On early morning of March 13th, Fernando called his wife telling him that the detention center where he is being held, had told him to pack his things. Concerned with his potential deportation, his family and community members sent out an alert, requesting that people call to ask why ICE was deporting Fernando. Within less than an hour of the action alert asking for calls to ICE, immigration informed us that he would not be getting deported today. According to the New Orleans ICE office, when Fernando was told to pack up his things by the detention center officers, it must have been a ‘mistake’ by the immigration detention center.

In August of 2013, Fernando Figueroa Barajas was stopped at a roadblock in his home state of Mississippi, and charged with driving without a license. The local police who arrested him, told Fernando they were doing so because he was a ‘fucking wetback” and an “illegal.” Read more