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Janelie Rodriguez’s mother Jeannette holds a sign urging the release of her daughter as she speaks to the press. Daily Record file photo by Denise Cathey

Petitions delivered on behalf of woman held by ICE

Sunday, September 2, 2018

The mother of a Hays County resident facing deportation has delivered a petition bearing hundreds of signatures to U.S. Rep. Will Hurd’s office in San Antonio asking for her daughter’s release.

Janelie Rodriguez, a 25-year-old former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, suffers from severe mental health issues. When her parents called the police to report a mental health episode in October 2017, she was arrested for biting an officer — a felony offense. Hays County court records show that she also misdemeanor charges of evading arrest and resisting arrest. Judge Bill Henry ordered a psychological report on Rodriguez and, after reviewing the report, dropped the felony charge. Judge David Glickler ordered Rodriguez released with time served for the misdemeanor charges. However, ICE put a detainer on Rodriguez and she remained in custody at the Hays County Jail until she was sent to an ICE detention center in July.

Rodriguez, whose family lives in Buda, is currently in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pearsall — which is in Hurd’s district — awaiting an immigration hearing scheduled for Sept. 5. Rodriguez’s mother fears that if she is sent back to Mexico, a country she has not been in since she was three years old, she will be prostituted or killed due to her mental condition.

Local grassroots immigrant rights group Mano Amiga accompanied Rodriguez’s mother, Janeth, to Hurd’s congressional office. The delivery of the petition came a day after Mano Amiga organized a phone campaign in which participants called government officials to demand Janelie Rodriguez’s release. The delegation visiting Hurd’s office yesterday also had a letter from Hurd’s colleague, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, asking for her release.

“Thank you, Mano Amiga, for your advocacy for Janelie and her family,” the letter states. “I do not believe that ICE is equipped to provide her the mental health treatment which she requires. And deporting her will certainly not help her get any treatment. She doesn’t need detention; she needs treatment to get well. I am respectfully requesting ICE to drop the hold or at least release Janelie on her own recognizance to allow her to get the medical care treatment that she clearly needs.”

“Janelie does not want to be part of U.S. Rep. Hurd’s district, but she happens to be unjustly held at the Pearsall Detention Facility that belongs to Hurd’s district. This is not a matter of political or geographic division but a matter of justice and solidarity. A family has been torn apart and we, Mano Amiga, acknowledge U.S. Rep. Hurd has the power to intervene and to help reunite Janelie with her family,” said Beatriz Gomez, a Mano Amiga organizer, in a press release.

“Congressman Hurd is known to have a heart for immigrants who are ensnared in deportation due to mental illness, and we hope he won’t turn his back on Janelie now. We look forward to Hurd joining his colleague Congressman Doggett by doing all he can to secure Janelie’s urgent release. We trust the Congressman will reject the misguided logic that Janelie, an involuntary resident of Pearsall for two months now, is somehow not his constituent. Hurd may not want to be Janelie’s congressman, but her address is Pearsall now and there is no doubt she much more so would prefer to not be his constituent. Hurd has tremendous power in urging ICE to let Janelie return home to her safety net, medical care and loving family in Buda,” said Jordan Buckley, another Mano Amiga member.

The petition to free Janelie Rodriguez can be found online at https://bit.ly/2MKyffk.

rblackburn@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @arobingoestweet

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666