Released from ICE Custody, A Germantown Family Says Thank You
During a rally in Rockville, the Acuña family thanked the community for raising awareness about their detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Photos
After spending nearly a week in a maximum-security detention center in fear of being deported, the Germantown family that sparked a social media firestorm got the chance to speak for themselves.
“We couldn't even see the sunlight,” said Jorge Steven Acuña, who goes by Steve. “It was as if we were a threat to our own community. Instead, our own community's out here working for us."
Acuña, 19, and his parents, Blanca and Jorge Acuña, addressed a crowd of supporters at Rockville Town Square on Wednesday, not even having spent a full day free from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
The Acuñas were released from an Eastern Shore detention center Tuesday night. They had been at the facility since March 7.
On Wednesday, the family thanked the community for their efforts and said it gave them hope while they were behind bars. They hope to use the experience to raise awareness.
"Èl no es un criminal,” Acuña’s mother Blanca told the crowd in Spanish. “Èl no es un criminal."
She said that her son was not a criminal.
What happened to the Acuña family
The family came to the United States from Colombia when Acuña was a child in order to escape political persecution. But the family’s application for asylum was denied.
“As a matter of procedure, when the asylum application got denied it triggered a final order for deportation,” said Gustavo Andrade, organizational director for CASA de Maryland, an immigrants’ rights organization.
Word spread rapidly about the Acuñas’ situation via #JSA-tagged tweets, Facebook fans and an online petition drive, eventually catching the attention of the Montgomery County Council and U.S. Rep. Chris VanHollen (D-Md.).
CASA de Maryland is providing the family free legal representation and is working with congressman Van Hollen’s office to help the family through the legal process.
Acuña and his parents were released from the Eastern Shore facility because they were granted a one-year reprieve, as part of a process known prosecutorial discretion.
“Steven and his family are poster children for prosecutorial discretion,” Andrade said.
A dream deferred?
But politically, not every one agrees with the outcome.
"I don't have a problem with it. It's the law," Md. Del. Pat McDonough (R-Baltimore County) told the Captial News Service, in reference to Acuña’s potential deportation.
McDonough is a vocal opponent of Maryland’s Dream Act, which would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants at state schools under certain conditions. He was among the anti-illegal immigration lawmakers to gain enough signatures to send the law to referendum vote.
On Wednesday, community leaders used the rally to make the pitch for Dream Act — Montgomery County Council Vice-President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) and Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) spoke of its need.
“I'm really sorry for the Acuña family had to go through this, but sometimes God has certain plans for us,” Navarro said. “I hope this is a catalyst that makes us go forward as a bloc come November to say yes to the Dream act.”
A representative from congressman Van Hollen’s office spoke at the rally. Councilman Craig Rice (D-Dist. 2), of Germantown, attended but did not address the crowd.
Acuña feels more motivated, has new sense of obligation
Acuña graduated from Northwest High School with a 3.8 GPA. He was enrolled at Montgomery College and was covering his tuition costs by working internships. His friends said he aspired to become a surgeon.
"You're brought to this country by your parents and all you're willing to do here is get an education, have a dream, set some goals up,” Acuña said.
After the rally, Acuña said he left the detention center feeling even more motivated. Because of the effort of his friends and the support of the community, Acuña said he feels obligated to help others.
“I'm willing to take it on for the rest of my life if it's possible just because I don't want people to be living through what I had to live through with my family," Acuña said.
jnrentz1
7:04 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Jorge Steven Acuna faced deportation.
He now has an opportunity to voluntarily leave the United States, in lue of being deported, return to Colombia, apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, and after being accepted, return to the United States as a legal resident, eventually eligible for citizenship.
This is a great opportunity for Mr. Acuna, and I hope he takes advantage of it. Nothing else will do.
Brad
9:17 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Excellent suggestion!
MD
9:57 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
No, because if he leave, he cant come back for a period of time, I believe its 5 years. I think he and his family should leave, either voluntarily or by force.
Brad
9:19 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Enough of the lawlessness in Maryland. Time to enforce the law and cutoff all funding to the Hispanic hate group CASA of Maryland. Join www.HelpSaveMaryland.org
Jennifer Macer
9:51 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
You are both idiots. How about first you learn to spell "in lieu" and secondly how about you step outside of your little box and educate yourselves on the living conditions in these countries like Colombia. Furthermore, educate yourselves with immigration laws. If Mr. Acuna were to voluntarily leave the country and apply for permanent residency as you have suggested, would be DENIED because US Immigration laws state that residency or a visa for that matter will not be given to anyone who has been in this country illegally even if only for a day. So again, educate yourselves as Mr. Acuna is trying to do, before you talk out of pure ignorance!
marty martinez
12:17 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Yes theyre idiots for expecting these nice people to honor the laws of the very state that has provided them all the amenities that regular tax paying citizens utilize - albeit free of charge...you sweet naive lady are the idiot
KS
3:17 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
@Jennifer Macer
Keep being a shill for the DNC
jnrentz1
3:41 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Ms. Macer,
You are correct that I misspelled "in lieu." I did so after looking up the term. Shame on me, I was wrong.
You are incorrect to say that I am an idiot, and you were rude and low class to say so. However, today, tomorrow and for all days thereafter the difference between us shall be that I will remain polite, and you shall continue to be rude and low class.
Have a nice day.
debbie
6:19 am on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Thank you. It is unbelievable to read these comments of small minded, selfish people. Unless you are an American Indian you are an immigrant. I am barely a second generation American as are many "Americans". These people mke me sick. They also have no idea how hideous those detention centers are. They also seem unaware that immigrants take jobs that AMericans don't want and won't do. The meat packing industry wouldn't exist without them and farmers depend on them to bring their crops to market.
