Dozens Protest Scheduled Deportation of Salvadoran Arrested During Jail Visit

Dozens of supporters of a Salvadoran immigrant scheduled for deportation protested Tuesday outside a federal immigration agency, saying the man had no criminal history and was unfairly targeted.In February, Mario Amaya, a 38-year-old unauthorized immigrant, went to visit someone in a Kaufman County jail when his immigration status was checked and he was detained, said Farheen Siddiqi, an attorney with the public interest firm of Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES.Such county and federal government cooperation unfairly targets undocumented immigrants who have committed no criminal offenses, Siddiqi said. At the Dallas County jail, visitors are required to show a government-issued photo ID, which are issued only to those lawfully in the U.S.Amaya was originally ordered deported in 2005 after he failed to show up for an immigration court hearing in Harlingen. He is now at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado and may be sent back to El Salvador as soon as Wednesday.  Continue reading...

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