Pastor and Human Rights Leader Could be Deported For Uninformed Guilty Plea, Please Support the Re-Opening of His Case
Pastor David Antonio Vasquez , born in El Salvador, is a legal permanent resident of the United States. In 2011, local law enforcement stopped and searched the truck a friend was driving and found less than half a gram of a controlled substance. Despite a guilty confession by another man in the vehicle, David was charged with possession.
His attorney at the time advised him that since he was not a U.S. citizen, he had no right to a trial and could do nothing more than to plead guilty. To make matters worse, the attorney failed to explain to him that accepting this plea, even without jail time, could lead to his deportation.
According to Padilla v. Kentucky, criminal defense attorneys are legally obligated to provide accurate information about the immigration consequences of their client’s guilty pleas. For this reason, we believe that Pastor David Vasquez’ due process rights were violated and he deserves a chance to reopen his case.
David, who was a pastor for many years, started a prayer group in his cell block in an effort to promote strength and hope through faith in God. He was among the first hunger strikers who were placed in solitary confinement, denied phone calls to their families, and tied at the wrists and ankles.
Pastor David Vasquez has spent almost a year at the Joe Corley awaiting his final immigration court date. On May 12th, his political asylum application was denied and he has now been ordered deported. His last chance is for the local Harris County District Attorney, Devon Anderson, and his criminal court judge to reopen his case.
Please send an e-mail to the District Attorney urging them to consider David’s motion to vacate his plea and re-open his case by signing below.
To: Devon Anderson, District Attorney of Harris County, TX;
Belinda Hill, First Assistant District Attorney of Harris County,
To: Devon Anderson, District Attorney of Harris County, TX;
Belinda Hill, First Assistant District Attorney of Harris County,
I am writing regarding Mr. David A. Vazquez [SPN: 01534154, Case #: 132451201010] urging you accept his motion to vacate a 2012 guilty plea, which was obtained in violation of due process under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. constitution, and to drop the charges once his guilty plea is vacated or the case is re-opened. Mr. Vazquez was denied effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to advise him of the immigration consequences that could result from his guilty plea as well as his right to a criminal trial. Justice may not have been done and such convictions should be vacated or his case be re-opened.
Mr. Vasquez faced his last his immigration court date on Monday, May 12, 2014. His political asylum application was rejected and he was ordered removed from the country. Now, the immigration consequences of his guilty plea have risen and Mr. Vasquez has very little time to reopen his case or vacate his plea so that he can either re-try his case or have his charges dismissed. This is his last chance to fight for his residency and ability to stay in the United States with is U.S. citizen children and partner.
Mr. Vasquez has been a legal permanent resident since 2005. His father is a naturalized US citizen and he has 3 US citizen children as well as a U.S. citizen fiance, Adelina Cáceres. Most recently, Mr. Vasquez became a civil and human rights leader by taking part in a mass hunger strike at Joe Corley Detention Facility, which lasted for 20 days, protesting the health and living conditions of detainees inside and an end to unjust deportations. Several years ago, Mr. Vasquez, became a pastor and now hosts prayer sessions in his holding cell at Joe Corley Detention Facility where the hunger strike took place.
Mr. Vasquez’s life changed when local law enforcement stopped and searched the truck a friend was driving and found half a gram of a controlled substance. Although another passenger accepted responsibility for the drug, Mr. Vasquez was charged with possession. Due to poor legal advice of his counsel, Mr. Vasquez accepted a guilty plea on May 10, 2012 in return for deferred adjudication and 2 years of community supervision. He did this because his attorney told him that only U.S. citizens had the right to a criminal trial and did not fully inform him of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea or that it could lead to his near certain deportation.
According to the ABA Standard for Guilty Pleas, a judge’s warnings cannot be said to constitute effective assistance of counsel, simply because a judge is incapable of asking the full range of questions necessary to provide defendants with full and adequate legal information.
Mr. Vasquez has made mistakes, however, deportation is too harsh a punishment for this pastor and civil rights leader to endure. If deported, this will be a great blow to the men who have entrusted their spiritual lives to him, the community members that support him, and above all his 3 U.S. citizen children and partner, Adelina Cáceres, who will be devastated.
