Update October 27, 2014: Jaime was released from detention on a $15,000 bond.  Thanks for all of your support!

Update October 7, 2014: Ardani was released from detention today on a $10,000 bond.  Thanks for all of your support!

Update July 28, 2014. Both Ardani and Jaime remain behind bars, fighting their cases.  Jaime has court on August 14, 2014.  

Update May 20, 2014. An immigration judge granted Ardani a bond of $10,000, and the community rallied to pay in full. However, ICE appealed the judge’s decision and is refusing to release him. 

Update May 15, 2014. Jaime’s next court date is July 30, 2014. Keep signing and sharing the petition as his court date nears so the judge sees how much community support he has!

Update: April 2, 2014.  After presenting themselves at the Nogales Port of Entry, Jaime and Ardani are both in ICE custody in Florence, AZ.  

When migrant families stand up for their rights, ICE gets scared. Many times, community power has caused ICE to release people from detention. However, in Jaime and Ardani’s cases, ICE responded to community pressure with retaliation. Jaime Arturo Valdez Reyes (A#201-288-309) and Ardani Rosales Lemus (A#098-918-011) were both deported in response to their own and their families’ organizing, without proper notification or time to file appeals.

Jaime and his father, along with many others inside and outside detention, were participating in a peaceful hunger strike organized by families of the Puente Human Rights Movement. On February 26, 2014, Phoenix Police raided families fasting outside the ICE office. At the same time, ICE deported Jaime, accusing him of inciting other detainees to join the hunger strike. Before spending 8 months in the notorious conditions of Eloy, Jaime spent 3 months in Tent City, Arpaio’s personal “concentration camp,” all because a lawyer convinced him to unnecessarily plead guilty to an endangerment charge. His two brothers have both been deported before him, one was murdered upon his return.  Jaime’s family is distraught with the loss of another son.

Ardani’s family was working to stop his deportation with the Arizona Dream Act Coalition. Pulled over for a minor traffic violation, Ardani has no criminal record other than previous deportations. He has spent almost a year away from his family, months in which he missed two important events in his life: his wedding and the birth of his second U.S. citizen child, a beautiful daughter who he has only met at detention visitation. His previous lawyer so poorly represented him that she is sending a letter to ICE to ask that they reopen his case, given her inadequate work. In Guatemala, Ardani worked with youth to keep them out of gangs, work that made him the target of threats and brutality. To be with his children and remain safe, Ardani must return home to Arizona.

Standing up for your rights should not lead to deportation or family separation. Jaime and Ardani returned home across the border, but are now detained in Florence, AZ. 

Tell ICE to grant Jaime and Ardani humanitarian parole ! We will not accept deportation as a response to organizing for our human rights!

To: Jeh Johnson, DHS Secretary; Daniel Ragsdale, ICE Acting Director; Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, National ICE Public Advocate; Jon Gurule, Phoenix Field Office Director; Phoenix Office of Public Affairs

Ardani Rosales Lemus (A#098-918-011) presented at the Nogales Port of Entry on April 2, 2014, in order to reunite with his wife and two U.S. citizen children. I am writing to request that you grant him humanitarian parole and close his deportation case.

Ardani was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. He has no criminal charges other than two prior deportations. Ardani’s family has been in the U.S. since 2005, fleeing violence in Guatemala. In his hometown, he organized youth to stay out of gangs. This led to threats and brutality from one of the most powerful gangs, La Mara Salvatrucha.

Ardani’s newborn child and his 2-year old daughter need their father home. Ardani needs to return to a place where his life is not in danger. Please grant him humanitarian parole and close his deportation case so that he can remain home, with his family, where he belongs.
I await your response.

Categories: Deportation Cases, Victories