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Jesus is a Dreamer who was born in Mexico.
This is the story of how he ended up in immigrant detention during the pandemic.
This is the story of how he ended up in immigrant detention during the pandemic.
Jesus joined his mother and father in the US when he was 7. He grew up in the States and has not lived in Mexico since he was a child.
His wife is an American citizen, as are their three children. Jesus has proudly supported his family as a plumber for 18 years.
His wife is an American citizen, as are their three children. Jesus has proudly supported his family as a plumber for 18 years.
“We recently moved to Pennsylvania, where I purchased a property to fix up and started working with a real estate company. We’re trying to build a future for our kids.”
That future was interrupted on April 2, 2019, when ICE officers arrived at his home.
“I came out to warm up the car to bring my kids to school, when an officer grabbed me by my neck. They showed me their badge, which said ICE, and I realized they’d come for me.”
“I came out to warm up the car to bring my kids to school, when an officer grabbed me by my neck. They showed me their badge, which said ICE, and I realized they’d come for me.”
The officers took Jesus to Pike County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, where he was put in solitary confinement for three days. Jesus had been detained for nearly a year when the COVID-19 pandemic started. https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/living-with-covid-in-an-immigration-jail/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=200909_covid_blog_tw&utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=covid&utm_content=200909_immigration_blog&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=200909_covid_blog_tw
“We started hearing rumors that [COVID] was already in other cellblocks. The [guards] kept on quitting. They were overworked always, but once COVID hit, forget it, they were understaffed. It came to a point where we’d be on lockdown for 23.5 hours a day.” https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/ices-lack-of-transparency-about-covid-19-in-detention-will-cost-lives/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=200909_covid_blog_tw&utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=covid&utm_content=200909_immigration_blog&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=200909_covid_blog_tw
Detention centers are hotspots for the virus, and Jesus has high blood pressure and asthma. A federal judge ordered that he and other medically vulnerable people be released from civil immigration detention. https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/crime/2020/04/07/federal-judge-orders-release-22-more-ice-detainees-13-york-county-prison/2962428001/
Jesus is trying to push forward in his life after a year away from his family, but worries.
“I’m only out because of the coronavirus. Once it’s over, I’m scared that they might come and pick me up again.”
“I’m only out because of the coronavirus. Once it’s over, I’m scared that they might come and pick me up again.”
Jesus is one of the 70,000 people who have been detained during this pandemic.
You can read more about his story and those of others we profiled here. https://www.aclu.org/immigrantstories
You can read more about his story and those of others we profiled here. https://www.aclu.org/immigrantstories
