Osman Enriquez is free from ICE detention, but 800,000 DACA recipients continue to live in fear
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Campaign Action Osman Enriquez, the 27-year-old dad who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while waiting to reapply for his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections, was released from immigration detention Thursday nOsman Enriquez is free from ICE detention, but 800,000 DACA recipients continue to live in fear
Campaign Action Osman Enriquez, the 27-year-old dad who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while waiting to reapply for his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections, was released from immigration detention Thursday night. Enriquez is one of the hundreds of DACA recipients whose renewal applications were rejected due to delays that were no fault of his own. Enriquez and others were told by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that they would get a chance to reapply and to wait for more information. But ICE agents got to him first, taking him into custody on his way to work: On Thursday morning, Enriquez’s lawyer filed a motion to expedite his hearing for release on bond; that afternoon, a bond hearing was scheduled for December 26th. But later that afternoon, Enriquez’s fiancee, Sindy, got a call from him saying he might be released. By that evening, Enriquez was home. Enriquez was released on an order of recognizance, which allows him to remain out of detention while his deportation case continues. However, according to his lawyer, Troy Mattes, Enriquez’ case had not yet been filed in immigration court as of Thursday — even though Enriquez had already been issued a Notice to Appear in immigration court. This leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Was Enriquez released because he was eligible to reapply for DACA — and if so, why was he detained to begin with? Or was he released because of the media coverage his case received, and the pressure from advocacy groups to release him? And in that case, are there other cases of people who went from waiting for a DACA reapplication notice to ICE detention, and even to deportation, without the media knowing? And the overarching question: will Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allow a vote on the DREAM Act by the end of this month so that Enriquez and 800,000 young immigrants will no longer have to live in uncertainty? Every day that passes, another 122 DACA recipients lose their protections and become vulnerable to ICE. Since Donald Trump announced the end of the program, 12,000 have fallen out of status. “Enriquez already fell into a bureaucratic nightmare,” said an editorial from Pennsylvania’s LancasterOnline.com. “More such nightmares await DACA recipients whose statuses are in limbo unless Congress acts—and soon." Read more