NEWSDEPORTATION

Seven months ago, Rose Escobar’s worst nightmare came true. Her husband, loving father to then 1-year-old baby Walter and the main financial provider for the family, was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and placed in detention. A faulty lawyer had advised him not to attend a hearing to renew the Temporary Protected Status that was granted to him as an immigrant fleeing violence and natural disasters in El Salvador, and this had triggered a deportation order.

What followed were the most difficult months of Rose’s life as she struggled to make ends meet and provide for her son who stood in front of the window everyday calling for his dad. But an amazing thing happened—after Rose started a campaign on Change.org to free her husband, thousands began to sign. FIEL Houston, a local student-led organization, saw her petition and offered to help, staging a vigil in front of the detention center attended by more than 50 local supporters. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee got involved and contacted ICE on Rose’s behalf. And after more than 4,000 signed Rose’s petition and the story was covered by the Houston Chronicle and multiple local TV stations, Jose was finally freed and is now home with his family.

A dozen people gathered outside of Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday to hold vigil for the release of Charbel "Charley" Chehoud. Among the people who attended and shared stories about Charley were faith leaders, advocates, friends and family, and even a Jersey City police officer. Charley has been in detention for over a year and has spent the last 32 days in solitary confinement. But he has committed no crimes. In fact, he helped solve them. After exhausting her resources fighting for Charley's release,  his fiance Veronica Garcia started a Change.org petition that to date has nearly 15,000 signatures.

Charley is known as a local hero in his community. New Jersey police had deemed a brutal murder an accident, but Charley bravely came forward with a tip he heard from a co-worker that solved the case. Since then, he has worked undercover as a police informant for years, risking his life to make his community safer.

Charley was detained after missing a court date in his battle for asylum. He continues to be held by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, in spite of the calls for his release -- some of those calls even coming from local New Jersey law enforcement officials who worked with Charley. Says Jessica Fernandez, a Jersey City police officer who attended Tuesday's vigil, "Charley had the utmost respect for police and people in uniform." And then later, "The conditions he's being held in - no time outside, visitors refused - are shocking. They are treating him like a hardcore criminal."

This week, Jennifer Lopez (the Dreamer, not the pop star) and her family received incredible news: the DREAM Act-eligible young woman who faced deportation was granted a reprieve after more than 38,000 people signed her petition on Change.org.

The campaign was started by a Florida-based youth organization called Students Working for Immigrant Rights and Manuel Guerra, a Dreamer who successfully fought his own deportation on Change.org and had never met Jennifer Lopez in person. Student activists say that under recent guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Lopez did not meet the criteria for deportation because she had no criminal background, was brought to the country as a young child, and continued to care for two critically ill and handicapped siblings, both of whom are U.S. citizens.

“Today is one of my best days ever,” said Jennifer Lopez, upon learning that her deportation would be canceled. “I'm very grateful for the opportunity to stay here with my family who needs me. They are everything to me. I know that this would not be happening without the help of Manuel Guerra and my lawyer Richard Hujber, organizations like Students Working For Immigrant Rights and United We Dream, and all the people who took their valuable time to read and sign my petition on Change.org. ”

Update [Wed. 1/11/12]: The press  hits have been rolling in! Below is a round up of the coverage Charley's story has received.

Veronica spoke with Soledad O'Brien on CNN national news (this morning): you can watch the video here. The Editorial Board of the New Jersey Star Ledger wrote an op-ed this morning calling for Chehoud's deportation to be cancelled. The South Orange Patch reported on Chehoud's story. And Marie Diamond from ThinkProgress analyzed Chehoud's story and the implications of policies that deport immigrants who work with police, therefore jeopardizing public safety.

Community safety advocates often warn that increased ties between federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local police will lead to an erosion of trust in communities, making it less likely that immigrants will report violent crimes to law enforcement for fear of deportation.

