We received this report from Cleveland Refuse Fascism
Close to 300 people, mostly Latino immigrants, rallied in the Painesville town square to protest deportations in general, and 2 deportations in particular.
On June 15, Francisco Narciso was badly injured in a car accident that apparently was not his fault. The police reported him to ICE because he had no license. When he was deported, his family said he was still disoriented, throwing up from severe pain, and still receiving medical treatment. An immigration lawyer, Elizabeth Ford, was told by immigration authorities that they would delay Narciso’s deportation until December so he could recover from his injuries. But then they decided to deport him the next day. Elizabeth Ford said, “they basically dumped him out at the border in the middle of the night … with no regard for his safety.” Narciso was almost immediately kidnapped by people who set a ransom for his release. What has happened to him is cruel and brutal treatment carried out by a fascist regime with absolutely no regard for his well- being.
The protest was also for Beatriz Morelos Casillas, a mother of 4. She has been working 7 days a week in a factory, with no days off, no health insurance and no benefits, and a son with serious medical problems. She has no criminal record, not even a parking ticket. On her way home from work, on Sunday, July 23, she passed an Ohio Highway Patrol cop who had stopped another car. According to the cop, Beatrix did not pull totally into the other lane so she was stopped by the cop. She had no license because most undocumented people cannot get a driver’s license. The cop turned her over to ICE.
The Border Patrol picked her up after she had spent the night in the Lake County Jail. She was held in a Border Patrol holding cell, and then transferred to the Seneca County Jail, in Tiffin, Ohio, where she remains, a long distance from her family. The authorities are pushing for a swift deportation; Beatrix could be deported as early as Tuesday, August 1 unless her lawyer gets a delay on Monday July 31. Previous Stays by ICE have been ignored. They accept the $155 filing fee, and then say they are not required to issue a decision, and in fact always deport the people before ruling on the Stay. On top of all that cruelty, she will be sent to the area that Fransisco Narciso was kidnapped in.
The statement of Refuse Fascism rings so true for these heartless deportations in Painesville: “IMMIGRANTS ARE FULL HUMAN BEINGS, not “illegals” or criminals, to be demonized, terrorized, hunted down, locked up, and thrown out. NO! We will not accept the cruel and brutal future of the Trump/Pence Regime.”
A member of Refuse Fascism said, “The Trump/Pence regime has to be driven from power, what they’re doing, I think, is straight out of Hitler’s playbook. It’s really dangerous what they’re doing. It should be humanity first, not America first.”
When more is learned of Beatrix’ situation, Refuse Fascism and other groups will respond and act.
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