After eight months in detention, a Chicago father's health conditions have worsened drastically and his family and community are demanding his release before Thanksgiving.
The family of Wilmer Catalan Ramirez will be submitting a request for prosecutorial discretion, asking that local field ICE Director, Ricardo Wong, release Wilmer before Thanksgiving. Wilmer's health has been deteriorating throughout his time in detention and is now reaching a critical point.
WHAT: Rally and submission of prosecutorial discretion request for Wilmer Catalan Ramirez. The event will include testimonies from Wilmer's family, legal representatives, and community organizers.
WHEN: Thursday, November 16, 2017; 10:00 AM
WHERE: Outside of Immigration Enforcement Office, 101 West Congress Parkway, Chicago, Illinois.
WHO: Celene Adame, wife of Wilmer Catalan Ramirez; Yaxal Sobrevilla, deportation defense organizer for Organized Communities Against Deportations ( OCAD ); NIJC lawyer
WHY: Wilmer has been detained in the McHenry County Detention Center since March 27, 2017, and has received limited health care throughout his time there. When ICE agents detained Wilmer in his home, Wilmer was still recuperating from a shooting he had been a victim to weeks prior. It has taken litigation and ongoing community pressure for Wilmer to receive minimal health care. The seizures and high blood pressure that Wilmer is now experiencing is evidence of how being held in detention has drastically affected his health and overall well-being. Since the seizures started happening, staff at McHenry Detention Center have told Wilmer to throw his mattress on the ground and drink water whenever he feels a seizure coming on, treating the seriousness of his condition with the utmost negligence, to the point of abuse.
Director of Chicago's ICE Field Office, Ricardo Wong, has the power to immediately release Wilmer by granting his request for prosecutorial discretion. Wilmer is fighting for his life in detention, and a detention center is incapable of providing any substantial medical care that Wilmer, a victim of multiple gunshots, needs. Wilmer's recent seizures and high blood pressure are clear indications that his health is deteriorating rapidly and needs to be released back to his community in Chicago immediately.
Founded in 1985, the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center is one of the premier civil rightslawfirms in the United States. The MacArthur Justice Center has offices in Chicago, St. Louis, NewOrleans, and Oxford, MS. For additional information, visit law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/macarthur Follow us onTwitter ( @MacArthrJustice ) and on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/macarthurjusticecenter ) for timelyupdates.
Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center ( NIJC ) is dedicated to ensuring human rights protections and access to justice for all immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
The National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild ( NIPNLG ) is a national non-profit organization that provides legal assistance to immigrant communities, legal practitioners, and advocates working to protect the rights of noncitizens.
Organized Communities Against Deportations ( OCAD ), an undocumented-led organization that fights against the deportation and criminalization of Black and brown immigrant communities.