People Raise Thousands Of Dollars For Man Who Said No To ICE

Jennifer Bendery
Updated
“I’ve got some breathing room now," says Jordon Dyrdall-Roberts, 33. (Photo: Jordon Dyrdall-Roberts)
“I’ve got some breathing room now," says Jordon Dyrdall-Roberts, 33. (Photo: Jordon Dyrdall-Roberts)

WASHINGTON ― Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts made headlines last Wednesday when he tweeted that he’d quit his government job rather than process paperwork that could lead to the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Now he’s broke and out of work. But his stand against President Donald Trump’s treatment of immigrant families has inspired hundreds of people to reach out and say thanks ― and to set up a GoFundMe page for him. In a matter of days, as of Tuesday, they had raised more than $11,000 to help Dyrdahl-Roberts regain financial footing.

“I am deeply humbled,” he told HuffPost, choking up. “I’ve got some breathing room now.”

Dyrdahl-Roberts, 33, hadn’t planned on quitting his job as a legal secretary at the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, where he’d worked for more than six years. Money is already tight at his home in Helena, where he’s raising a four-year-old with his wife, who works as a substitute librarian.

But when he was told last week to start processing subpoenas from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, under Trump, has been cracking down on undocumented immigrants, he said he couldn’t live with himself if he had a role in breaking up families. He said the stories people have shared with him since he quit have erased any doubts he had about whether he made the right choice.

“I’ve had Dreamers reach out and say thank you,” said Dyrdahl-Roberts, referring to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. “One person told me their grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and if someone hadn’t made a choice like mine, they wouldn’t have survived. I wept.”

Dyrdahl-Roberts said his family fully supported his decision to quit, despite the financial strain it would put on them. His job was relatively low-level and he doesn’t expect his resignation to stop the department from processing ICE subpoenas to potentially track down undocumented immigrants in the state.

But Dyrdahl-Roberts said he hopes he’s “thrown things into chaos” for a bit and is “maybe buying people a few more days with their family.”

Ironically, the person who set up his fundraising page is Juli Briskman, who got fired last fall for flipping off Trump’s motorcade in a photo that went viral. Strangers rallied around “she-ro” Briskman and raised tens of thousands of dollars to help her out, too.

Briskman told HuffPost on Tuesday that she decided to set up a GoFundMe page for Dyrdahl-Roberts after she saw his tweets about quitting his job and felt like they resonated with her concerns about Trump’s “creeping authoritarianism.”

“Jordon stood his ground and said I’m not going do this. He resigned his job. He did it at a risk to his family, perhaps his career. I thought, ‘This guy is taking a stand and someone needs to support him,’” said Briskman. “People called me brave, but I think he is way more brave than me.”

Also on HuffPost

April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”
At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 
On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”
On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”
At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”
At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”
At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”
At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”
On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.