Yordy Gámez Escobar was woken up at dawn in his cell at the Adelanto Detention Center, to tell him to prepare to be deported. People from the Honduran Consulate had arrived to put him on a plane to their country.
“I told the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) people who came for me, that they couldn’t do that, because they had given me 000 days to present the second appeal to the denial of asylum”, he said.
That is how Yordy managed to stop his deportation for now, but knowing that he is at risk of being expelled at any moment, has made him very bad.
“I feel depressed, worried just thinking that returning to Honduras means no longer seeing my mother, my daughters, my brothers.”
The only way out left for Yordy is the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, he is up against the wall because his family does not have the money to pay for a lawyer to present his appeal in that court.
Yordy with his sister Katherine and his niece. (Courtesy) Yordy has 23 years old, 6 years ago he came to the United States to join his mother and his brothers in Los Angeles. He is the father of a 3-year-old girl and a 5-year-old stepdaughter.
He worked in moving and construction before being arrested by ICE.
The nightmare for Yordy it started in 2020 when he was involved in a lawsuit and charged with a felony that landed him in Los Angeles County Jail.
Although he was released on bail, the 16 March 2020, when the covid pandemic broke out-19 in California, ICE agents They showed up at Yordy’s house and arrested him for being undocumented and having a felony on his record for the lawsuit in which he participated.
“They entered my house and took me into custody”.
Yordy has been confined in Adelanto for 2 years and 2 months. “There are many injustices in this place,” he says full of sadness.
When they arrested him, he had the T visa that is given to victims of human trafficking, and he was months away from applying for the home.
Katherine Gámez, Yordy’s older sister, says that they are very afraid to the deportation of her brother.
“ We feel frustrated, powerless. All doors have been closed to us”.
Unfortunately, he mentions that they have run out of funds to continue paying a lawyer for his brother’s legal defense.
“We have knocked on one door after another, and we have not found a way out.”
He says that his brother called her at 4 am on Tuesday 19 May to tell him that an ICE officer had come for him to deport him.
“We are very concerned that he will be deported to Honduras due to insecurity and because there is no one to take him there.”
Adds that the issue of arrest where he was convicted of hitting a boy in a fight, it was very unfair because they couldn’t get a lawyer to defend him properly.
“We hardly knew the laws. He was charged with virtually no legal advice. The lawyer we hired only went to see him twice and she was always busy with other cases.”
He says that his brother came when he was a minor, and hardly knows Honduras.
“What awaits you if you are deported? He has many goals to accomplish in this country.”
And she criticizes the treatment received in Adelanto. “My brother came in healthy, and two years later he is diagnosed with prediabetes, high cholesterol, and he has a lot of pressure on his heart and head. Besides that he suffers from anxiety and depression.”
He calls the Honduran Consulate to offer him legal assistance and his brother.
“ I have turned to many pro-immigrant organizations for help, but I have not had an answer, and we are desperate ”.
The organization UnitedWeDream has denounced on its website, that under the Biden-Harris administration, arrests, deportations and expulsions are carried out on a daily basis, despite the promise to stop deportations.
Until the 23 of May, reported 2, 348,803.
“This administration must prioritize the safety and healing of migrant communities , and that means stopping deportations and removals. Also guarantee the right to seek asylum for individuals who arrive at the southern border.”
According to an ICE report from March, in the fiscal year 2021, deportations dropped to 66,000, the lowest n number since the fiscal year 2007 . In fiscal year 2020, were deported 186,000 immigrants.
Before that date, ICE deported between 226,000 Y 410,000 immigrants each fiscal year.
According to ICE, under the Biden administration only focus on arresting people with aggravated felony convictions; and last year, the 38% of those deported were convicted felons.
Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson said in a statement revealing the report, that the data reflects that ICE officers and special agents focused on the cases that had the greatest impact on communities across the country while upholding the nation’s values.
Real America News contacted the Honduran Consulate in Los Angeles regarding Yordy’s case, but he had no answer.
Katherine, Yordy’s sister, asked the Honduran Consulate to put its hand on its heart and help with advice legal aid to Honduran immigrants so that they are not deported.
“ We also want organizations to help immigrants to take legal cases and people who are in process in the Ninth Circuit, as my brother to give them a new opportunity in this country“.