Victory! Youth Leader Selvin Arevalo Will Spend the Holidays at Home

Just a few days ago, I wrote about Selvin Arevalo, a would-be DREAM candidate and beloved church volunteer in Maine who was detained just weeks shy of receiving his high school diploma and faced imminent deportation back to Guatemala after ten years of living in the United States.

A testament to the positive impact Arevalo has had on his community, everyone from pastors to teachers to friends rallied behind the cause of keeping him home. Supporters staged sit-ins and pray-ins, organized phone banks, and wrote letters on his behalf. Lai Wa Wu, an immigrant youth activist, started a petition. Over 1,500 Change.org members stood with her, and sent e-mails to elected officials in Maine asking them to intervene.

And now, good news: One of those targets, Representative Chellie Pingree, introduced a private bill over the weekend to halt the deportation. Arevalo will be spending the holidays at home where he belongs, continuing to work as a volunteer, church singer, youth leader, and dedicated student.

“Thanks in large part to the public awareness you helped raise about Selvin's story, it is likely that Selvin will not be deported today,” writes Kyle de Beausset, leader of the Maine Student Immigrant Movement, to Change.org supporters. But he reminds us that despite the bill, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still “within its rights to detain and deport him,” so continuing to raise awareness about the situation and keeping it at the forefront of influential supporters’ minds is important. Send a message to Rep. Pingree thanking her for intervening on Arevalo’s behalf by submitting a bill.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Selvin Arevalo