In September, a group of mothers in New Orleans formed the group Mothers Against Raids, Enforcement and Deportation (MADRE), working to get their loved ones out of immigration detention.

After one week of organizing, 4 families are celebrating the return of their loved ones who were released. However, Rony, father of 2, is still in detention, and Enrique, who was getting school supplies for his children, was deported.

In solidarity with Enrique’s family, MADREs has turned their attention to the New Orleans Police Department, the agency that initially pulled over Enrique and his partner, before he was detained by immigration.

Join Enrique’s family in telling the New Orleans Chief of police that he needs to stand against racial profiling and protect everyone’s right to remain in the city they call home. 

The letter looks like this:

Dear Chief Serpas,

I am writing to urge you to change the New Orleans Police Department’s official policy of enforcing immigration law and stop conducting civil enforcement operations with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As you know, conducting immigration enforcement leads to an increase in racial profiling of immigrant populations, erosion of trust with police, and separates families.

On August 1, 2013 Enrique Morales-Sosa was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by NOPD in a traffic stop for unknown reasons. He and his partner were being driven to the store to buy school supplies for their two daughters, Rachel and Yanely, 8 and 6 years old. Upon being stopped by NOPD, Immigration agents surrounded the car and arrested Enrique.

Enrique has lived in New Orleans since 2007, when he first traveled to the United States, and has helped reconstruction of the city after the devastating Hurricane Katrina. He has no criminal record and is a dedicated father. The only reason immigration picked him up during the traffic stop, is that he has one stop at the border from 6 years ago.

On Wednesday September 11^th, 2013, Enrique was deported, separating him from his daughters and breaking apart their home. Since his detention and deportation, his daughters have experienced emotional trauma, and have had trouble at school. 

Please don’t let this happen to any more families in New Orleans. We believe that all of New Orleans’s residents should be able to go about their daily lives without the fear that racial profiling will lead to arrest and deportation. Please stand against racial profiling and protect everyone’s right to remain in the city they call home.

Sincerely,

[Sign Here]