To: Julian Calderas, Field Office Director in San Antonio
Norma Lacy, San Antonio Field Office Public Advocate

I am writing to ask that you do everything in your power to help José Jiménez Cortez (A# 206-262-000), who is currently at the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall, to be released without bond so that he can be reunited with his family. José is the primary breadwinner for their family and without his financial support, it will be nearly impossible for Jeymi to make ends meet on her own.

On the morning of March 18th, José was detained for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. In the process of picking up a friend and getting ready to head to a construction site where they were both employed, José and his friend were apprehended by ICE. Although these ICE officials were only out to arrest the person José was with, once they found out José was undocumented he was taken into ICE custody. ICE officials are not charging José with anything.

It’s now been a week since José was detained and his absence is already taking a huge emotional, psychological, and financial toll on his family. Jeymi has been unable to take their oldest daughter to the doctor and she doesn’t know how she’s going to pay their upcoming bills. They are all having trouble sleeping and eating and their oldest daughter keeps crying and asking when her father is going to return. Jeymi and her two daughters are barely scraping by as it is, it will be impossible for them to pay the $7500 bond that would allow José to be released.

José’s youngest daughter is 19 months and his oldest daughter is 7 years old. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that their family has had to deal with the traumatic consequences of detention. Several years ago, José’s partner Jeymi was detained at the T. Don Hutto detention center for immigrant women in Taylor, TX. Thankfully, Jeymi was released and has been working to piece her life back together after this tragedy. José’s and Jeymi’s oldest daughter still remembers the experience of being separated from her mother and will now have to deal with the horror of the possibility that her father will be deported.

I understand that Jose has some negative equities in his case, including being charged with tow DWIs in the past, he is attending AA meetings and is in the process of creating a better life for himself and his family.

Given that José Jiménez Cortez has been in the country for nearly 14 years, has two U.S. citizen daughters, has ties to the Austin community, and their family has already experienced the trauma of having a loved one in detention, he is a clear low priority for deportation. I urge you to review his case and allow José to be released without bond so that he can be with his daughters and partner once again.