Argentina who told the story of undocumented prisoners in the United States speaks. and was deported – 04/04/2019

On Monday, the phone was cut and he was held incommunicado in a Florida center, where he had been detained since February. On Tuesday, they told him to take his things: the same evening, it would be deported from the United States to Argentina and he suspects that it was because of a documentary in which he participated, in which criticize the conditions of arrest of undocumented immigrants. A few hours after arriving in Buenos Aires, a city where he feels "strange" today, he spoke with Claudio Rojas Clarin and said that he did not doubt that his deportation was "Retaliation for the film" and that they violated their freedom of expression.

Rojas, 53, born in San Martín, worked in a supermarket. In 2000, he decided to try his luck near Miami, where he traveled with a tourist visa that has expired later. He worked as a mason, gardener, "of all that an immigrant does," he told this correspondent.

Clarin Bulletins

What happened today? We tell you the most important news of the day and what will happen tomorrow when you get up

Monday to Friday afternoon.

In 2012 it was arrested for the first time in the Broward Transition Center in Pompano Beach, in southeastern Florida, where he spent almost 7 months despite not having a history of crimes. It was then the administration of Barack Obama and, in general, those who had no record were released.

He then met two young militants who had infiltrated the detention center to report irregularities. He helped them to get information inside the place. Rojas was released on condition that he appear every few years before the authorities to control his situation. I even had a work permit.

Look also

The years pbaded and the Rojas affair became the central theme of Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra's documentary "The Infiltrators", presented in February at the Miami Film Festival, where activists denounced Overcrowding conditions, unscrupulous lawyers taking advantage of immigrants and shady relationships in Broward Detention Center. "We started to plan how we could get information without responsible officials realizing what we were doing." We developed a plan to distribute activists' phone numbers, which detainees pbaded on to their loved ones. so they're contacted and they helped them with the lawyers, "says Rojas, because many lawyers have asked for money in advance without doing anything.

But Rojas, who worked without problems for years, could not get to the premiere of the film: two days before, on February 27, He was arrested without much explanation when he appeared before the authorities, as he usually did. The film had already been seen at another festival in Utah.

While the conditions under Donald Trump's reign are much tougher with immigrants, Rojas' case drew national attention a few days ago, while he was about to "get on with it." to be expelled. Democrat MP Debbie Mucarsel-Powell called deportation deed "Inhuman, cruel and seems to have a political motivation" in your Twitter account.

A spokesman for the legislator said Clarin "The acts of the Trump administration in this particular case were curious, his arrest and expulsion having taken place after the broadcast of the documentary.The Congressman believes that the separation of families as a tool of terror is cruel and will continue to advocate for a just immigration policy that values ​​humanity. "Rojas' lawyer, Sandy Pineda, said Clarin who had asked the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) to investigate a former Argentine employer for alleged abuse of work. This complaint is to the Ministry of Labor and they hope that, if a favorable result is obtained, it can be granted. a T visa, which is issued to victims of trafficking in human beings and manpower. So I could go back there.

Look also

"I was free with a driver's license, a work permit, Social Security for eight years and I had never had any problems.I think my arrest and deportation were reprisals they had taken to the film and violated my rights of expression, "said Rojas.

The Argentinian left his wife in Miramar, Florida, with two children (Emiliano, 30, and David, 21) and a newborn. He stays with his sister, visits his nephews. But his dream is to come back.

"Here I feel weird, I do not know, I'm lost, Nineteen years have pbaded. Gardel says that 20 years is nothing, but yes, everything has changed. I feel like a stranger, "Carlos murmurs, adding sadly:" But I do not lose hope of coming back, of being able to bring my wife and enjoy the family and from Argentina. But as tourists. "

Washington. Corresponding

DD

Look also