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[SIZE=3]Why Did ICE Arrest & Imprison a 23-Year-Old DREAMer and DACA Recipient Living Legally in the
Why Did ICE Arrest & Imprison a 23-Year-Old DREAMer and DACA Recipient Living Legally in the U.S.?
StoryFebruary 17, 2017
President Trump said he would "show great heart" when considering whether to deport recipients of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. So why is Daniel Ramirez Medina sitting in jail? We look at the case of a 23-year-old father who was detained by ICE one week ago in Des Moines, Washington, even though he has permission to live and work in the United States under DACA. His supporters have maintained a vigil at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he is being held. It’s a private detention center owned by the for-profit prison company GEO Group. We go to Seattle, Washington, to speak with Councilmember Lorena González, a civil rights attorney who is the city’s first Latino councilmember.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. Across the country Thursday, thousands of immigrants closed their businesses, refused to go to work, kept their children home from school for a "Day Without Immigrants." It was a protest against President Trump’s crackdown on immigrants living in the United States. The protests in San Francisco; Los Angeles; New York; Phoenix; Chicago; Philadelphia; Atlanta; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Austin, Texas; and other cities came after Immigration and Custom Enforcement, or ICE, sent shock waves through immigrant communities by arresting at least 680 people in a series of raids last week.
Today, we’re going to look at two cases. One is of an immigrant mother of four who has lived here for 20 years and has now taken sanctuary in a Denver church to avoid possible deportation. The other—well, we’re going to start with Donald Trump’s press conference yesterday, because the case involves DACA.
FYI- QUESTIONS-- What do you think......
LISA DESJARDINS: In addition, on the DACA program for immigration—
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right.
LISA DESJARDINS: —what is your plan? Do you plan to continue that program or to end it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to show great heart.
AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump saying, "We’re going to show great heart."
So why is Daniel Ramirez Medina sitting in jail? He’s a 23-year-old father who was detained by ICE last week in Des Moines, Washington, even though he has permission to live and work in the United States under President Obama’s DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. A hearing in the case is scheduled for today. His lawyers have called his detention "unprecedented and unjustified."
On Thursday, the Justice Department claimed in a legal briefing that Ramirez was arrested because agents suspected he might be part of a gang, based on a tattoo on his arm that reads "La Paz," which means "Peace," and "BCS," which stands for "Baja California Sur," the Mexican state where Ramirez was born. His lawyers say Ramirez is not part of a gang.
He has been in the United States since he was seven years old, and is the immigrant father of a 3-year-old son, who is also a U.S. citizen. His supporters have maintained a vigil at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he’s being held. It’s a private detention center owned by the for-profit prison company GEO Group.
For more, we go to Seattle, Washington, where we’re joined by Lorena González. She is Seattle’s first Latina councilmember. Before being elected in 2015, she worked for a decade as a civil rights attorney.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Councilmember. Can you explain how Daniel Ramirez ended up in jail?
LORENA GONZÁLEZ: Well, the facts, as we know them, is that Daniel was at the home of his father just south of Seattle, and ICE showed up in the morning to pick up his dad, with a warrant. And at that time, his dad had asked for permission to go back into the house to let his son know that—what was happening. And at that time, ICE also entered back into the home with Daniel’s father and began to ask Daniel questions. And when they asked him the questions, they asked him whether he was born here and whether he was in the country legally? And based on his answers, they arrested him.
AMY GOODMAN: Is this the first time that you’ve seen this happen?
LORENA GONZÁLEZ: This is the first time, that we know of, of a DACA recipient being arrested under a Trump administration. And, you know, as far as we knew last week, and as we know now, he had his DACA permit with him, on him, when he was arrested. He repeatedly told the ICE agents that he had permission to be in the country. And nonetheless, they decided to exercise their discretion in arresting him and booking him into the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where he sits now.
Why Did ICE Arrest & Imprison a 23-Year-Old DREAMer and DACA Recipient Living Legally in the U.S.?
StoryFebruary 17, 2017
President Trump said he would "show great heart" when considering whether to deport recipients of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. So why is Daniel Ramirez Medina sitting in jail? We look at the case of a 23-year-old father who was detained by ICE one week ago in Des Moines, Washington, even though he has permission to live and work in the United States under DACA. His supporters have maintained a vigil at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he is being held. It’s a private detention center owned by the for-profit prison company GEO Group. We go to Seattle, Washington, to speak with Councilmember Lorena González, a civil rights attorney who is the city’s first Latino councilmember.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. Across the country Thursday, thousands of immigrants closed their businesses, refused to go to work, kept their children home from school for a "Day Without Immigrants." It was a protest against President Trump’s crackdown on immigrants living in the United States. The protests in San Francisco; Los Angeles; New York; Phoenix; Chicago; Philadelphia; Atlanta; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Austin, Texas; and other cities came after Immigration and Custom Enforcement, or ICE, sent shock waves through immigrant communities by arresting at least 680 people in a series of raids last week.
Today, we’re going to look at two cases. One is of an immigrant mother of four who has lived here for 20 years and has now taken sanctuary in a Denver church to avoid possible deportation. The other—well, we’re going to start with Donald Trump’s press conference yesterday, because the case involves DACA.
FYI- QUESTIONS-- What do you think......
LISA DESJARDINS: In addition, on the DACA program for immigration—
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right.
LISA DESJARDINS: —what is your plan? Do you plan to continue that program or to end it?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to show great heart.
AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump saying, "We’re going to show great heart."
So why is Daniel Ramirez Medina sitting in jail? He’s a 23-year-old father who was detained by ICE last week in Des Moines, Washington, even though he has permission to live and work in the United States under President Obama’s DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. A hearing in the case is scheduled for today. His lawyers have called his detention "unprecedented and unjustified."
On Thursday, the Justice Department claimed in a legal briefing that Ramirez was arrested because agents suspected he might be part of a gang, based on a tattoo on his arm that reads "La Paz," which means "Peace," and "BCS," which stands for "Baja California Sur," the Mexican state where Ramirez was born. His lawyers say Ramirez is not part of a gang.
He has been in the United States since he was seven years old, and is the immigrant father of a 3-year-old son, who is also a U.S. citizen. His supporters have maintained a vigil at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, where he’s being held. It’s a private detention center owned by the for-profit prison company GEO Group.
For more, we go to Seattle, Washington, where we’re joined by Lorena González. She is Seattle’s first Latina councilmember. Before being elected in 2015, she worked for a decade as a civil rights attorney.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Councilmember. Can you explain how Daniel Ramirez ended up in jail?
LORENA GONZÁLEZ: Well, the facts, as we know them, is that Daniel was at the home of his father just south of Seattle, and ICE showed up in the morning to pick up his dad, with a warrant. And at that time, his dad had asked for permission to go back into the house to let his son know that—what was happening. And at that time, ICE also entered back into the home with Daniel’s father and began to ask Daniel questions. And when they asked him the questions, they asked him whether he was born here and whether he was in the country legally? And based on his answers, they arrested him.
AMY GOODMAN: Is this the first time that you’ve seen this happen?
LORENA GONZÁLEZ: This is the first time, that we know of, of a DACA recipient being arrested under a Trump administration. And, you know, as far as we knew last week, and as we know now, he had his DACA permit with him, on him, when he was arrested. He repeatedly told the ICE agents that he had permission to be in the country. And nonetheless, they decided to exercise their discretion in arresting him and booking him into the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where he sits now.
