Jose Valle Rodriguez is a husband and a father of a two-year-old son and is from Ypsilanti, Michigan. Jose came to the US from El Salvador—fleeing poverty and gang violence--when he was 17 and has been in the U.S. for 14 years.
On the morning of Wednesday, May 24th, Jose, Karina and their son left their house and an unmarked black SUV followed them. When they got to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s office, the SUV pulled them over and ICE arrested Jose in front of his family. Only afterwards did they learn that a judge had ordered Jose’s removal from the U.S. in 2005 because he failed to show for an immigration hearing. Jose never received a notice to appear for that hearing because the courts sent the notices to the wrong zip code. The postal service returned the notices marked “return to sender” and “addressee unknown”.
Members of Jose’s family have been murdered by the gang MS-13 in El Salvador. His wife Karina states, “His parents have sent a letter saying they can’t receive him, because they’re scared for his life. They can torture and kill him. They can torture his family. My father was already murdered by gangs. Cousins of my mother have been kidnapped and killed. We’re really close to the violence. That’s my biggest fear, of him going and being killed.”
On Tuesday, June 27th, immigration Judge Jennifer M. Gorland ruled to reopen Jose’s immigration case.
Jose came to the U.S. as a refugee. He has no criminal record. He has been detained for over a month because of a mistake by the court. It is time for Jose to come home.