Thread: 19 Arrested After Hartford Protest For Derby Father Scheduled To Be Deported

19 Arrested After Hartford Protest For Derby Father Scheduled To Be Deported


Hartford police officers detain protesters on Main Street after they refused to leave the property outside of the Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford on Tuesday afternoon during a rally.


Russell Blair Contact Reporter


Nineteen protesters were arrested Tuesday during a demonstration in support of Luis Barrios, an undocumented father of four from Derby who is scheduled to be deported this week, a victim of increased immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, his supporters say.

A crowd of about 100 gathered outside the Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building on Main Street said it was inhumane to deport Barrios, who has no criminal record.

They said the sanitation worker, who fled violence in his native Guatemala in 1992, should be granted asylum.

"Luis' family is bracing for the impact of having their father torn away from them," said Natalie Alexander, a protester from New Haven who was the first to be walked by police into a prisoner transport van. "He is their sole breadwinner. To me it is the moment to demonstrate with our bodies that a system may be legal, but that does not mean it is moral."

Protesters gathered at about noon and some began blocking access to the building, where the state's federal immigration office is located, soon after. The remainder held signs and chanted "Let Luis stay!" and "Not one more deportation!"

Police gave the protesters ample warning and spoke with organizers, but after about an hour, and when it was clear the protesters wouldn't leave, they began making arrests.

Hartford Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said the protesters, who locked arms and sat in front of the doors, face charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

The demonstration, which spanned about two hours, drew a crowd of onlookers, including immigrants with appointments that they were unable to get to. Once protesters sat down in front of the doors, building security locked them, not allowing anyone inside.

Keny Perez, 12, (at left), and her mother Marta Perez, of Norwich, wait for a protest to end at the Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford on Tuesday afternoon so that they could attend to their own immigration business in the courthouse. Nineteen protesters were detained by Hartford police when they refused to leave the federal courthouse property. About 100 people gathered to protest the imminent deportation of Luis Barrios to his native Guatemala. Barrios, a Derby father of four with no criminal record and who has lived in Connecticut for 24 years, says his life will be endangered if he is deported to Guatemala where family members have been kidnapped and murdered. A broken tail light prompted his deportation by ICE. About 100 immigrants rights advocates and supporters attended the rally and called on ICE to stop Luis Barrios' scheduled deportation on May 4.
(Patrick Raycraft / Hartford Courant)



Alex Martinez, an attorney from Stamford, was there with a client who had a 1 p.m. interview as part of the process to get her green card. The protesters were "defeating the whole reason for the protest," by not letting immigrants get to their appointments.

Martinez said his client had been waiting more than a year for the interview, and because of the demonstration, it would likely be postponed, perhaps for another six months.

Meanwhile, Barrios' attorney, Erin O'Neil-Baker, said Tuesday she had received no response to an April 17 motion filed to reopen his case. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy this week sent letters to the Trump administration asking for Barrios to be granted a reprieve. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, whose district includes Derby, sent a similar letter last week.

Barrios was ordered to be removed from the U.S. in 1998 when, after applying for asylum, he failed to show up for a hearing. He came back onto immigration authorities' radar in 2011 when he was pulled over by state police for a broken taillight and subsequently turned over to federal agents. But Barrios was granted a stay of removal that has been renewed each year until now.

The difference, his attorney and supporters say, is a new presidential administration led by Trump, who has vowed to crackdown on unlawful immigration.

Barrios is seeking a new asylum claim but has been unsuccessful so far in getting a hearing. In court documents how his wife's family has been the target of violence in the Central American country and he fears for his life is he returns.

In an emotional video posted to Facebook, Barrios pleaded with ICE to let him stay and grant him a hearing, asking for "another chance, another opportunity."

"I am not a dangerous person," he said. "My kids, they are not dangerous kids."

O'Neil-Baker said Barrios and his family have been overwhelmed by the support they've received and she isn't counting out a last-minute decision that will allow him to remain in the country.

"Sometimes, yes, at the very last minute a stay is granted," she said. "Mr. Barrios has personally experienced this before."

In 2011, Barrios was prepared to board a flight to Guatemala when he got word that a stay had been granted. But his family is "preparing for the worst," O'Neil-Baker said. Barrios has a ticket for an early-morning flight on Thursday out of John F. Kennedy Airport.

"Mr. Barrios really does not have any solid plans for if and when he does arrive in Guatemala," she said. "He's focusing on the here and now but he's also trying to prepare for leaving the U.S."

http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-l...502-story.html

Get out now - do the best you can for YOUR COUNTRY there - We American Citizens want you OUT NOW!