- Merwil Gutià à ? ï ? ? ï ? ?rrez is a 19-year-old immigrant who fled Venezuela's dictatorship and has an immigration court case pending. He does not have a criminal record in either the United States or Venezuela and does not have any tattoos. According to a witness to his arrest, one agent told the other that Gutie'rrez was not the person they were looking for. The other member of Trump's Gestapo replied: "Take him anyway."
- Andry Josà à ? ï ? ? ï ? ? Hernà à ? ï ? ? ï ? ?ndez Romero is a 31-year-old makeup artist and hairdresser who fled persecution in Venezuela stemming from his sexual orientation and political views. He crossed the southern border last August to attend a prearranged asylum appointment. According to his friends, family, and lawyers, he has never committed a crime and the only "gang" he ever belonged to was "Los Mini Reyes," his hometown's youth drama group.
- The Trump administration says Jerce Reyes Barrios was "in the United States illegally," but he entered the United States using the CBP One app. The professional soccer player and children's soccer coach did not have a criminal record in Venezuela, but the Department of Homeland Security claimed that his tattoos indicated he had affiliations with a gang. Evidence "about the source of the tattoo and his lack of criminal record" was enough to get him transferred out of maximum security and have a hearing set for April 17. Trump bypassed the courts and shipped him off to an El Salvadorian gulag, where he has not been heard from since. He has been "disappeared."
These actions have been taken in the name of the American people. Instead of accepting the world's tired, poor, and "huddled masses yearning to breathe free," we have become a country that has succumbed to xenophobia and bigotry. Has the "lamp beside the golden door" been permanently extinguished?
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
- Emma Lazarus, November 2, 1883
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, and serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visitwww.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
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