The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a petition requesting the immediate release of a news journalist who was recently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The reporter, who happens to be an immigrant, was arrested at an earlier time, then released when charges were dropped. Such situations typically call for setting a defendant free; however, jail officials instead transferred this particular man over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, who then locked him up in an immigration detention facility. Pennsylvania residents facing similar problems may want to follow this case.
The detainee has never been arrested for a felony, which would generally be cause for detainment and possible deportation. He did, however, recently run stories in his newspaper regarding alleged unfair practices by ICE officials against various immigrants. Some say the man’s boldness in reporting such things has ruffled the feathers of authorities, thus prompting his detention.
Many immigrant advocates have come forward to say that targeting immigrants and detaining them as an act of suppression to keep them from saying negative things about the government or ICE is unjust and must be stopped. Of course, many others say the government is only doing what is necessary to keep certain problems under control. Immigration is a topic that tends to incite debate, though most people would likely agree that aggressive retaliation and misuse of power are despicable behaviors. The question is whether that is what ICE has done in this or other situations.
It remains to be seen how the court will respond to the recent request for the journalist’s release from immigration detention in another state. Those in Pennsylvania facing similar problems may reach out for experienced legal support. Sometimes, making the right connections is the swiftest path toward obtaining a favorable solution.
Source: mediamatters.org, “Immigration reporter Manuel Duran is the latest immigrant detained after revealing ICE abuses“, Dina Radtke, Accessed on April 17, 2018