Community Holds Vigil for Release of Young Father Whose Family Needs Him

by Rachel LaBruyere · 2011-12-23 17:13:00 UTC
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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".

Despite the announcement earlier this year that the Department of Homeland Security would be shifting the priorities of deportation to focus on deporting primarily those defined as "criminals," Miguel's supporters argue that the application of this new guideline has been haphazard at best. Hard-working fathers and husbands, like Miguel, continue to languish behind bars while their families are literally home worried sick, fighting desperately for their release. And during the holidays, families like Miguel and Jessica's feel the hardship of a missing loved one in an even more profound way.

All Jessica, Noah and Noah's sibling-on-the way are asking is for Miguel to be released so he can take care of his family - a family of U.S. Citizens who are suffering undue hardships at the hands of their own government. Sign their petition and fight for Miguel's release before the holidays. 

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