This is yet another story about ICE and the Trump administration and what they’re doing in terms of their mass deportation policies.
Key Points
- 82-year-old grandfather was here legally but ICE arrested him at an appointment to replace his lost green card.
- Family couldn’t locate him, then someone called telling them he had died.
- Family in Chile later found him in a hospital in Guatemala.
ICE Behaving Badly
People who are here legally have been deported, people were sent to war-torn South Sudan—just to be cruel, an elderly man died in a detention center, ICE agents are wearing masks and violently assaulting people, U.S. citizens have been detained and even deported (they’ve deported 70+ citizens so far), and the list goes on.
Last month, an 82-year old grandfather, who was in the country legally, was arrested and deported to Guatemala—a country he has no connection to.
Luis Leon of Allentown, Pennsylvania lost his wallet. He and his wife made an appointment to have his green card replaced.
When they showed up for the appointment, ICE agents handcuffed Leon and took him away from his wife. She was then detained there for several hours before she was released and picked up by family.
Leon’s family had no idea where he was or what was happening.
Then they received a call from someone claiming to be an immigration lawyer saying they could help. The family doesn’t know how this person found out about Leon’s arrest.
The family suffered, not knowing where the 82-year-old was or if he was ok.
That same “immigration lawyer” called back and told them Luis had died.
A week later they received a call from family in Chike. Leon was found, very much alive, in a hospital in Guatemala.
Luis came to the U.S. in the 80’s after being tortured by the government of Chile. He was granted asylum and eventually became a naturalized citizen.
From reporting by The Guardian:
The family said they made efforts to find any information on his whereabouts but learned nothing.
Then, sometime after Leon was detained, a woman purporting to be an immigration lawyer called the family, claiming she could help – but did not disclose how she knew about the case, or where Leon was.
On July 9, according to Leon’s granddaughter, the same woman called them again, claiming Leon had died.
A week later, however, they discovered from a relative in Chile that Leon was alive after all – but now in a hospital in Guatemala, a country to which he has no connection.
According to Morning Call, the relative said Leon had first been sent to an immigration detention center in Minnesota before being deported to Guatemala – despite not appearing on any Ice detention deportation lists.
Ice on Monday evening refuted the Morning Call story, calling it a hoax.
Morning Call claimed they repeatedly requested confirmation and details from Ice throughout its reporting. Morning Call also claimed they were introduced to the family during a Lehigh county courthouse protest over Ice’s operations there.”
