18 People Protesting The Deportation of An Immigrant Rights Advocate Were Arrested NY
Several People Protesting The Deportation of An Immigrant Rights Advocate Were Arrested In New York City
The advocates are protesting outside an immigration enforcement building where prominent activist Ravi Ragbir was detained on Thursday.
Posted on January 11, 2018, at 8:30 a.m.
Nidhi PrakashBuzzFeed News Reporter
Protesters were taken into custody Thursday by police outside a federal building in Manhattan where activist Ravi Ragbir was detained by ICE and told he will be deported.
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Demonstrators were protesting the detention of immigration rights activist Ravi Ragbir, who was detained during a routine check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday morning.
New York City police arrested 18 protesters outside the building, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News. They did not confirm whether those arrested had been charged.
"A longtime New Yorker, a husband and a father, Ravi is beloved by all of us who have had the privilege of working with him to make New York a welcoming community for all of its residents," said Kaji Dousa, senior pastor of Park Avenue Christian Church and co-chair of Ragbir's immigrant rights group, the New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC.
"The fact that ICE has taken him as if his spirit, family ties, and contributions to the community mean nothing is inhumane.”
New York City Council Member Jumaane D. Williams was among those taken into custody.
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Ragbir's lawyer, Alina Das, told BuzzFeed News he has multiple legal challenges to his deportation underway, and should not have been detained by ICE today.
"They just simply said that they could. They said he has a deportation order which of course he’s had for many years that we’ve been trying to challenge," Das said. "Now today at a routine check on they tell us it doesn’t matter, that they are just making the decision to enforce the deportation order."
"We’ve been told that he will be processed and taken to a detention facility, they will not tell us where."
Ragbir is facing a deportation order over a 2001 conviction for wire fraud, which he spent 30 months in jail for. His attorneys are seeking to have that conviction vacated and, separately, plan to challenge the legality of the deportation order based on that conviction.
ICE officials issued Ragbir a stay of removal in 2011, which has been renewed since. That stay, which his lawyers are seeking to extend, is due to expire next week, on Friday 19 January.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ragbir was taken to a nearby hospital after he collapsed when he heard the news of his deportation, his lawyer said:
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He collapsed when he was told he would be detained and deported, Das, who was with him at the time, said. He was revived and checked by a nurse, who found he had low blood pressure. She said authorities called an ambulance to take him to a nearby hospital.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/nidhiprakash/dream-act-protest
