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After
several weeks, the guards moved Jeanette out of solitary and into the larger
group of females. There were nearly eighty women detained, and Jeanette quickly
assumed the roles of organizer and helper, assisting women with their requests
to lower bond amounts, translate documents, find legal support.
“I
was able to talk with the women in detention, and they told me all about their
cases. I helped when I could, because it kept my mind off of my family and my
community back in Denver. I was able to call home more once I was out of
isolation, but I was getting close to my deportation date – August 2013. I was
in the CCA detention for four months, trying so hard to get back to my
children.”
In
between helping the other women with their cases, Jeanette filled out document
after document to explain her situation, why she was pulled over, why she had
forged documents, and especially why she left the country to see her dying
mother. Her departure and re-entry placed Jeanette in the category of persons
considered “high priority” for removal. This category includes persons
convicted of crimes and felony border crossing (re-entry after forced removal).
“I
was always reminding them,” noted Jeanette, wrinkling her nose as the smell of
burning leaves wafted by. “Always explaining why I left the country, why I
deserved to come back. My communities back in Denver were helping me, too,
contacting Congress people and ICE officials on my behalf. My faith groups, my
social groups, school and church communities, they all wrote to the ICE
officials in Texas and asked for a stay of removal.”
Before
the date of her deportation, Jeanette’s lawyer called.
“He
said, de pronto algo cambio, no lo puedo
creer! (All of a sudden something changed, you are not going to believe
it!). If you believe in God, give thanks to him. You can stay!”
Jeanette
smiled at the memory as the wind whisked hair in her face. She removed strands
thoughtfully as she added, “I couldn’t believe that I would get to see my
children, could put my arms around them.”
“Several things happened. First, the press
knew all about my case, from Denver to Washington to Venezuela. All eyes were
on the ICE official in Texas, the one in charge at the detention center. Also,
many people had written to this man, asking him to help me. All of the women in
detention with me had signed a petition begging for mercy in my case.”
“Initially, the ICE official was suspicious.
He said, ‘who’s been organizing all of the women to do this? Organizing is not
allowed in here!” I told him that I
didn’t know anything about the letter – because I didn’t – but that I was an activista, after all.” Jeanette shrugged
her shoulders and smiled while the other women chuckled.
Brenda
added, “The women were grateful because she had helped all of them with their
cases. Now they wanted to help her.”
“The
last thing that made a difference was that the ICE official read about my story
and he said that it touched his heart. I didn’t know whether to believe him or
not, I was a bit suspicious when I heard that. But when I saw him in the office
he told me, ‘You have suffered enough.’ He had tears in his eyes, and emotion
on his face. He even gave me a big hug when he said I could go.”
A
corner of Jeanette’s mouth turned up at my doubtful expression. “The local ICE
officials have a lot of control. You wouldn’t think that they could make
decisions like that, but they can. Everything depends on the person in charge.”
ICE
officials temporarily released Jeanette and allowed her to return to Denver in
June, 2013. After an emotional reunion with her family, she was able to spend a
few weeks getting back to her normal routine, taking her children to school,
helping with their homework, participating in her communities.
After
six weeks, Jeanette went to her first supervisory check-in with ICE and was
unexpectedly taken into custody again, in front of her children. The kids wept
and shouted as she was led away by an official who had decided to override the
Texas release.
“I
was so angry they did this in front of my kids – so angry!” Jeanette clenched
her fist. “Ever since I was taken the first time my children have to go to a
psychologist each month. They suffer always, afraid that I will be taken away –
to never come back.”
Children
of undocumented parents are more likely to suffer extreme stress and anxiety,
including PTSD. Jeanette’s son, Roberto, talks about his trauma in a PSA cameo
“every day when I wait for my mom to pick me up from school, I get scared she
won’t be able to come.”
Desperate
to return home, Jeanette applied for a discretionary stay of removal. Her
request was denied at first, but after her supporters moved into action with a
surge of phone calls, rallies, and protests in front of ICE administrative
offices, ICE approved the stay and released her on August 8, 2013.