Charbel Chehoud, an immigrant who has lived in New Jersey since 1989, certainly could have faced such fear. But he came forward to help police solve a high-profile murder that had gone unsolved, despite the risks, after a former co-worker confessed having witnessed the crime. Chehoud didn’t hesitate to do what he knew was right: go forward with the information that would help a victim’s family find some peace even though he was out of status and in the midst of applying for asylum.

At the time, Chehoud’s decision helped the police close a brutal case that had gone cold. But his involvement in helping law enforcement eventually led to a missed court date that triggered deportation. And now, even though the police and a former prosecutor have asked that he be allowed to stay, Chehoud is in detention and could face a sixth attempt at removal on Wednesday.

Join over 7,000 people who have signed Veronica Garcia’s petition asking ICE to listen to police and prosecutors and keep her fiancée home.

Tuesday night, family and community members gathered at the Juntos Community Center in Philadelphia to hold vigil for Miguel Orellano, a father who has been in ICE detention for nearly four months. One notable absence in the crowd asking for Miguel's release was his fiancee, Jessica. Last week, Jessica - who is pregnant with the couple's second child - went into early labor and was hospitalized. The stress of her job and raising her son Noah without Miguel's support seems to have taken a toll on her health. She was initially released but has been re-admitted and is currently on strict bed rest. Miguel's continued absence is not only emotionally devastating for Jessica and Noah, but it's actually putting the couple's unborn child at risk.

Sign the Dream Activist petition asking ICE to release Miguel on bond. 

Community members argue that this unnecessary trauma is due to the fact that ICE will not release Miguel - who is clearly not a flight risk or a threat - to be with his family while he fights his deportation case. Miguel was brought to the United States when he was only nine years old, he grew up here, went to high school, met Jessica and started a family.  You can read more on the background of his case here.

Says Miguel's lawyer, David Bennion, "I filed a formal request.. at the end of October asking ICE to set bond so he can be with his family while he is fighting his case--a very reasonable and minimal ask.  They denied it the day after they got it.  This is consistent with their treatment of other cases under the new program, and it represents a failure of the process, which is unsurprising given the administration's track record.  This is one way Miguel's case has national resonance".

This is the Christmas Rose Escobar had imagined she’d be staying up late with her high school sweetheart and husband Jose, hiding toys for two-year-old Walter under the tree and anxiously awaiting the morning. Instead, the feeling in the house is tense. Money is tight this year as Rose has become the sole provider and much of it goes to lawyer fees. And Walter spends his days pressed up against the window, used to seeing his dad come home and not understanding why he’s not around.

Last week, more than 50 community members gathered in front of Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas, in a vigil to support Rose and her son. Rose told her story, and attendees chanted and rallied for Jose’s release. The 25-year-old Houston father, who arrived as a teenager from El Salvador and acquired Temporary Protected Status, has been in detention since June, after following faulty legal advice that led him to miss a hearing to renew his status. Jose has never been in trouble with the law and is married to a US citizen with a US citizen child. Under Department of Homeland Security guidelines, he should not be a priority for deportation and his case should be reviewed for dismissal.

After Rose started a petition calling for Jose’s release that has garnered more than 4,000 signatures, Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha (FIEL), a Houston immigrant youth-led organization, took up the campaign. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee also stepped in and asked ICE to release Jose. The Houston Chronicle, Univision, and Telemundo all covered the family’s plight. Yet Jose Escobar has remained behind bars for more than 6 months -- and the family faces the dismal prospects of a Christmas apart.

This week many people are putting the finishing touches on their holidays plans, packing suitcases, buying gifts and preparing guest rooms for the arrival of loved ones. But some families are mindful of that extra chair at the dinner table that will remain empty or the holiday tradition that won't be the same without a missing family member. These are the families who have loved ones behind bars in immigration detention. And they need your help to bring their loved ones home for the holidays.