In the interest of justice, I urge you to consider accepting his motion to vacate his plea or reopen his case and to consider dropping or considerably lowering the charges to accurately reflect Mr. Vasquez’s involvement in the case.
Thank you,
To: Representative Kevin Brady; Representative Al Green and Senator Sylvia Garcia
I am writing regarding the case of Mr. David A. Vazquez [SPN: 01534154, Case #: 132451201010] urging you to make a call to the Harris County District Attorney, Devon Anderson, letting her know that you support his motion to vacate a 2012 guilty plea, which was obtained in violation of his due process rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. constitution. Mr. Vazquez was denied effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to advise him of the immigration consequences that could result from his guilty plea as well as his right to a criminal trial. Justice may not have been served and such convictions should be vacated and his case re-opened.
I would like to support Mr. Vasquez’ case for the following reasons:
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He has been a legal permanent resident since 2005, almost 7 years.
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He has 3 U.S. citizen children and a U.S. citizen spouse and partner.
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He has served as a pastor both inside and outside of detention, leading prayer groups every day at 3pm for the whole of his detention, almost a year now.
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On May 10th, 2014, Mr. Vasquez accepted a guilty plea for drug charges after being told by his attorney that since he was not a citizen, he had no right to a trial. He was also not informed by his attorney that he could be deported and lose his residency as a result of accepting this guilty plea.
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Padilla v. Kentucky states that every criminal attorney has the obligation to inform any immigrant client of the immigration consequences of his guilty pleas.
For this reason, I believe that the Sixth and Fourteenth amendment rights may have been violated when Mr. Vasquez was forced to make a decision based on incorrect and incompetent advice from the attorney, Mr. Stephen Ligon, to whom he had entrusted the future of his life. In addition, I believe that Mr. Vasquez should have the chance to reopen his case, vacate his plea, and renew his chance at a fair trial. After more than a year in detention, it is my opinion that Mr. Vasquez has done more than serve his time and has in fact served time unnecessarily and is now illegally detained. For this reason, I pray that you will ask the Harris County DA to drop the charges on his case or at least significantly lower them so that he no longer risks losing his residency and being separated from his family via an unnecessary and unjust deportation.
Mr. Vasquez is a civil and human rights leader, taking part in a mass hunger strike at Joe Corley Detention Facility, which lasted for 20 days. In the face of stalled immigration reform, this strike helped to protest unjust deportations and bring to light the need for new legislation addressing the conditions and treatment of immigrant detainees in private immigrant detention centers not just in Texas but across the country. In fact, the strike in Conroe together with the strike in Tacoma helped lead Rep. Adam Smith of Washington to introduce H.R.4620, The Accountability in Immigration Detention Act of 2014, to address these conditions.
Mr. Vasquez’s life changed when local law enforcement stopped and searched the truck a friend was driving and found half a gram of a controlled substance. Although another passenger accepted responsibility for the drug, Mr. Vasquez was charged with possession. On May 10, 2012, Mr. Vasquez accepted a guilty plea in return for deferred adjudication at the advice of his lawyer, who told him that only U.S. citizens had the right to a criminal trial and did inform him that a guilty plea for that charge, even without jail time, would lead to his eventual deportation. Hence, he was not given adequate assistance of counsel as defined by Padilla v. Kentucky, which states that criminal attorneys must inform their clients of the immigration consequences of their guilty pleas. Now, his political asylum claim denied, Mr. Vasquez has no other choice but to reopen his case with the DA or face deportation.
Mr. Vasquez has made some mistakes, but he has more than paid for them and served his debts to society. Neither he nor his family deserve to suffer any longer, and you office will not be taking any risks in supporting this hunger strike leader and pastor. Therefore, in the interest of justice, I urge you to let the Harris County District Attorney know that you support reopening Mr. Vasquez’ case so that he can vacate his plea and have the opportunity to receive a fair trial have his constitutional rights respected.