As
of fall, 2017, Jeanette has been granted four consecutive stays of removal. As each grace period winds down, Jeanette and
her legal team have to reapply for a stay, adding to their eight hundred pages
of supporting documentation. Each time the grace period lapses, Jeanette’s
children worry again about losing their mom. Jeanette appears troubled yet
resigned over her next appeal.
“My
most recent stay of removal ends in February of 2017, and all the paperwork is
due in January. It will be different this time, because the request goes to a
different department. I was allowed to apply for a U visa, so the paperwork
goes somewhere new.”
The
U visa is granted to persons who are victims of certain crimes here in the
United States, who have suffered mental or physical abuse as a result of the
crimes, and who help law enforcement or government officials in the
investigation or prosecution of the crime. Such crimes include: blackmail,
domestic violence, extortion and rape. Congress created the U nonimmigrant visa
during the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in
October 2000. According to the US CIS government website, “the legislation was
intended to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate
and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking of aliens
and other crimes” (USCIS website, n.d.).
In simple terms, the legislation was created
to help victims who would otherwise never come forward about their crimes
because they could be punished with deportation or imprisonment. People without
legal status in the United States are often at great risk of abuses, including
injury or nonpayment on the job, because they have little recourse.
Jeanette
was a victim of crime under investigation, so she couldn’t discuss it, except
to say that she was assisting the police, and that she was allowed to petition
for the U visa. Now her petition for a stay of removal is tied with her
application for the visa, and the process takes on a new shape.
“La lucha sigue. The fight continues,”
said Jeanette. “I am so fortunate to have a team of good people working on my
case, including my lawyer. Not everyone is so lucky.”
Jeanette
continues to fight on behalf of all persons in detention. She helped to create
a Denver branch of the Sanctuary movement, which resulted in a local church
successfully harboring Arturo Hernandez Garcia for nine months until ICE
informed him that he was no longer a priority for deportation. Arturo and his
wife have two daughters who are citizens. Though Arturo is now free, they are
kept in limbo while his case remains pending.
Jeanette
originally kept her involvement in Arturo’s case a secret, because she feared
recriminations, but recently she has been open about participating in the
Sanctuary movement. She was invited to a national meeting of Sanctuary leaders
in Arizona and spoke before representatives from all over the country.
I
asked if I should keep her participation in Sanctuary off the record.
“No.
In this chapter of my life, I want my work to be recognized. I continue my work
with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Centro Humanitario (assisting
day laborers with finding good work and getting paid fair wages), Colorado
Immigrant Rights Coaltion (CIRC), Rights for All People (now Derechos Para Todos), Black Lives
Matter, and the Community of Native Americans. I can’t say no to requests for
help. No puedo decirno,” she added.
“Do
you volunteer full-time now?”
“Oh no, I still work full-time, cleaning
buildings. But I volunteer at night and on weekends. I visit schools and
universities very often, and go to a different church on many Sundays.” She
listed some of her contacts at Denver-area universities including Denver
University, Regis University and the University of Colorado. Jeanette also
calls in to a radio program each Monday and speaks via telephone. The program
is called “Un dia sin fronteras, or
‘one day without borders.’
At
this point, Brenda’s young daughters emerged from their car, peering at the sky
suspiciously. Assured that the rain clouds had passed, the girls approached us
and pulled gently on Brenda’s arms, begging her to go home. As she saw signs of the conversation ending,
Zury also came back to the circle and laid a small, possessive hand on
Jeanette’s shoulder. Jeanette smiled and
Brenda shrugged into her jacket as she translated Jeanette’s closing words.
“Never
lose your faith. Never give up - you’ll never know what you could have done. I
have been fighting for seven years to stay with my children, and I will not
stop.”
Afterword
On
February 15, 2017, Jeanette’s stay of deportation was denied. The courtroom was
full of armed ICE officials when the verdict was read to a crowd of Jeanette’s friends
and supporters. Jeanette herself was not at the hearing. She listened to her
instinct and went into sanctuary at a UCC church in Denver, the first person to
resist deportation under President Trump’s new orders. Her future, and the
future of her family, is uncertain.
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