He had not taken a step outside the Soledad State Prison, on the northern coast of California, where he was locked up 17 years, when Enrique Cristóbal Meneses was arrested by agents of the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) and taken to the Detention Center Golden State Annex in the city of McFarland, near Bakersfield.
“I felt devastated. The joy of seeing my mom, waiting for my freedom, vanished in seconds. I had no way of explaining what was happening, “says Enrique in an interview with Real America News .
The Mexican immigrant was released on 19 November of the year 2020, after Governor Gavin Newsom reduced his sentence from 27 to 17 years in recognition of his rehabilitation and commitment to helping other prisoners.
What he never imagined is that the authorities of the Soledad State Prison would give the ICE ‘the whistle’, to alert them of their departure.
“I was born in Mexico City. I was 14 years old when I came to this country. I grew up in Los Angeles, in the Northridge neighborhood. Under pressure I got involved in gangs. When I was 20 years old, in 2005, I was sentenced for attempted murder. ”
In prison, Enrique deserted the gang at great personal risk to himself.
He says that he attended groups that helped him make a change in his life, educate himself and improve. “This is how I began to understand many of the traumas that I was going through.”
He worked in the drug use prevention program and became a certified alcohol and drug counselor.
“We managed to bring events to the Soledad Prison to which we invited crime victims to share their stories during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. This is to help detainees to rehabilitate themselves and to realize that their decisions affect many people, the victims and the community. ”
He also led dialogues between victims and prisoners to facilitate guided conversations between them; and created the annual curriculum for different courses on the topics of substance abuse, criminal thinking, denial and anger management, family relationships, and the impact of the victim.
His healing work to prevent violence, caused that in November of 2020, Governor Newsom reduced his sentence from 27 to 17 years in prison.
“ When I received a call on 10 November 2020 to tell me that the governor had reduced my sentence, it was a great blessing and surprise ”.
He says that the work he carried out in prison, he did not undertake to receive something in return.
“I did it because I understood the pain of my victims, the families and the community.”
But more than a year after being deprived of his liberty in ICE custody, in worse conditions than in the Soledad State Prison, he still remains optimistic.
“Hope is the last thing you lose” he says while he is dedicated to helping detained immigrants like him in any way he can, filling out applications and with translations.
At the Center for Detention Golden State Annex says that it has become aware of discrimination against people who do not speak English, nor do they understand immigration laws and their rights.
These facilities have been at the center of attention of immigrant advocates, who have called for their closure amid an increase in covid cases and inadequate mental health service.
When Enrique saw that they were not being given medical attention, he began a process to raise complaints to improve conditions.
“In my push to provide relief to the dignity of men who come to this country with the dream of providing for their families, ICE has retaliated against me.”
You think that’s why you were denied a bond last July for to go free to fight his case. “They see me as a criminal and refuse to accept my change, even when the governor reduced my sentence.”
He even has an offer to work in Alameda County to help young people get off gangs and drugs.
“I would like to study Behavioral Science; and I am very excited about the possibility of helping children in the community who are on drugs; and the prisoners themselves to change their behavior and bring relief to their families. ”
From 38 year-old admits that he is very concerned about deportation. “I fear returning to Mexico because of the cartels, because I vowed not to use violence again, understanding the emotional and spiritual damage that occurs, but also because my whole family is in Los Angeles.”
Immigration attorney Jessica Yamane Moraga, who works for Dolores Street Community Services in San Francisco and who is His defender says that Enrique lost his case in April to be protected under the Protection Against Torture Act, which would have given him a work permit and canceled his deportation.
However, they appealed the decision in federal court and they won. “Now his case has to be heard again by the Immigration Court before a new judge, and in that we are confident that he will not be deported and released.”
And he regrets that he is have denied bail without the government providing any evidence that they are currently posing a threat to the community.
“They are unable to challenge his rehabilitation record and years of counseling experience, his community ties and the leniency that granted by the governor. ”
The 21 December at 12 in the morning, there will be a demonstration of support outside the ICE offices in San Francisco to ask for Enrique’s release.