TO: ICE - TACOMA NORTHWEST DETENTION CENTER (CENTRO DE DETENCIÓN DEL NOROESTE TACOMA) FREE Jose!

Jose is a detainee from El Salvador who is currently being held at the Northwest Detention center in Tacoma WA. He had been pulled over by a police officer in Idaho over reasons for which even yet as he is detained, are not clear. He was then turned over to ICE. Jose has been in the custody of ICE since December of 2022. Jose has been able to maintain a positive outlook on his situation, knowing that the detention centers here in the US are nothing compared to the living situations that he faced in his home country, El Salvador. Jose’s lived experience from his home country is what many are fleeing from. No rights, no justice, no future. Jose has tattoos, and under the order of the new President, the abuse of power has been rampant and the targeting of people with tattoos has been one of the biggest issues. Jose almost had his life taken away by the police of El Salvador over his tattoos and their belief of him having some an association with gangs. Because of these accusations and being framed by authorities, Jose has spent most of his life in prison. His last run in with police that almost caused him his life is what drove him to flee his country. His last two resorts remaining if he had stayed in El Salvador was either getting killed by the gangs or getting killed by the police, with no escape he had no other choice but to migrate to the US. Before being detained, Jose took the opportunity to take in as many new skills as possible. He learned about roofing, flooring, plumbing, and even gardening. Jose knows that the opportunities that were available for him here are some that you’d never find in El Salvador. The trauma Jose faced is one that those of us on this side of the border have fortunately most likely have never experienced. It is these experiences that cause people to flee, it is not a choice but rather a form of survival. Jose and those who are facing the same prosecution should not be incriminated over trying to survive. Jose did no wrong here in the US therefore its inhumane to have him locked up.

Jose’s story is just one of many, he had to leave his home country along with family because his life depended on it. The suffering that many migrants go through is unimaginable and the continued suffering they must endure in these inhuman facilities goes beyond cruelness. These facilities should be nonexistent for there is no reason they should remain open. There is no justice until Jose and others like him are all free.

El Salvador New Law
Under President Nayib Bukele’s order, El Salvador has become into an authoritarian state. According to the Human Rights Watch, new order in El Salvador has led in increasing arrests with no due process which has led to disappearances, torture, and other forms of ill treatment. These arrests are arbitrary arrests that can sometimes be based solely on assumption which in Jose’s case was true with his tattoos. Based on interviews conducted all over El Salvador it was found that police have quotas which require them to arrest a certain number of people on a daily basis.