“The idea that a decorated combat veteran who is carrying his U.S. passport, his military I.D., his military tags, and his driver’s license—that you call ICE on that person is just hard to understand how that could possibly happen. I think we should honor our veterans not deport them.”
You just heard from Miriam Aukerman. She is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. Here, Aukerman is referencing the case of Jilmar Ramoz-Gomez, who was arrested by the Grand Rapids Police Department on a trespassing charge.
“Our police department arrested Jilmar Ramos-Gomez on November 21stafter he set a fire and gained access to the heliport at Spectrum Butterworth Hospital.”
That is David Kiddle, Interim Police Chief for GRPD in a public statement. Kiddle says they believed the trespassing was a possible act of terrorism they contacted federal authorities including Immigration Customs Enforcement.
“It is standard for local police agencies to contact federal authorities anytime there is a possible act of terrorism, and our department policy requires this notification when terrorism may be involved.”
Because he is a Latino man, says Aukerman, she believes GRPD contacted ICE even though he had enough evidence in his wallet to prove he is an American citizen.
“It is hard to imagine that this would happen to someone who is white. If they had arrested a John Smith who had his U.S passport on him it is hard to imagine that they would have called ICE and yet here they did, and we want to know why.”
Ramos-Gomez was transported to a detention after completing his sentence at the Kent County Jail. He was held for three days under the threat of deportation, until a local attorney provided enough information proving Ramos-Gomez is an American citizen. ICE then released him.
Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News.
