On the morning of March 19, a beloved member of our Moab community was pulled over on her way to work, handed off to ICE, and has been moved through a series of detention centers ever since — from Provo to West Valley, Wyoming, and now California — while her friends have fought tirelessly to track her every move.

What Basak has endured inside these facilities is unconscionable. She has been denied phone calls, adequate food and water, and access to her prescribed medications. She has been held in cold, overcrowded cells alongside people who are physically ill. She has witnessed unsanitary conditions and detainees mentally deteriorating around her. She has been repeatedly pressured to sign self-deportation paperwork and bullied by guards. She cries uncontrollably and fears for her safety every day. She is being treated like a hardened criminal — and she has no criminal record.

So Who Is Basak?

Basak is a hardworking, warm, and ambitious young woman who came to Moab through the Work and Travel Visa program in 2022 after graduating university in Turkey. She worked her way through local restaurants and hotels, eventually managing the Subway, and built a genuine community of friends, coworkers, and employers who love her. A few months before her arrest, she married a U.S. citizen and was about to begin her naturalization process.

Why We Need Your Help

Basak's attorneys are fighting with every tool they have, but the legal battle is costly. Her support network has already incurred $30,000 in legal fees, with the fight far from over. If she is released, she will face job and housing loss, unpaid bills, and the long road of emotional recovery. Regardless of the outcome, those legal fees must be paid — and we believe that burden should not fall on her and her loved ones alone.

Please consider making a donation today. Every dollar matters. Every dollar tells Basak she has not been forgotten. Moab is a community that shows up for its own. This is our chance to show that we stand by our immigrant neighbors — and that when one of us is unjustly swept into a system designed to isolate and break people down, we will do everything in our power to bring them home. We will post updates to this campaign page as we learn more.

(To protect the safety of Basak's loved ones — who are navigating their own immigration processes — their identities are being kept confidential. Members of Moab Indivisible and Moab Rapid Response Network are working directly with her support network to coordinate assistance.)

PS. We chose this website (Give Send Go) because this website doesn't collect any cut of the donations made to the campaign.