Press release: ICE illegally deports asylum seekers from Vermont

### For Immediate Release ###

ICE illegally deports asylum seekers from Vermont

Mother and two children detained, deported to Honduras despite community outcry

A family has been deported to Honduras, in violation of the government’s legal protections for asylum seekers. Greisy Mejia, 29, came to the United States with her nine-year-old daughter and infant son fleeing for her life. Rather than allow her to apply for relief from deportation, immigration agents detained Greisy and her children yesterday in St. Albans, VT. 

As dozens of community members gathered for an emergency rally outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, Greisy and her children were driven away. They were put on a plane and deported to Honduras. ICE carried out this deportation despite protections guaranteeing individuals who express fear of persecution in their country of origin an interview with an asylum officer.

Brett Stokes, an attorney with the Center for Justice Reform and Vermont Law and Graduate School, and the attorney for the family, said: “When ICE detains someone who expresses a fear of returning to their country of origin, that individual MUST be afforded an opportunity to to demonstrate their fear of return is reasonable. Greisy and her children were not afforded that opportunity here. ICE's actions here are contrary to law and agency policy.”

Late last year – following extortion and threats from organized crime – Greisy and her family fled Honduras to seek asylum in the United States. When she arrived at the border, she was detained. Though Greisy told Border Patrol agents that she feared for her life, she was not allowed to apply for asylum. Instead, she and her children were deported. 

Knowing that staying in Honduras could be a death sentence, Greisy again attempted to come to the U.S earlier this year. Because they had denied her the opportunity to request asylum the first time, Greisy decided not to turn herself into Border Patrol again; instead, she crossed the border, hoping to join her family in Vermont.

Because of their vulnerable position, Greisy and her children were kidnapped as soon as they made it across. The kidnappers held them for weeks, abused them, and demanded $9,000 ransom from her family. Greisy and her children were finally able to escape and reach a police officer in Uvalde, Texas.

Following their escape from the kidnappers, Greisy was once more handed over to Border Patrol. She was given an ankle monitor, put under an order of supervision, and allowed to travel to Vermont. Upon arriving in Vermont, Greisy connected with Migrant Justice and was in the process of applying for asylum and for a special visa available to victims of human trafficking.

After several routine appointments with ICE, Greisy was asked to return to their office in St. Albans, VT with her two kids. ICE agents knew that she would be filing a petition to request to remain in the U.S. and implied that they might remove her ankle monitor. 

Yesterday, July 9th, Greisy and her two kids reported to the ICE office. They remained in the waiting room for six hours, held without food, under the pretense that ICE would consider Greisy’s petition for relief. When agents finally appeared, they arrested Greisy, her nine-year-old daughter, and infant son.

The family’s attorneys at the Center for Justice Reform (CFJR) of Vermont Law and Graduate School attempted to file an emergency application for a “Stay of Removal” to stop their deportation, but ICE would not accept the application at its Vermont office. Instead, the agency put the family on a plane to Honduras, where they arrived this afternoon.

We denounce this cruel and horrific abuse. ICE needlessly and knowingly sent a family back to a country where their lives will be at risk – in violation of the law and the agency’s own guidelines. We hold ICE responsible for any harm that comes to Greisy and her family. This is an attack against the entire immigrant community. Migrant Justice mourns the deportation of this family and – alongside our partners at CFJR and the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project – will continue to fight for their safe return to the United States.