THE desperate plea for help staged by a group of migrants at a detention center could backfire and put their immigration status in the country in jeopardy, an immigration attorney has warned.
A group of more than three dozen immigrants used their bodies to spell out the message “SOS” to a drone flying over the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, about 170 miles west of Fort Worth, on Monday.
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“SOS” is universally recognized as a standard distress signal for help or rescue.
The 31 men, dressed in bright orange and red jumpsuits, were pictured in the facility’s courtyard advocating for themselves, photos obtained by Reuters showed.
‘NOTHING TO LOSE’
However, the men’s actions could potentially hinder their legal status cases in the United States.
“This is very bold, in my opinion, on the part of those in the photo,” Héctor Quiroga, an immigration attorney based in Spokane, Washington, told The U.S. Sun.
Read more in The U.S. Sun
“Migrants, especially the undocumented, have very little opportunity to advocate for themselves; doing so can put their status in the country in jeopardy.
“Immigrants typically must avoid advocating for themselves as not to draw attention to themselves.
“Here, however, they really have nothing to lose by engaging in this demonstration.”
The men, who are reportedly of Venezuelan descent, are among the migrants caught in the crossfire of a legal and political standoff.
Dozens of the migrants were labeled by the Trump administration as being affiliated with the brutal Tren de Aragua gang that originated in Venezuela, according to Reuters.
Several of the men were reportedly due to be deported under President Donald Trump’s Alien Enemies Act – a 1798 wartime legislation.
On the evening of April 18, the migrants were loaded onto a bus and transported to the nearby Abilene Regional Airport, Reuters reported, citing the American Civil Liberties Union and family members of the men.
However, the bus was sent back to the detention center after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked their deportations that same night.
Now, the men are awaiting their legal status as the issue is resolved between the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court.
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SALVADORIAN HELLHOLE
Like many Venezuelan migrants who have been accused of being linked to Tren de Aragua, the men still face the possibility of being deported to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, should the Supreme Court lift its order.
“The Trump administration has reached agreements with certain countries to accept deportees other than their own,” Quiroga, the immigration attorney, added.
“In fact, part of the issue is where the migrants pictured are likely to end up—at the CECOT prison in El Salvador—which is where many Venezuelan deportees have been sent.”
As part of an agreement with the Trump administration, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has agreed to house “gang members or convicted criminals” in the expansive maximum security prison.
To date, the Trump administration has sent nearly 240 Venezuelan migrants to the Salvadorian hellhole, which can house up to 40,000 inmates.
Family members of several of the detainees in the Bluebonnet facility denied that their loved ones were members of Tren de Aragua.
Jeferson Escalona, a 19-year-old Venezuelan who is being held in the detention center, said he has no ties to any gang, including Tren de Aragua.
“They’re making false accusations about me. I don’t belong to any gang,” Escalona told Reuters in a phone interview.
“I fear for my life here. I want to go to Venezuela,” he added, saying he told US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that he would voluntarily return to his country of origin, but was denied.
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