Mother and Father of 2 U.S. Citizens in Deportation, Judge Stated Children Would Not Suffer ‘Enough’ if Separated

Martin Martinez (A# 098 228 462) and Julia Ochoa (A# 098 228 461) have been residents of New York State for more than 25 years and are parents of two U.S. citizens and hard-working community members. On Monday April 8th, immigration enforcement agents came to their home, arrested them, and placed them in detention. They now face imminent deportation.

Maria Martinez, their 18-year-old daughter, who was born and raised in New York, is seeking the support of the community to get her parents out of detention and keep her family together.

Martin and Julia applied for asylum in 2004, but their applications were denied and they were placed in deportation proceedings. According to Maria, the immigration judge then ordered them to be deported because they couldn’t prove that it would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” for her and her brothers if they were deported. The immigration judge told them they would get a letter providing a date for them to leave the country, but it never came, so they continued to work and raise their children in New York.

Julia has no criminal record, and has never been detained by immigration before this incident. She is currently being detained at the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny, NJ. Martin has 16-year old and 12-year old driving under the influence charges, but has learned from his mistakes since then. He is currently being held at the Bergen County Jail, also in New Jersey.

Martin and Julia are not a danger to the public, are contributing members to the community, have 2 U.S. citizen children, and should be considered low priority.

Please sign the petition to tell ICE to stop their deportation.

Categories: Victories