1. Hector Ortega-Valladares (#A98908939)

Update [12/23/11]: Huge progress! Since we wrote this post, we heard from Hilda that Hector was released on Humanitarian Parole this week! While he will still be fighting deportation - and will be wearing an ICE-issued ankle monitoring bracelet - Hilda is thrilled he will be home for the holidays. Hilda says, Miguelito, [Hector's grandson, who is pictured] didn't even want to go to daycare because he didn't want to leave Hector's side".

These are people like Hilda and her husband Hector (pictured left), who has been in immigration detention since June of this year. Hector fled Honduras after being brutally beaten for his political beliefs and - because he didn't realize he could apply for asylum when he entered - was living and working in California without proper documents when he met Hilda. After being pulled over for a minor traffic violation, Hector was arrested and turned over to ICE custody. Even though he is an ideal candidate for discretion under new DHS guidelines, Hector remains behind bars. Recently Hector - also a cancer survivor - was the subject of a violent beating inside the detention center. Hilda is holding out hope that her petition could bring her husband Hector Ortega-Valladares back home before the holidays.

In 1991, the U.S. issued a visa to a well-known scholar in geographic information systems, Atanas Entchev. The brilliant specialist was courted by Rutgers University as the recipient of a prestigious fellowship to study urban planning issues in the United States and obtain a second masters degree. Entchev accepted the invitation, and did everything right: He obtained visas for his wife Mayia, then 2-year-old son Enislav, and daughter Christina.

He succeeded brilliantly at Rutgers, published articles in influential architecture magazines, and opened his own consulting firm Entchev GIS Architects. He applied for asylum from Bulgaria, and when that was denied, applied and was approved for a visa as an Outstanding Researcher or Professor. Nevertheless, on October 5, 2011, Atenas and Enislav were placed in detention and all family members except Christina were informed they would be deported.

Mayia knew what was at stake: A son who knew no other country but the U.S., siblings separated simply because one applied for a different visa than the other, and a lifetime contributing important research and building a prominent consulting firm in New Jersey abandoned. She started a petition on Change.org and 1,300 supporters later, the family was released from detention and given a one-year stay of deportation to continue fighting their case.

This week, Cesar Zambrano waited anxiously, knowing that his brother David could be facing deportation at any moment. It was a desperate situation for the family and friends of a young Dreamer and Flordia business student who considers himself an American. But on Wednesday, after nearly 1,200 people signed the petition Dream Activist started on Change.org asking ICE to release David - and after over 300 phone calls to ICE offices - Cesar received an early Christmas present: his brother came home. Victory!

After two months behind bars at Stewart Detention Center, David Zambrano was finally released this past Wednesday and allowed to return home to his family in Florida just in time for the holidays.

David was pulled over in October and after the officer learned he was driving without a valid license, he was arrested. While in custody, police learned that David was undocumented and immediately turned him over to immigration agents, who put him behind bars in Georgia, a full state away from his family in Florida.

His brother, Cesar says," We are very excited to finally have David back at home and in time for the holidays. David is so grateful for the support he has been shown," it was a lot more than I could have expected," he said.

If you're reading this post, your best friend may be a Dreamer. Or maybe you are one of the tens of thousands of people living with a loved one in detention.  You could be trying everything to keep your family together.

Whatever your situation, if you are fighting the detention or deportation of a loved one, you are certainly not alone. Immigrant youth first pioneered the use of public campaigns to cancel the deportation of their friends, family, and community members years ago, but the past few months have seen dozens of these types of campaigns taking off on the Change.org platform, as new deportation guidelines are emerging in the United States.

If you are still deciding whether to launch a public campaign around deportation, you will need to consider a few things very carefully. First, before you do anything else, make sure the individual facing deportation has a good immigration lawyer who has filed for discretion with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If the individual doesn’t have a lawyer, click here to find one before starting your campaign. If you need a pro-bono (free/low-cost) option, try this list. Without a lawyer, it will be virtually impossible to win what’s called a “stay of deportation."

This video will walk you through the steps of setting up or fully launching your campaign on Change.org: