‘Bring Hugo home’: Locals fight for NYC business owners facing visa trouble

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, N.Y. (PIX11) – After many difficult years working toward a permanent visa, Hugo Pinto and his wife, Karah Rempe, were overjoyed when they set out from New York City to Honduras for his final interview.

Little did they know he’d end up stuck there, away from their children and the couple’s shared business, Dutch Baby, waiting in a bureaucratic middle ground.

Now, the timeline on Pinto’s case has been extended for at least another six months – and over 3,300 New Yorkers have stepped in to try to get their beloved neighbor back home.

“I can’t even imagine having my family torn apart the way Karah and Hugo’s is currently,” said Valentina Spalten, who signed a change.org petition in support of Pinto. “They are such an integral part of our community, and work so hard every day to make our neighborhood an even more special place than it already is.”

Dozens of similar messages fill the change.org petition asking elected officials to intervene and help resolve Pinto’s case. Rempe sends the messages to Pinto in Honduras to keep his morale up.

“I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say he is the embodiment of the American dream, which is why it’s so tragic not just for us… but for the entire system to be turned into a nightmare,” Rempe said.

Hugo Pinto’s case

Pinto and Rempe got married in 2016 and immediately started working on his visa application.

After gathering stacks of recommendation letters, financial statements, medical records, and legal consultation, the first sign of hope came earlier this year when Pinto finally got an interview for his visa in Honduras.

And, most importantly, Pinto had also secured the necessary paperwork to provisionally protect his ability to exit and reenter the U.S. for his interview, the last step in the immigrant visa application process.

Without much explanation, an arduous interview day resulted in his application being placed on hold once again. Any communication on the case won’t be addressed for 180 days, according to a letter sent to Pinto’s lawyers.

Now, Pinto is stuck in Honduras without answers because of what seems like a clerical backlog, Rempe said.

“There was this faith [at first] in some kind of system, even if the system broke, that it would re-correct. But what we are seeing is evidence of just a completely broken process,” Rempe said. “That shouldn’t be what is breaking us apart right now.”

A representative of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services told PIX11 News it would not comment on an individual’s immigration case.

Joining the fight to bring Pinto home is Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who told PIX11 News he will discuss Pinto’s case with the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras. For him, Pinto’s case underscores the importance of President Joe Biden’s recent executive order that could protect someone like Pinto from ever having to leave the U.S. for his visa interview.

“They’re a community family that has been dramatically impacted by this immigration policy,” Espaillat said. “The spirit of [Biden’s] executive order is something that addresses his predicament, and for that reason I think that we should consider to bring him back home.”

Life in Washington Heights

Pinto and Rempe’s story is linked to their beloved neighborhood, which they’ve both lived in for at least 15 years. The pair got married in Fort Tryon Park, a local spot filled with memories of Rempe’s sons playing, picnics and walks.

“I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” Rempe said.

Pinto and Rempe met working at Amy’s Bread in Long Island City, Queens. While dating, Pinto became a father to Rempe’s two young boys and coached their local soccer team. With his economics education and baking skills, Pinto is also a strong partner for Rempe’s burgeoning business, Dutch Baby.

When the pandemic hit, Rempe and Pinto turned an operation out of a local coffee shop into a home delivery service, dropping off cakes, sandwiches and fresh bread to homes daily from Harlem to Riverdale.

“Often I think we were the only people that people would see during the day and so we got to know our customers,” Rempe said. “They would say, ‘this was my birthday cake for so-and-so’ and tell me all about it and then send me a follow-up photo of them all enjoying it.”

Now, they employ 18 people at Dutch Baby, most of whom live within eight blocks of the storefront on 187th Street. Before Pinto left for Honduras, the couple was working on another local dream of a book store and soda shop, but the project has been put on hold.

“It’s so frustrating to me that this situation is keeping us from being able to do that, to do more good, to bring more people in, to have more free events, get books to kids,” Rempe said.

Getting Hugo home

While an individual elected official cannot change Pinto’s visa status, Rempe is hoping someone in a position of power can help speed up the process.

“We’re simply asking that the inefficiencies that are keeping his case from being reviewed for whatever it is they think they need to review, we’re just asking for them to get to that in a reasonable amount of time,” Rempe said. “I have a strong faith that this will be resolved once his application is looked at on the merits.”

For Espaillat, Pinto’s story is about keeping families together.

“This is about reuniting families,” Espaillat said. “We keep them together then stronger, America is stronger.”

Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.