WASHINGTON DC – Wednesday, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and other Latino colleagues demanded the release of a suspected gang member claiming DACA status that the feds arrested in Washington state.
From the Washington Times:
His lawyers have insisted Daniel Ramirez Medina, the 23-year-old Dreamer in question, has no gang ties and no criminal record, and say he never should have been arrested since he was approved for tentative legal status under President Obama’s 2012 deportation amnesty.
But gang members aren’t eligible for the program, and the government says Mr. Ramirez not only had a gang tattoo, but said he used to “hang out” with the Sureno gang in California, fled that state to get away from gangs, and but still “hangs out” with the Paizas gang in Washington.
The government said his approval under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy has been revoked and he is now in deportation proceedings.
Mr. Ramirez’s lawyers, though, said the government’s evidence is flimsy.
In addition to his ties to two criminal gangs, Ramirez has an arrest record, the Justice Department said in a filing Thursday.
But Gutierrez released a statement dismissing the feds' allegations:
Donald Trump has crossed a line and he should let Daniel go. Let him go. Immigration authorities have no reason and no right to hold someone who has been granted deferred action, holds a valid work permit, and is an asset to his family and his community. Just let him go.
What does Donald Trump want with someone who is working above board, on-the-books, who has gone through an extensive criminal background check twice and is complying with the law, at home minding his own business? This is disgraceful.
The Republican Leadership and the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives are all sitting on their hands as the new President rewrites deportation and immigration policy, arrests and detains innocent people who are authorized to be here, blocks and detains people with visas, all with zero oversight. ICE personnel refuse to meet with or provide information to Members of Congress on any of their activities and this is not the way democracy is supposed to work.
If House leaders are not willing to use their gavel and do their job to protect the American people and the rule of law, something is seriously wrong.
