Oswaldo Ramos fled to the United States in April, 2014, from Malacatan, San Marcos, Guatemala when he was 15 years old. Oswaldo is one of thousands of young people from Central America who made the dangerous trip on his own to flee gang violence, drug wars, kidnapping, death and persecution and seek freedom and asylum in the U.S. When he got to Detroit he attended Western High School and began making his fight alongside BAMN organizers and attorneys both for his own right to asylum and for the equal rights of other young refugees seeking to find safe harbor in Detroit and around the country. In 2015, he won a status that protected him from deportation and put him on the road to getting his green card.
Oswaldo fled his home after being badly beaten and his life threatened by gang members. He faces persecution and certain death if he is returned to Guatemala, where the situation has become even worse since he left. Because of this, he would not have been targeted for deportation - until Trump. In July, Trump decided to reopen the cases of young people like Oswaldo who have had a protected status, and ordered I.C.E. raids targeting young people who fled to the U.S. as unaccompanied minors.
Trump’s attack on DACA and other young immigrants like Oswaldo is his latest desperate attempt to show his racist supporters that he can carry out mass deportations. Immigrant bashing is the only real strength of the Trump regime, but it’s also Trump’s greatest weakness. It is the only issue that can tear him down as quickly as it built him up. And so far he is failing because of the strength of our movement. Despite making more arrests, Trump has succeeded in deporting fewer people than Obama did. Now is the time to deal the final blow that can defeat Trump and stop all deportations.
The targeting of young people with protected status, now including DACA, comes after Trump’s last failed attempt on June 11 to round up and quickly deport hundreds of Iraqi refugees to their deaths.
At the court hearing on October 20, Federal Immigration Judge Mark Jebson will decide whether to grant Oswaldo asylum or to deport him. Our movement has already shown we can win if we mobilize. Your attendance and leadership can make the difference - tell all your friends, cousins, parents, neighbors!