Jose Adolfo is a day laborer from the Albany Park neighborhood. In early December, an immigration raid was performed at one of the city’s busiest and oldest hiring sites in the Albany Park neighborhood. Day laborers, who according to a UIC study called on the corner, are one of our societies most vulnerable work forces, with high rates of accidents and deaths at the job sites and unpaid wages. Jose Adolfo was one of 7 workers detained during a raid in early December. After community pressure, Jose was released on Bond and will need to present himself in court in February. “Why do they say they are looking for criminals? But instead perform a raid at a location where our most vulnerable and most abused workers in our society go to look for work in order to support their families, criminals don’t stand in the cold for hours to wait for work, workers with families do.”
Efrain Muñoz is one of the 34 workers detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at the Chicago Pallets Service Inc. Efrain is the breadwinner for his family, and at 38 years old has lived in Chicago for 14 years. He has three U.S. citizen children and three children that are eligible for deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA), the oldest of which is just had her baby while her father was in detention. The family has had a hard time economically, after he was detained and the court required them to pay a $10,000 bond right before the holiday season. Although he is out of detention, his deportation looms over the family, which they report made his daughter’s pregnancy more difficult. Efrain explains that he wants to stay for his family and for his children. In addition, he recently bought a home in Chicago, which he describes as a dream come true, and something he fears losing if he is deported.
Jose Francisco Jasso came home one morning in 2011 to find two Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents at his doorstep asking for his son. Upon entering the apartment they proceeded to arrest him and wake up his other children. As his son was being taken away Mr. Jasso told the agents he did not think that what they were doing was right, and that his wife had an immigration petition from her brother. The ICE agents told Mr. Jasso that the petitions covered his wife but not him. A few weeks later Mr. Jasso received a notice to appear in front of an immigration judge in September. He has been in deportation proceedings ever since. Although his son has been deported, Mr. Jasso’s two other children are both eligible for deferred action for childhood arrivals. One of his children requires medication, which costs between 500 and 400 a bottle, a price the family would not be able to afford if the father gets deported. Though Mr. Jasso has one charge of disorderly conduct from 2005, he has already paid a fine and gone to counseling for that and has been working hard to provide for his family, including his son that was deported to Mexico. He has been given voluntary departure, and is currently appealing his case.
Other Families in Deportation Marching Today
These are families that were placed in removal proceedings after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an operation at the Chicago Pallets Service Inc. in November 2012. The work of community organizations led to 31 of the 34 workers released, but 3 have already been deported. The rest of them are still fighting orders of deportation. Below are some of the stories of the people affected by this operation, who are also marching today. (for more information on these cases contact Centro Sin Fronteras)
Juan Jose Chavez is 34 years old and has been in the U.S for over 12 years. He has three U.S. citizen children, ages 9, 5 and 4. He has no criminal convictions.
Canderlario Guzman Castillo has been in this country since 2002. He has been steadily employed and has two U.S. citizen children, ages 7 and 9 years old. He was stopped once for driving without a license, but has no criminal arrests or convictions. He is one of the workers detained at the Chicago Palate Inc., and has described ICE agents demanding his proof of citizenship at the time of the raid, and then arresting him when he could not provide one.
Antonio Avalos is 43 years old. He has a U.S. citizen daughter and has been working steadily for 14 years. He will qualify for “cancellation of deportation” – but he will have to pay a lawyers and wait through the court system for over a year. Meanwhile he has lost his job and had to spend thousands of dollars in bail. His case could be closed by immigration without spending what it could cost to process him through the courts.
Arturo Munoz has been in the country for 11 years and has three U.S. citizen children. He is 38 years old. Like Antonio, because he has been more than ten years in the country and has U.S. citizen children, no criminal record and a good record of employment, he could qualify for cancellation of removal and get a green card. Meanwhile, he will pay bond, lawyers and have to find another job.
Geovanni Luna is 19 years old and has been in this country for seven years. He comes from Sonora, Mexico, and he was 11 years old when he crossed the border. He is eligible for DACA but remains in deportation proceedings.
On January 21st, Inauguration day and Martin Luther King Day, families of those recently targeted in immigration raids and supporting organizations are calling for a March and rally for a moratorium on deportations starting at 11:00am at Daley Plaza and marching to Federal Plaza.
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