,” Ashley added. “No American family should be forced apart to preserve their dignity. Family should never be collateral damage of politics, not in the country that promises liberty and justice for all.”

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Ashley De Azevedo of Director of AFU said “We are watching the deep heartbreak of two young daughters forced to say goodbye to their father, not because of a crime, but because their family made the impossible choice to avoid indefinite detention in cruel facilities like Alligator Alcatraz.”

Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Jenni, who is on the leadership team at American Families United, plans to continue advocating for policy change even as her own family separates. “I’m going to continue to fight and advocate because what’s happening isn’t okay. It’s not okay for any family to have to go through this,” she said.

Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Fidel echoed the injustice of the situation: “Trump said he wants to help U.S. citizens. My wife is a U.S. citizen. My daughters are U.S. citizens. What is he going to do for them?”

Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

“He’s my best friend—the person I want to tell everything to. Now I’ll wake up without having him to share coffee with, come home without having him to share dinner with, and go to bed without having him to talk to,” Jenni said.

Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

“I’m going to take my entire retirement income and I’m going to walk out of this country and spend it somewhere else. We’ll sell this house and buy something else—and it’s not going to be here,” Jenni said. “The United States is losing money on families like ours. That doesn’t make sense.”

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Although Fidel’s wife and daughters will remain in the United States for now, Jenni is already planning to take an early retirement so she can leave the country and be with her husband.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Fidel worked for the past 17 years as a well-respected electrician for a company near Raleigh, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Jenni is an experienced math teacher at a time when math teachers are in critically short supply nationwide.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Both Mackenzie and Isabella play soccer, and their father could always be seen in the stands. “He never missed a game,” Mackenzie said. “He would always drive me to my games. Now I have to drive myself to my games, and Isabella and I, we’ll have to attend each other’s games instead of dad.”

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

For Fidel, the hardest part of leaving is missing everyday moments with his daughters—especially their soccer games. “What I’ll miss most are soccer games with my kids. This is where I got my peace,” Fidel said.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

Like 1.4 million other mixed-status couples in the United States, the Rivera family has lived with the reality that marrying a citizen does not automatically provide a pathway to legal status, leaving families trapped between living in fear or living apart.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

“Fidel is an amazing human being,” Jenni said. “I didn’t want to see him get arrested and held in a detention center, knowing what goes on inside those places. If they broke his spirit or if he came out different, I just couldn’t live with myself.”

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

The decision was not easy, but the Rivera family felt they had no other option. “It’s not about me—it’s about my family,” Fidel said. “My wife and my daughters are U.S. citizens. I just want the best for them. Every father should be able to be with his family.”

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

After 30 years in the United States and 17 years of marriage, Fidel made the painful decision to self-deport, leaving behind his U.S. citizen wife and daughters Mackenzie (17) and Isabella (15), rather than continue living under the constant fear of detention and deportation.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

October 13, 2025. Raleigh, North Carolina. — American Families United (AFU) member Jenni Rivera, a public school math teacher, watched her husband Fidel Rivera board a flight back to Mexico today.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 1d

ANOTHER FAMILY SEPARATED BY OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

Immigration Laws Drive North Carolina Father Out of Country, Separating Him from U.S. Citizen Wife and Two Daughters

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 7d

@fwd.us @nilc.org @newrepublic.com @npr.org @nytimes.com @washingtonpost.com @newjerseymonitor.com @newjerseyglobe.bsky.social @documentedny.bsky.social @bloomberg.com @foxnews.com.web.brid.gy @breitbart.com.web.brid.gy

Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 7d

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S Citizen Julie Moreno Returned to the United States Today, Preparing for Years of Separation from Her Husband Now in Mexico

Full press release below.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 7d

Please share this story to that we can raise urgent awareness about this issue. And if you or someone you know is in a situation similar to Julie, please reach out to American Families United for support from people who truly understand what you're going through - and can help.

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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 7d

AFU is made up of couples just like Julie and Nef. We know what these families go through.

But we’ve never seen anything like this.

Ever.

We desperately need Americans on both sides of the aisle to sit up and pay attention to the harm we are doing to citizens and their spouses.

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