Rachel Chason reports for the Washington Post:
“Foster McCune will play Division I soccer at Georgetown University this fall. Matt and Ben Di Rosa, twins from the District’s Chevy Chase neighborhood, will play for the University of Maryland.
On Monday night, they stood with other members of their elite Bethesda Soccer Club outside Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Northwest Washington, protesting the arrest and pending deportation of a beloved teammate: Lizandro Claros Saravia.
Claros Saravia, 19, who had a scholarship to play college soccer in North Carolina, was detained along with his older brother, Diego, in Baltimore on Friday following one of their regular check-ins with immigration officials.
Lizandro Claros Saravia ( Courtesy of Bethesda Soccer Club )They entered the United States illegally in 2009, fleeing violence in their native El Salvador. Lizandro Claros Saravia graduated from Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg this past spring and was planning to attend the two-year Louisburg College in North Carolina on a soccer scholarship this fall.
“He’s one of the hardest-working people on our team,” Matt Di Rosa said at the protest, which drew about 50 people, including family, teammates and immigration advocates. “He has a bright future, and that’s something he actively sought.”
Diego Claros Saravia, 22, graduated from high school a few years ago and works in a car repair shop.
Neither brother has a criminal record, said Nick Katz, senior manager of legal services at the immigration advocacy organization CASA de Maryland, who is representing the pair.
They would not have been priorities for deportation under the Obama administration, according to a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But President Trump’s administration has made clear that any undocumented immigrant is vulnerable to deportation, and there has been a steady increase in the number of people detained after otherwise routine check-ins, advocates say.
The brothers, who were detained by immigration officers when they arrived in the United States, were issued final removal orders by an immigration judge in November 2012, but were released pursuant to an order of supervision, ICE spokesman Matthew Bourke said.
They were both granted a stay of removal in 2013. But their two subsequent applications for stays were denied. Since 2016, Bourke said, ICE deportation officers have instructed the brothers to purchase tickets for departure.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Katz said. “These are the kids who we want to stay.”
Fatima Claros Saravia, 25, cried as she held up a sign she had made for her brothers. “Stop separating families,” she wrote under photos of Lizandro playing soccer. “Let my brothers live their American dream.”
“They wanted to study and to work,” she said. “We are heartbroken — this is not fair, and it is not right.”
*********************************************
Read the full story at the link.
This is an example of the type of “order” and “rationality” that Gen. John Kelly brought to DHS. That’s why I’m not as sanguine as some that he will bring any sense of order and decency to the gonzo crew in the West Wing.
“Dumb, divisive, and cruel” enforcement by DHS is likely to be the norm unless and until the majority of U.S. voters who don’t believe that this is the best use of taxpayer dollars rise up and put more responsible politicians in office.
PWS
08-01-17
Thank you for sharing this story on your blog. There are no other words than the ones you used “Dumb, divisive, and cruel” to describe this administration’s immigration policies. The ignorance of the general public regarding immigration issues is alarming.
I enjoy reading your updates, and value your commentary and perspectives on these issues greatly!
Thanks, Roxanne, for the kind words. And thanks for your comments and for reading. I’m sure not all readers will agree with us. But, my time as a judge showed me the futility of this type of aimless enforcement that really doesn’t advance any type of useful program. Even Trump & Co. won’t be able to remove 10-11 million undocumented residents. If he could, it would almost certainly crater our economy, or at least a number of industries like hospitality, agriculture, and construction. So, picking on folks just because they are “low hanging fruit’ — and folks who report according to requirements are much easier to pick up than real criminals and abscondees — becomes highly arbitrary and subjective. Perhaps it is the kind of arbitrariness and unfairness that our Constitution permits — because DHS is “just enforcing the law” and these folks have no status. But, it really is a waste of time and money and helps sow anti-government, anti-enforcement feelings in many communities. Indeed, I could argue persuasively that the whole “sanctuary cities” movement was fueled by “over the top” enforcement efforts by both the Obama and Trump Administrations that tended, and still tends, to destabilize entire communities. I doubt that there would be much argument about “targeted enforcement” that deals with folks who are real threats to the community. But, that’s not what Trump, Sessions & Co want because it doesn’t 1) generate big numbers, and 2) advance the White Nationalist agenda that almost all migrants — including legal migrants — are “bad for America.” As I have pointed out a number of times, I doubt that we’d be having this “national debate” about immigration if the majority of migrants, both legal and undocumented, were White Christians from European backgrounds (even though, ironically, this Administration has little actual regard for today’s European nations and seems to mock my understanding of true Christian principles at every turn — I doubt that Jesus would have been very enthusiastic about “border enforcement” by secular authorities — indeed, he himself appears to have been a victim of cruel and arbitrary “justice” imposed by secular authorities at the urging of the then local religious hierarchy).
PWS
08-02-17
Judge Schmidt-
Your input and comments are an invaluable resource for the legal community, and the public at large. I greatly appreciate your efforts in getting out the message with your blog that immigrants to the USA are not in general rapists and criminals. On a daily basis, I see and speak with immigrant families – some undocumented and some documented – who would benefit from hearing from you. Their individual stories and histories affect me greatly, and I see a great need for comfort and information to these families, which someone like you can possibly provide. May I contact you via email directly to discuss how your perspective might be beneficial to the immigrant community in Richmond, Virginia?
Kind regards,
Roxanne Fantl
Sure, Roxanne. Contact me any time.
Best,
PWS