Springfield resident Edy Ramirez Velasquez remains locked up in ICE Detention despite agreeing to a Voluntary Departure order on March 13th, which would send him immediately to Guatemala. Edy has been unable to leave the country due to the COVID-19 crisis.  

On March 24, Edy received word that he would be immediately deported to Guatemala following nearly a week of advocates’ efforts to get him released from detention. He was moved on April 3 to Louisiana, en route to Guatemala. Officials from ICE now say that it is unlikely he will leave Louisiana for Guatemala until the virus crisis has passed. Now, his wife hasn’t heard from him since last Thursday and he remains stranded in Louisiana with no likelihood of release--not to Guatemala, nor to his wife and son in Springfield.

“With the virus spreading so fast in jails, I fear they will return him to me dead,” said Edy’s wife. She is a farmworker and cares for the couple’s two-year-old son Edison.  

Edy is a farmworker who arrived in the U.S. at age 14 after escaping aggressive recruitment by Guatemala’s gangs in his hometown. He has lived and worked in Springfield for nearly ten years. In April 2019 Edy was arrested in a driving incident, which triggered an immigration investigation. He was arrested in October 2019 and held in detention until his trial on March 13th. The judge denied Edy’s application for withholding of removal and declared him ineligible for asylum, granting instead voluntary departure.  

In detention, Edy faces potential illness and death from the coronavirus as overcrowding in the jails continues. By continuing to detain thousands and shuffle Edy and others through different detention centers, ICE has shown it does not take public safety seriously. Like thousands of others held unnecessarily in detention who are not a danger to society, Edy must be freed to his family now.

Recognizing that Edy’s situation is not unique, the Pioneer Valley Workers Center calls on ICE’s Acting New Orleans Field Director John Hartnett and Acting Boston Field Director Todd Lyons to release Edy from detention immediately--to Guatemala or to his family in Springfield Massachusetts. It is the only sane public health decision to protect those incarcerated and those on the outside.