Former Student Body Class President Could Spend Christmas in Detention

Update 12/25/2010: Only a few days ago it looked like Hector Lopez, a former high school student body president, was going to spend Christmas in detention away from home and family. But thanks to over 1,830 letters sent by Change.org members, Hector made it home on Christmas Eve.

Hector Lopez, a former student body class president at Rex Putnam High School and a prospective student at Portland State University, was practically born in the United States: he was brought by his parents from Mexico to Portland, Oregon, when he was only six weeks old.

Unfortunately, Hector's parents were victims of an immigration scam, in which the person who promised to file papers for them didn't follow through. This activated an order of removal for Hector when he was nine that he knew nothing about. It was a surprise when he was taken to a detention center 11 years later and deported back to Mexico a week after.

As if that wasn't traumatic enough, once in Mexico he was attacked for his American mannerisms and found his life in danger. Recently, on November 17, Hector was allowed back into the U.S. through a request for asylum. As great as this sounds, Hector's struggle continues: he is still kept away from his home in Portland awaiting his hearing in a detention center in Arizona.

Sonya Yi, one of Hector's friends since elementary school, has been trying to help Hector since he was deported. Sonya started a Facebook group that got the attention of Lori Horton, one of Hector's classmates' mothers, who started the petition at Change.org that has gathered over 1,000 signatures asking for Hector's release from detention.

According to his mother, Hector is now seeing a psychologist on a weekly basis. But it's getting tougher for Hector to hold himself together, a young man isolated from his family and friends.

Hector, apart from his pending asylum request,  meets all the requirements for the DREAM Act, which if passed (it is slated for a vote tomorrow) would provide him with a path to citizenship and allow him to fulfill his dream of working in the Marketing department at Nike's headquarters in New York.

He needs your help more than ever, and there is no reason for immigration authorities to keep an exemplary student with a clean record locked in a cell during the holiday season away from home.  Help Hector's community, family and friends to bring Hector back Home.  Tell the Department of Homeland Security to release Hector Lopez Now.

Photo Credit: Lori Horton

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