A Former US Marine Almost Gets Deported; His Guatemalan Mom Saves the Day

Jilmar Ramos-Gomez (Michigan ACLU)

If you've ever wondered why a municipality decides to become a Sanctuary City, the story of one US Marine veteran who was recently detained by ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) may help provide an answer.

As reported by the Detroit Free Press and other news sources, Jilmar Ramos-Gomez was a US Marine, decorated for his service in Afghanistan. He is also a US citizen and had his US passport and other identification on him at the time of his arrest.

Ramos-Gomez was arrested for an incident in a local hospital. After he was released on bond, ICE officials transported him from the Kent County jail (in Michigan) to a jail in Calhoun County that has a lucrative contract with ICE, which uses part of the jail as an immigration detention center.

Reportedly, ICE officials had "confused" Ramos-Gomez at the time of his arrest and were set to deport him out of the country he had served. Even though he was a citizen.

Ramos-Gomez's mother got an attorney to keep the deportation mistake from happening.

This particular incident received nationwide attention, including much support from groups that were critical of county officials and ICE being "overzealous."

As a result the Kent County sheriff issued a statement, saying that the county will no longer routinely cooperate with ICE.

ICE issued no apology for its actions. While Ramos-Gomez is a US citizen, his mother is not. She's from Guatemala. Which should have nothing to do with the case. What was at issue was Ramos-Gomez's arrest. He had caused some damage at a local hospital - and had suffered from PTSD - since leaving the Marines.

Ramos-Gomez's Mother (Neal Blake, Associated Press)

It's pretty clear that what Ramos-Gomez, a former Marine who was decorated for his service, needed was mental health care. Not detention. Or deportation.

And it makes a person wonder how often this sort of thing happens across the US, when over-zealous ICE agents seek detention on unsuspecting individuals. Who may have no means to legal representation, or even know that they could appeal.

When ICE agents show up at meat packing factories, and make mass arrests, whole towns can be drawn into the immigration debate. 

Part of the "bottom line" of all of this, regardless of which side of the political fence you are on, is that it is not illegal to seek asylum in the US. There are quotas set by each administration in the White House. It should come as no surprise that the current administration had ratcheted down the quota for refugees to its lowest level in thirty years.

A fifteen-year analysis of ICE detention practices, conducted by the American Immigration Council found that detainees faced significant barriers. Like being detained in remote locations far removed from urban centers with social service providers. Parents and children rely on volunteers and pro-bono lawyers to represent them. Ninety-three percent of hearings involving families were conducted remotely, via video, not in court. Families had been subjected to overdetention by immigration officials. 

To quote from the American Immigration Council's report:

"ICE officers issued initial custody decisions that unnecessarily prolonged the detention of families. Immigration judges regularly found that family members were eligible for release, overturning detention officers' previous decisions to keep families detained. Among the detained family members ICE decided not to release, 59 percent appealed ICE's custody decision and were provided a bond hearing in front of a judge. Of these family members who had a judicial bond hearing 57 percent of them were granted a form of release by the judge. DHS officials regularly refused to set bond, or issued prohibitively high bond amounts, resulting in the overdetention of families. Immigration judges systematically reversed these no-bond detention decisions by ICE. When ICE officers did set bond for detained families, immigration judges routinely found that the amount was too high."

Is it any wonder why cities across the US are joining the sanctuary cities movement? Currently, there are over 200 municipalities across the country that are sanctuary cities.

With a president leading an administration in the West Wing that is decidedly anti-refugee and anti-immigrant, it's no wonder that the various agencies under its jurisdiction, including ICE, will also reflect the same bias. 

We could quote a plethora of religious sources (including Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist) that encourage followers to look after the stranger among us. Suffice to say that any country that contends to be faith-based while ignoring the plight of the afflicted really doesn't have a leg to stand on.