Politicians often invoke the prospect of death by deportation in debates about the fate of immigrants and others with precarious status, like the Dreamers. These conversations have been largely theoretical, devoid of names and faces.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
-
-
They spoke to families of the deceased and gathered the stories of immigrants who had endured other harms—including kidnapping, extortion, and sexual assault—as a result of deportations under Obama and Trump.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
-
In 2009, days before her 23rd birthday, Laura S. was pulled over by a police officer, who then called Border Patrol. Laura tried to explain that she had an ex-husband across the border, in Reynosa, Mexico, who had promised to kill her if she returned: http://nyer.cm/472g14a pic.twitter.com/qnxtPvsNzm
Show this thread -
As Laura crossed over into Mexico, she turned to the border patrol officer supervising her deportation. “When I am found dead,” she told him, ”it will be on your conscience.”http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Laura’s incinerated body was found within days of her forced return to Mexico: http://nyer.cm/472g14a pic.twitter.com/UNhZIJ6TWh
Show this thread -
Nelson Avila-Lopez, a gay asylum seeker, fled Honduras at 17, after receiving gang threats. In 2011, ICE accidentally deported him. Two months later, he died in a prison fire after being detained by the Honduran government without charges.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
At 18, Juan Carlos Coronilla-Guerrero was deported from Texas to Mexico. He later returned and settled in Buda, Texas, with his wife. He was deported in 2017 after being found in possession of a quarter of a gram of marijuana.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Three months after he was deported, gunmen woke him from the bed where he slept with his young son. He tried to soothe the boy, saying, “Don’t worry, my love.” His body was found about forty miles away, filled with bullets.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Rosaleda worked as a police officer in Comayagua, Honduras, until her investigation of a cousin’s murder revealed a high-ranking colleague’s involvement, which Rosaleda reported at the department: http://nyer.cm/472g14a pic.twitter.com/aMcU2eFYJQ
Show this thread -
Menacing phone calls began, followed by a drive-by shooting while she worked the overnight shift. In another attempt on her life, while she was on patrol, two of her colleagues were killed.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Rosaleda decided to risk the journey north. When Rosaleda arrived in Texas, she was apprehended and deported without seeing a judge or a lawyer. She didn’t share details of her escape from Honduras, fearing it would further endanger her.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Rosaleda eventually made it to New York, where she found pro-bono legal help. But, because of her earlier—and, her attorney argues, unlawful—deportation, she is now ineligible for asylum:http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Yadira had come to California from La Lima, Honduras, in the early two-thousands, to escape an abusive boyfriend. In 2010, she was deported on a minor drug-possession charge.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
After Yadira returned to La Lima, her brother, who was confined to a wheelchair, was murdered by the Mara 18 gang. Yadira began speaking out publicly against the gang, and became a target.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Afraid for her life, she went north. At the U.S. border, she told officials about her brother’s murder but was deported nevertheless. A few days later, her youngest daughter found her body in front of the house, riddled with bullets.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
After Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Homeland Security created an office for the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, called VOICE—Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
The office is compiling an online database to track “illegal alien perpetrators of crime.” (Data show that undocumented immigrants actually commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens.)http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
There is, however, no White House initiative to track a more sprawling set of legal violations involving immigrants—violations such as those above, for which the U.S. government is often culpable.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread -
Read our full story about the immigrants deported from the United States to death and violence.http://nyer.cm/472g14a
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.