Nearly 20 advocates were arrested in Hartford, Connecticut during a demonstration in support of Luis Barrios, yet another “bad hombre” with no criminal record that has been targeted and swept up by Donald Trump’s mass deportation force:
"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 warned protesters they'd be arrested if they continued to block access to the building, and spoke with organizers, but after about an hour, and when it was clear the protesters were staying, officers began making arrests.
Barrios, a dad of four U.S. citizen kids, is a prime example of the cruelty of Trump’s mass deportation dragnet. Luis had regularly been checking in with ICE since 2011, when he got pulled over for a broken tail light and was turned over to federal immigration authorities. Each year, Barrios had been “granted a stay of removal that has been renewed.” That is, “until now.” Yes, for undocumented immigrants, getting pulled over for a traffic stop can ultimately mean getting torn from their homes, no matter how long they’ve lived here and how much they’ve invested into this nation.
Luis Barrios is attempting to open an asylum claim, saying that he fears for his safety if he is deported to Guatemala. "I am not a dangerous person," he said in a recent Facebook live, where he pleaded for a hearing. "My kids, they are not dangerous kids." One group has launched a petition to ICE that has already gathered thousands of signatures. Meanwhile, both of the state’s U.S. senators issued a letter to the Trump administration calling for Barrios’ release:
“Based on Mr. Barrios’s strong ties to the community, including four U.S. citizen children, his lack of an arrest record, and the credible threat of violence against him if he is forced to return to Guatemala, we believe prosecutorial discretion is warranted,” Democratic U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy wrote in a letter to Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials Monday.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, also a Connecticut Democrat, wrote a similar letter to immigration and Justice Department officials last week, saying returning Barrios to Guatemala would be “immoral and unconscionable.”
Trump and his officials can keep parroting the lie that they’re only targeting dangerous folks for deportation, but that’s all that is—a lie. Moms and dads who come here to build better lives for themselves and have spent years building homes and families are getting torn from their communities because of the cruelty of this government, and for something simple as a broken tail light.
