 Oliveira was ordered to “voluntarily” depart the U.S. within 60 days and he complied Aug. 17, 2007, beginning what would be a three-year fight by the couple to be reunited.Coco used his advertising skills to launch an international campaign even as civil rights groups predicted the strategy would be unsuccessful.The couple created a website, www.reunitethisfamily.com; held candlelight vigils; won editorial coverage of their plight, posted videos online; placed an advertisement in Washington Post's Express newspaper, asking President Bush and Congress to “Make This Right!”

"We didn't go into it to be activists, we went into it to be together," Coco told the Associated Press in 2009.