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On Mon. Jan. 30, The Ohio State University Chapter of the United
Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), Immigration Rights organizer
Rubén Castilla Herrera, DREAM Act potential students and
supporters, faith leaders and mental health professionals
partnered with UndocumentedOhio.com and DreamActivist.org., to
bring attention to her plight. They met at the Ohio Union on the
campus of The Ohio State University, Columbus.
Undocumented Ohio is led by undocumented immigrant youth that
advocate for immigrant rights.
Plus, all throughout the United States, other groups have
rallied to support Ms. Hernández on the same day. Supporters
joined in solidarity in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago,
Detroit, New York City, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco,
Raleigh, NC, Tallahassee, FL, Birmingham, AL, Harrisonburg, VA,
and Cincinnati, OH.
Over 4,000 supporters have signed onto a national petition that
demands she be reunited with her family.
Jacqueline Luna,
from MSW, said “The worst thing you could probably do to someone
who is suicidal is to leave them alone in their moments of
crisis. Deporting someone where they have no support system is
doing just that, which will most likely increase their risk of
suicide.”
An immigration judge ordered Ms. Hernandez’s deportation, Jan.
25, 2012, to be deported on Tues., January 31.
Ms. Hernández, 22, from Cincinnati, was placed into deportation
proceedings after she was arrested and charged with drunken
driving in April of 2011 and after she failed to provide proper
identification, according to Fairfield Municipal Court records,
UndocumentedOhio.com and DreamActivist.org. Ms. Hernández was
also charged with forgery; she was sentenced to 9 months in
jail, according to court documents and DreamActivist.org.
Ms. Hernández crossed the border into the United States at the
age of 13, and has since then worked to support herself. She has
not been in Mexico in nearly 10 years, and her entire immediate
family lives in Ohio. She dropped out of school at a young age,
and at age 15 she worked in an aircraft manufacturing plant.
Ms. Hernández reportedly has been suffering from severe
depression and attempted to commit suicide in October of 2009.
Her depression went untreated, and she began to self-medicate
with alcohol, according to UndocumentedOhio.com and
DreamActivist.org.
Marco Saavedra, an organizer, and close friend of Ms. Hernández
said while detained, her depression worsened, “She attempted
suicide after she begged to just be deported. When her request
was rejected, out of desperation, she attempted to take her own
life.”
In November of 2011, Joaquin Luna, an undocumented
immigrant from Texas, allegedly took his own life due to his
immigration status, according to DreamActivist.org and
UndocumentedOhio.com
Jonathan Pérez,
organizer with the Immigrant Youth Coalition in California, said
“We are so worried for Yanelli, she is a part of our community
and as undocumented youth we are going to do everything we can
to make sure she gets all of the help she needs.”
Wilfredo Santamaria,
third year, History of Art major, Latina/o Studies minor from
Cleveland said “We feel this is important, as USASers, because
we fight injustice through labor. I also feel that we are
fighting for Yanelli’s human rights by fighting for her
immigrant rights, especially because she is being denied
treatment of her mental health.”
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