100 signatures reached
To: President Donald Trump, ICE Director Thomas Homan, and Detroit Field Office Director Rebecca Aducci
Tell ICE: Don’t rip Fredy away from his wife and five US citizen children
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Our government should not be wasting its limited resources prosecuting, detaining, and deporting a model husband and father to 5 US citizen children like Fredy.
Alfredo (“Fredy”) Martinez-Berduo (A# 078-268- 342), was denied his claim of asylum on July 2017. His fears were found credible by a judge, but they didn’t meet the extremely high threshold for Guatemalans to be granted asylum in the US.
One of his last hopes is with the Board of Immigration Appeals, but our government should not be wasting any of its resources with this process in the first place. We urge you to set Fredy free as soon as possible so that he may go back to helping his wife care for his children who know no other home than the US.
Why is this important?
The most striking thing about Alfredo “Fredy” Martinez-Berduo is his warm, infectious smile.
He is humble, hardworking, loyal, and an amazing father to his 5 children. His children are well-
known at their schools, earn excellent grades, and are very involved. This is a reflection of their
parents who actively participate in their education.
Fredy’s family lives in Detroit, MI. They are members of a local Catholic parish and have strong ties to the community. Fredy has been living in the United States for 16 years, and has been a reliable employee during this time, working for the same company for 14 of those years.
When Fredy was roughly 16 years old he was rounded up with other underage boys of his small Guatemalan town, abducted and taken into captivity by the Guatemalan Army, with the goal of assimilating Fredy into the Guatemalan military as a soldier. Fredy was subjugated to torture and inhumane training tactics in order to meet the above stated goal. Ultimately, Fredy was forced into military service to fight in the Guatemalan Civil War, a conflict that is now being recognized as genocide which lasted 36 years and continues to ravage small communities in Guatemala. Fredy’s family is of Mayan indigenous decent, identifying as Mam. Indigenous families were preyed upon during the war, often forced to join either the military or the guerrilla groups.
Following the official end of the Civil War in 1996, Fredy fled to Mexico in response to a litany of threats he received. Fredy seldomly visited family in Guatemala, rarely even spending a night in his former, familial home. Fredy continued to receive threats (both directly and through family members) and in 2001 he decided to flee to United States to further his distance from the dangers which awaited him in Guatemala.
In 2006 Fredy was caught by immigration, did not have an attorney and, ultimately, signed a voluntary deportation order; however, he felt it was still too dangerous for him to return to Guatemala and shortly after arriving in Mexico, Fredy returned to the United States.
Fredy applied for asylum and was denied. He is appealing the decision and is pursuing a stay of removal. Despite everything Fredy has been through, he is a calm and gentle father and husband. His children absolutely adore him.
His family has been suffering greatly since Fredy was detained in February 2017. The federal government should not be wasting its resources prosecuting, detaining, and deporting someone like Fredy. This has become his home and he should be allowed to stay.
Please sign and share this petition in support of his family and their struggle to stay together.