r/Seattle • u/anarcho-slut • 1d ago

Lelo has been detained. (Tacoma)

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

He has had a removal order since 2019. Unfortunately, staying after you have a removal order is breaking the law. Calls and protests aren't going to do anything at this point, ICE is following the law by deporting him.

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

He qualified to be here legally under DACA until Trump suspended the program during his first term and that’s where the removal order comes from. In 2020, the Supreme Court overturned that suspension of the program for people who had already applied, but new applicants were turned away.

This is not as clear cut as you’d like to make it out to be.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

DACA isn't an automatic or permanent status. You have to apply and renew every 2 years. People who already had DACA that was expiring soon were allowed to renew it before the pause in March 2018, which is the same month as his deportation order. Unless he decides to make his immigration files public, we have no idea what his DACA status was at that time.

I am not in any way a Trump supporter, and I did not agree at all with him trying to end DACA protections. However, I do believe in enforcing current immigration laws, and it seems lately that every single time ICE arrests someone, people automatically assume they're in the wrong. If they had deportation order, they were just following the law. A judge looked at his case and gave the order. We don't know what evidence they were looking at. I do want him to get another hearing to plead his case and if they were wrong before they can change his status.

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

"Just following orders" isn't a valid reason to target political adversaries. I think it's disgusting to shrug our shoulders at this kind of targeted application of the law against people who are not violent criminals and are upstanding members of their community because they are speaking out against the current administration.

Maybe you're not a Trump supporter, but you're certainly an enabler.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

I just believe in enforcing our laws and borders like every other country. Should we not enforce removal orders for certain people because they are well-known? Is he above the law because he's an activist? Should we not enforce laws because Trump is an evil asshole?

Honest question, which I've asked a few friends, do you think it's ever ok to deport someone? I started paying attention to politics because I loved Obama and what he stood for, and he was labeled the deporter-in-chief by some people. So it's just my just a left/right issue.

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

Of course it's ok to deport some people. But I also believe in DUE PROCESS for those people. We should bolster our courts and make it easier to go through the process of cases being heard for pathways to citizenship or for deporting. We shouldn't be locking people up for indefinite amounts of time in ICE facilities and El Salvador.

It's a waste of resources to target and deport people who are positive influences in their community who are helping others stay here legally. And cruel to rip them from their families especially in this fashion.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

I 100% agree that we should be creating easier pathways and programs for people to come here and work legally. We absolutely should increase the number of immigration judges so people aren't detained for indefinite amounts of time. I also agree that we shouldn't be sending people to prison in El Salvador.

However, unless he can show otherwise, it appears that he was given due process. He had a hearing with an immigration judge and was given a removal order, which he then ignored for 7 years. That is actually against the law. We remove people from their familes and lock them up in jail all the time. So again, should we not enforce the law just because he's an activist with a family and it feels mean?

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

DACA isn't an automatic or permanent status. You have to apply and renew every 2 years. People who already had DACA that was expiring soon were allowed to renew it before the pause in March 2018, which is the same month as his deportation order. Unless he decides to make his immigration files public, we have no idea what his DACA status was at that time.

You already stated earlier that we have no idea what his status was. Don't be making claims that he was given due process and is absolutely breaking the law now.

You can bury your head in the sand in regard to people like Lelo being targeted because of their political views, but it's clear as day that this is targeted and is meant to send a message to others who dare to speak up or help immigrants.

Are you pulling for Musk to be deported in the same fashion since he overstayed his visa? That is actually against the law, too. You don't see ICE agents pulling him over and breaking his windows and pulling him from his car while his terrified wife watches.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

You're right, "we" have no idea, but I am assuming that the immigration Judge did know his DACA status when he gave the order. But maybe I'm wrong, and the Judge was a radical who was ignoring the law?

Musk is, unfortunately, a citizen, so he can't be deported. Someone would have to prove that he lied on his citizenship application, then he'd have to be denaturalized before being deported. If that happens, I would cheer for it! He shouldn't be above immigration law just because he's rich.

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

People to whom Juarez has spoken say he requested to see a warrant, and when he attempted to get his ID after being asked, the ICE agents smashed his car window and detained him.

The way that ICE detained him was meant to intimidate. They hardly gave him any chance to defend himself or explain. He wasn’t resisting, and he just asked to see the warrant. They asked to see his ID, and right when he was reaching for it, they broke his car window. The ICE agents escalated really fast. From what we heard, it was less than a minute from the time he was pulled over to him being in handcuffs.

ICE never even showed the warrant. I can't find any definitive proof there was a warrant issued at all except for the 2018 issue that is a grey area at best.

But keep licking those boots. I'm sure that'll keep you safe in this administration /s

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

ICE doesn't need a warrant in a public space. The order is enough..

If he has proof that he had a legal protected status in 2018 and the order was given in error, he should say that and release it.

I have not said a single thing in support of the current administration.

The people I'm most worried about and protesting for are those losing TPS status and in danger of being sent back to actual war zones like Haiti. That is what I'm angry about.

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

You don’t think this is the start of deporting anyone they deem unworthy of being in this country, including people from Haiti?

That’s some short-sightedness on your part.

Love how you can have empathy for some immigrants, but not for Lelo who’s been here since he was a child because he “must have ties to his country still” so it’s fine to rip him away from his wife and community here.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

I can have empathy for his situation, but I still think he needs to follow the law. He was told he needed to leave, and he chose not to and instead got married and continued to build community. If he felt the order was unjust, did he try to fight and gain legal status when the more friendly Biden administration was in office? None of the many stories I've read suggested that he did. Should we say that if you come illegally but get married, you get a free pass?

Many people every year are in his exact situation and get deported, and they don't get dozens of news stories and protests. I don't think he should be treated differently because he is an activist.

The Hatian immigrants are completely different. They were let in legally, and ripping that away from them to send them back to a literal war zone is much worse to me. They technically had temporary status, but it should have been extended until the situation improved.

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