JH
10:30 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
TIme to come clean and get on the right side of the law. Time to show respect our laws and our culture. Parents need to be accountable, set a good example, and return home.
Eric S.
2:07 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
I had a long post detailing EXACTLY what I think about all the anti-immigration crap on this site, and the Patch login ate it[0].
Short version, until you agree that the federal govt. laws always top anything a state is doing, on any issue, and that states should never ever ever be allowed to protest bad laws, then I refuse to listen to your BS. Period.
In other words, if you don't like how Maryland handles immigration (lighter than the Feds), then you do NOT get to hold up Arizona (trying to subvert the feds by being stronger) for applause.
I say the same thing for gun laws, prostitution, The War on Some Drugs[1], etc. Complicated issues should not be whittled down to little sound bytes that CNN or Fox News can use to rile up the masses. Period.
The people in charge[2] all take water from the same pools, and piss on the rest of us, and blame people in group A for pissing on group B.
Gah!
[0] Why can't the cookie just keep me signed in?!
[1] Seriously, our drug policies are part of the damn problem when it comes to immigration.
[2] Politicians, union leaders, CEOs, etc. They only compete on paper and in the news.
Jeff Hawkins
2:50 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
@Eric
That's too bad about your posting issue, it's happend to me also. I believe most of the folks you are refering to have an issue with "illegal" immigration and NOT immigration in general and remember.....the key word here is "illegal".
That's pretty much where I am on this one, "legal" is great...."illegal" is not great. It's really pretty simple. If that's disagreeable with you, then that's OK. That is what is called a difference of opinion and we are allowed to have them.
Also I guess you are saying that if folks don't agree that the Fed's trump everything then there is no use in talking? I don't think that's a good idea. What about the Fed's not recognizing Gay marriage and Maryland does? That would be state's right's would it not and they challenged and won I think. If the Fed's trump everything as you say, then there would be no Gay marriage anywhere. Or did I misunderstand your whole comment? I may have?
Eric S.
4:26 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
@Jeff: Gah, it happened again!!!
Ok, screw it. I just give up. I had a point, I got angry and lost all nuance and was of a rant than anything.
This stuff is complex, and everyone just yelling at each other (so it seems) and blaming each other without really looking at the problem (any of them) is frustrating.
I was down with the original idea of the Tea Party, before corporate interests took it over and made it a fake grassroots organization. I got the original idea behind Occupy before, well, they blew up for various reasons, and I'm sure I'd be just as irritated if they stuck around long enough to get taken over fully by Big Labor, the DNC, other corporate interests, etc.
I guess I'm just saying that I find it disingenuous to stand with challenging the govt. being ok for issues they like, and want to shut down the same channels for people they disagree with. Why is it ok to challenge marriage laws or immigration, but not gun laws? How come challenging birth control is ok, but not drug laws?
That's the point I was getting at. I shouldn't have gone the absolutist path, but as I said, I was frustrated.
Billy the moderate
8:37 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
As other like minded citizens who have been criticized on this site for expressing their views regarding illegal immigration - it is rather ironic how people stand up for/against the govt on issues they like/don't like. Regarding Mr. Acuna - he is here illegally, end of story.
I am not against legal immigration and as a nation with over 8% unemployment, we can afford to be picky and accept those who have marketable skills we need as opposed to what we have now with so many illegals in our area. For every Acuna who wants to be a surgeon w/a 3.8 gpa, paying his way through community college, there are hundreds of very low skilled workers taking the jobs away from legal residents out of work - some are criminals, drunk drivers, and folks that do not want to assimilate into our country and who do often do not pay enough taxes to cover the government services they and their families are using.
We are a nation of laws and some laws are unjust, unfair, etc.. but we have a process to change those laws. By selectively enforcing certain laws (immigration) we undermine the rule of law that our country has and make things worse for everyone, including the illegal immigrant that is at the heart of this story. There are plenty of deserving legal residents (some are minorities too if that makes you feel better) that also want to be surgeons and they should have that opportunity before someone who is not even supposed to be here in the country.
Jeff Hawkins
8:42 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
@Eric S.
LOL, not sure what's going on with this website? I understand the points you are making and I think they are valid ones! Civil discourse is a good thing.
debbie
6:22 am on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Occupy is hardly over we are just on a different course. Big plans beginning at the end of the month and we will not be taken over by an corporate/government BS. We are fighting for a new world.
Brad
8:43 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
Billy, excellent response!
jnrentz1
7:21 am on Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Washington Times has an interesting article concerning E-Verify:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/15/e-verify-job-check-system-is-underutilized-agency-/print/
Brad
8:02 am on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Occupy is toast and so is Debbie's concept of immigrant. Mr Acuna, who was working illegally for years was not a farm worker or meat packer, jobs which are mostly "occupied" by American citizens. This family needs to return to Colombia where they can use their work ethic and new US taxpayer funded education to help their own nation. www.helpsavemaryland.com
debbie
9:28 am on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Really Brad, occupy is toast? How would you know? Are you an activist, involved in the movement. We are not going away, In fact I would say in the past 5 years that I have been involved in the movement we have grown considerably and accomplised some significant victories. Occupy is not over it is taking a new direction. It a shame you seem to be one of the sheeple, not aware of what is happening to this country. And if the sheeple do not wake up soon all civil liberties will be lost and the empire will crumble like others before it.
jnrentz1
10:08 am on Sunday, March 18, 2012
There is no "right" to break the law. There is no "right" to enter America illegally. There is no "right" to remain in America after Illegal Entry. It is not asking to much for those who wish to come to, and live in America, to do so in compliance with our laws.
The prospective immigrant needs to appropriately apply for a resident visa, be accepted, and enter America after approval and inspection.