To: DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Deportation should not be a punishment for exercising civil rights
It is illegal to use deportation as a punishment for exercising one's civil rights -- Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes shouldn't have been punished for exercising his! He must be brought back to the US and allowed to continue his appeal and see his immigration case through.
Why is this important?
Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes is the kind of leader we read about in history books.
Since February 17th, Jaime had been leading a hunger strike from deep inside an Arizona detention facility. His Dad and five other families were participating outside the dentition center. They were protesting the unjust deportations tearing families apart -- families like Jaime's.
Jaime's older brother was deported to Mexico and killed upon return. Almost a year ago, Jaime was arrested for a DUI. But rather than getting the maximum 10 day jail sentence, America's well-funded deportation machine turned Jaime's misdemeanor into an unjust 10 month detention.
And it get's worse!
Jaime has an appeal pending on his case in the 9th Circuit, but on the night of February 25th, Jaime was deported without notice to his attorney or to his family as punishment for hunger striking while in detention.
It is illegal to use deportation as a punishment for exercising one's civil rights -- Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes shouldn't have been punished for exercising his! He must be brought back to the US and allowed to continue his appeal and see his immigration case through.
Please sign and share widely!
Since February 17th, Jaime had been leading a hunger strike from deep inside an Arizona detention facility. His Dad and five other families were participating outside the dentition center. They were protesting the unjust deportations tearing families apart -- families like Jaime's.
Jaime's older brother was deported to Mexico and killed upon return. Almost a year ago, Jaime was arrested for a DUI. But rather than getting the maximum 10 day jail sentence, America's well-funded deportation machine turned Jaime's misdemeanor into an unjust 10 month detention.
And it get's worse!
Jaime has an appeal pending on his case in the 9th Circuit, but on the night of February 25th, Jaime was deported without notice to his attorney or to his family as punishment for hunger striking while in detention.
It is illegal to use deportation as a punishment for exercising one's civil rights -- Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes shouldn't have been punished for exercising his! He must be brought back to the US and allowed to continue his appeal and see his immigration case through.
Please sign and share widely!