By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
On the same day that one Bowling Green man returned home on bond from ICE, another two local men were taken away.
Few details are available about the two men picked up on Tuesday afternoon, other than they are being held in Seneca County Jail, which contracts as an immigration detention site in Tiffin.
FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson said Wednesday that while the FBI was involved in the search, the arrests were made by the customs and border patrol. No further information was available.
The latest arrests come on the heels of a community fundraiser that helped bring home another Bowling Green man who has being held in a Battle Creek, Michigan, jail for undocumented immigration status.
He had been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement following a traffic violation in northern Wood County.
More than 50 members of the community raised more than $3,000 during an ice cream social held Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Bowling Green. That money was used to get a $5,000 bond for his release on Tuesday.
According to Beatriz Maya, director of La Conexion, the man has worked as a skilled tradesman in the Bowling Green community for more than seven years and has no criminal history.
“He is an asset for the community. We want him here,” Maya said.
The man has a wife and three young children. The children are all U.S. citizens.
The BG man had been held in Michigan for 25 days after being picked up for speeding north of Bowling Green, and being turned over to ICE. A hearing held on Monday found that he qualified to be released on bond.
“They found he’s not a criminal of any sort,” Maya said. He has been in the U.S. for nearly 14 years, with half of that in Bowling Green, working locally.
Maya brought him home from Battle Creek after bond was posted in Detroit.
“He was very, very emotional,” she said, recalling his conversation on the trip home.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen. I wasn’t sure if I was going to see my family again,” Maya said the man stated on the ride back to BG.
He also remarked about the change in the trees since he was picked up, and pointed out the smoother roads once they crossed over from Michigan.
“Ahhh, Ohio,” Maya remembered him saying. “Even the highway is better here.”
Once they pulled up at his home, his family raced to welcome him back.
“It was very emotional. The kids were running to hug him,” Maya said.
But the man’s release was far from certain, even on Tuesday when BG resident Ginny Stewart volunteered to go to Detroit to post his bond.
When Stewart arrived at the Homeland Security office, there were about 45 people waiting for help.
“Their stories are basically the same. They’ve been here – and now it’s not safe,” she said.
Stewart said she spoke with one woman who has been in the U.S. since 1983. “Now she feels everyone looks at her and listens to her accent.”
The system is very complicated, she said, with no translation assistance for those who don’t speak English.
Stewart waited four hours before being able to post the $5,000 bond.
“It was a dehumanizing experience,” she said.
Many of those at the Homeland Security office shared the stories of their loved ones being held. Many had no criminal records, but “the crime was guilty for being brown,” Stewart said.
“It made my heart sick. It’s wrong on so many levels,” she said. “Their only crime was coming here and working hard. These are the people who are doing the work that other people won’t. It’s not what America is about.”
The next step for the released Bowling Green man is to work with an attorney to see if he can be granted residency or a permit on a permanent basis.
He expressed profound gratitude for the community contributions that allowed bond to be posted for his release.
“The response of the community and solidarity was incredible,” Maya said, speaking of the ice cream social and the ongoing support of La Conexion’s Immigrant Solidarity Committee.
The organization is still accepting donations to help the family cover the legal expenses that will continue as the father’s case moves forward. Donations can be made by mail or through the La Conexion Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LaConexioncomunidad/
Another local man, from rural Bowling Green, is still in jail for being an undocumented immigrant. He has three children, all born in the U.S., and a wife who was recently diagnosed with Lupus. That man, a local farm worker, was picked up while driving to pick up his wife from a Columbus hospital.
His situation is different, in that he was deported once before, also after being stopped while driving. He returned to the U.S. because he had a wife and three young children, and the area he came from in Mexico is extremely dangerous, especially for those deported from the U.S.
“He needed to come back. He had three kids and a wife to support,” Maya said.
However, the fact that he returned to the U.S. after being deported makes the charge against him a felony, she said.
Also at the fundraiser on Sunday, Maya and Amanda Schackow led a discussion of plans to organize a Rapid Response Team within the La Conexion Immigrant Solidarity Committee. Over the next few weeks, the organization will put together a network of volunteers to be ready to provide direct support if any other members of the community face detention or deportation.
Those interested in joining the Rapid Response Team can contact laconexionimmigrantsolidarity@gmail.com or visit the organization’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LaConexionImmigrantSolidarity/
Mailed donations should be directed to “La Conexion,” with “member” included on the memo line and can be mailed to: La Conexion, P.O. Box 186, Bowling Green, OH 43402.
