10 signatures reached
To: US Attorney David J. Hickton, Philadelphia Immigration Field Office Director Thomas Decker
Immigrant Rights Leader Faces Jail, Deportation for Crossing Border to Reunite with Family
Stop the deportation and incarceration of Pittsburgh immigrant father and community leader Martín Esquivel-Hernandez.
US Attorney Hickton should stop using federal resources to convict Mr. Hernandez of a felony simply for returning to live with his family after old stops at the border and asking the Philadelphia ICE field office director Horvath to properly follow the agency's guidelines on deportation priorities and use prosecutorial discretion to stop his deportation.
Why is this important?
On May 1, Martín Esquivel-Hernandez and his family marched in an immigrants’ rights rally in Pittsburgh. He and his young daughters held a sign that read: “Not one more deportation.” The next morning, at 6 a.m., U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took Martin from his Pittsburgh home. In addition to still being detained, Martin is also facing time in jail solely for his immigration record.
Martín, a 35-year old construction worker and father of three, crossed the U.S-Mexican border without authorization in 2012 to flee his gang-ridden neighborhood and be with his wife, Alma, and their 3 small children. When he was trying to cross for the first time, he was detained by border patrol and deported. He eventually made it, and moved with his family to Pittsburgh.
In the short time that they’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Martín and Alma have become indispensable activists in Pittsburgh’s growing Latino community. They are active in two local churches – St. Catherine of Siena Church in Beechview and East Liberty Presbyterian Church – and in their two daughters’ school, Arsenal Elementary School in Lawrenceville. They are also both involved in doing outreach, research and community work with various non-profit organizations in the area.
Martín has no criminal record, and all of his deportation orders took place before January 1, 2014. Under the guidelines set by the Department of Homeland Security he should not even be considered "priority" for deportation. But if he is convicted of re-entry, this felony charge would change his status, and give ICE a reason to continue with his deportation.
Martín has been shuttled to various detention centers forcibly traveling over 600 miles before landing in a for-profit, private prison in Youngstown, Ohio, where he currently awaits a federal trial, a possible prison sentence, and then deportation.