(NewsNation) – The threat to Americans traveling or working in certain parts of the world continues to grow as enemies continue to target them.

Since 2012, The James Foley Legacy Foundation says: The number of Americans deemed unlawfully incarcerated has skyrocketed, and their families are pleading for help.

One of them is the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in a Russian prison since his arrest last year on espionage charges. These allegations are strongly questioned by both the US leadership and his employers.

“He’s the person who can make sense when things like this happen in the world,” said his sister Danielle Gershkovich. “I miss him much.”

Danielle Gershkovich says the family exchanges a weekly letter with her brother.

“This is just a lifeline,” Danielle Gershkovich said.

President Joe Biden has described the risk of Americans being held on suspicious charges in certain parts of the world as a “National Emergency.”

The State Department has warned travelers from the United States of possible concerns about unlawful detention in at least nine countries, including China.

It was another American, Kai Li behind bars in China since 2016, charged with theft of state secrets. His son Harrison Li says Kai is just an innocent American caught up in a “larger, sick game of hostage diplomacy.”

“The scary thing is – as you can see when you see that the Americans who are being unjustly imprisoned around the world, including in China, are just regular Americans, regular people, and unfortunately we get therefore not the attention that others would get,” Harrison Li said.

Freelance journalist Austin Ticefrom Texas, is still in a Syrian prison where he has been held since 2012 Marine veteran Paul Whelan continues to ask for help from a prison cell in Russia. Five years ago, Whelan was arrested and accused of being a secret agent.

His case continues to attract attention. Recently, the US State Department said Biden administration officials made a new and significant offer to secure the release of Whelan and Gershkovich, but Russia rejected it.

Every now and then signs of hope come.

In Iran, the US secured the release of five Americans during a prisoner exchange in September. Then, a few weeks ago, there were ten American prisoners released from Venezuelan custody in exchange for a close ally of the country’s president.

But for the families with loved ones still facing great uncertainty, Biden’s team says they will continue trying to bring them home.

“For me and the president, these are not numbers on a piece of paper,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “These are real people whose lives have been torn apart.”