Pregnant Wife Speaks Out After Husband Is Detained by ICE in Front of His Daughter: ‘They’re Ripping Families Apart’

On the other end of the line was her husband, Guilherme “Gui” Silva, calling from an ICE detention center in Washington state. It was July 11. Leidig, seven months pregnant with their first child together, hadn’t heard from him all day.

“He was on his way to pick up his 4-year-old daughter,” she tells PEOPLE. “Instead, six unmarked cars ambushed him. He was taken, just like that.”

Silva, 35, a Brazilian-born visual artist, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers near Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Leidig, 36, says he was pulled from his car by masked agents, his phone—used to film the encounter—snatched from his hands before he was shackled and taken into custody.

ICE officials deny any wrongdoing. In a statement to PEOPLE, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security said Silva overstayed a visa that expired nearly eight years ago and was “arrested without the use of force or inappropriate comments.”

But Leidig disputes that version of events. “They were laughing, joking, taking selfies, and asking him personal questions,” she claims. “This wasn’t a routine arrest.”

The couple had been working with an immigration lawyer to obtain Silva’s green card. Just days after the arrest, Leidig filed an I-130 petition—a form used to establish family relationships for immigrants.

“He has no criminal record. No warrants. He’s not a threat,” she says. “He’s a husband and a father.”

Silva, a former lawyer in Brazil, shares custody of his daughter with his ex-wife. He’d been living between San Juan Island and Sausalito, California, where Leidig recently moved full-time. They had planned to reunite permanently by the end of July to await the birth of their baby boy in October.

“I saw him two weeks ago at a doctor’s appointment,” she says. “We were going to spend one last weekend together before he moved.”

Instead, she flew to Washington alone—this time to fight for his release. Silva is currently being held at a detention facility in Tacoma, with a court hearing scheduled for the end of the month.

A GoFundMe created by a friend has already raised over $70,000 to support the couple’s legal fight and cover their lost income.

Leidig, a makeup artist originally from California, met Silva at a mural event in San Francisco last August. Their relationship, she says, grew quickly into love. They married in April.

“He’s the kindest man I know,” she says. “Anyone who meets him falls in love with him. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Despite her fear and stress, Leidig says she’s trying to stay physically strong—for their baby, and for Silva.

“I want him home,” she says. “I want to teach our son that you always stand on the right side of history, even when it’s hard. And that love is always worth fighting for.”

As for ICE, Leidig is blunt: “They’re not just enforcing laws. They’re destroying families.”