Friday, July 28, 2017

Another small victory on a good day for resistance

After a bond hearing in federal immigration court today, Veronica is being released without putting up bail, thanks to a strong showing of community support organized by Faith in Action, many prayers, and the good work of her lawyers from Pangea Legal Services.
In this photo, attorney Luis Angel Reyes-Savalza explains to supporters that such a good outcome almost never happens. Not only will Veronica have the chance to return to her friends, without putting up bond, but the government waived appealing Judge Dana Leigh Marks' ruling.

Veronica is a refugee from El Salvador and a survivor of gang and domestic violence. She escaped death threats from gangs in her native El Salvador. In Mexico, she was taken into captivity, denied food for days, and beaten and humiliated, when she refused to have sex for money. She was rescued by a man who would later become her husband and the father of her three children. However, he and his family eventually became abusive, punching and kicking her when she was pregnant.

Since being put in detention in January, Veronica testified from the immigration jail by video link that she has had four heart attacks.

Veronica has been experiencing headaches, nosebleeds, nausea, sleeplessness and has fainted at least four times in detention. She suffers from a heart condition, and her medications for chest pains do not seem to be working.

ICE [has] refuse[d] to release Veronica so that she can receive proper medical treatment. Dr. Nicholas Nelson from Highland Hospital in Oakland has stated that Veronica’s symptoms “could represent a number of life-threatening medical conditions,” and that “she should be promptly evaluated by a physician trained in the diagnosis and management of heart disease, to exclude a life-threatening illness.”

So today, one victim of U.S. deportation mania at least gets a chance to pursue her asylum claim. People in the Bay continue to build so that many, many more can receive protection from the community.

Resist and protect much.

1 comment:

joared said...

Glad to hear! Denying her health care is nothing short of criminal and shouldn't be allowed, especially given her medical history.