• March 28th, 2024
  • Thursday, 03:31:03 PM

Young Man with Mental Developmental Delays Faces Deportation


Photo: VoteRiders.org

On March 28, two brothers, along with 26 other immigrants, were arrested in an ICE raid in Fort Pierce. One had DACA and was released; but the other, an immigrant with mental developmental delays, is one of almost a million other youth, who would have been DACA-eligible if only Congress had passed legislation to secure the continuity of the program. His family has launched a petition urging Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to intervene to ensure Juan Gaspar García is released from detention and returned to the adequate care of his loved ones.

“There is nobody available to provide for his care in our home country of Guatemala,” explained Dolores Gaspar García, Juan’s sister. “It will be very difficult for him to be safe and cared for. My brother is unable to understand situations without proper explanation because he has mental developmental delays. It is very important for him to be returned to our family as we are the primary providers for his special needs.”

Juan came to the United States when he was just 14 years old, a year after his mother passed away. His family has been caring for him ever since, and he has persevered, earning his high school diploma from South Fork High School in Stuart, FL. There is no reason for him to be a target by ICE for deportation.

Sign the petition at: https://somos.presente.org/petitions/don-t-let-this-daca-eligible-youth-with-downs-syndrome-get-deported

Any immigrant who wants more information about their constitutional rights when in contact with law enforcement or border patrol should call the Florida Immigration Coalition hotline to review their rights in Spanish, English, and Kreyol: 1-888-600-5762, floridaimigrant.org.