1 week Ago
AURORA, Colorado — A 22-year-old Venezuelan man was transferred to El Salvador despite having no final order of removal from the United States, according to an attorney who appeared in immigration court on his behalf this week. Monique Sherman, Managing Attorney of the Detention Program at Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, appeared as a "friend of the court" for Yohendry Jerez-Hernandez at an immigration court hearing that he was unable to attend this week. "I'm here to appear as a friend of the court for one of the gentlemen that we believe was taken to El Salvador," Sherman said.
"He is from Venezuela, and he was taken to El Salvador even though he doesn't have a final order of removal." According to a family friend, Jerez-Hernandez was detained at the end of January. He was being held at the GEO Detention Facility in Aurora until March when he was later transferred to Texas before deportation to El Salvador.
According to Sherman, he didn't have a final order of removal. 9NEWS could also not find any criminal record tying him to any crimes happening in the United States. Jerez-Hernandez was deported by President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act , used to circumvent necessary court hearings to otherwise deport people.
On Wednesday, Sherman appeared in court on behalf of Jerez-Hernandez to ensure the court was aware of his situation and to obtain information about his whereabouts and the government's plans for his case. During the hearing, the judge noted Jerez-Hernandez's absence but did not ask the lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security many questions about why he failed to appear. "The DHS attorney did not indicate anything actually about Yohendry's whereabouts," Sherman said after the hearing.
"Instead, they just repeated a canned line about what they had been instructed to say. In fact, they said that was all of the information they were authorized to provide to the court today." According to Sherman, the government attorney simply stated that Jerez-Hernandez was "not at this facility" and requested the case be held in abeyance.
Instead, the judge administratively closed the case, meaning no further court dates will be scheduled unless someone files a motion to re-calendar the case. "The court didn't actually ask the department any questions about Yohendry's whereabouts, which was really concerning to me," Sherman said. "I think it is really a miscarriage of justice when individuals are removed from the country when there has been no removal order in their case and the government won't even say where they are.
" Sarah Jaffe, who knows Jerez-Hernandez's family, said his mother learned of his deportation to El Salvador by seeing a photo of him at the El Salvadoran prison. "I saw her first post about it on social media that also had a picture of him getting his head shaved. I was just so horrified, I ran into the room and told my husband, I am going to throw up," Jaffe recounted.
Jaffe met the family at Floyd Bennett Field shortly after they arrived in the United States. She developed a close relationship with them since then and is now advocating to learn more information about why their eldest son was sent to El Salvador. "It's just heartbreaking," Jaffe said.
"There is this real heaviness to all of them. His 15 and 13-year-old sisters just look stricken. It's a combination of grief and terrible fear.
" Jerez-Hernandez had moved to Colorado to live with friends shortly after the family's arrival in search of better work opportunities, according to Jaffe. His family never would have expected that he would end up detained and then be sent to El Salvador. "As it is famous for, once you are in that prison, you do not get phone calls," Jaffe said.
"You are essentially in a black hole, might as well be in space. You are not reachable anymore." Jaffe said the family hasn't had any contact with him for several weeks.
The lack of communication has left the family in a state of uncertainty and fear. "It's so horrible and honestly, his mother doesn't even know if he is still alive. We have no information," Jaffe said.
"There was certainly never any notification of the family that this was about to happen." Sherman emphasized that due process is guaranteed by the Constitution and applies to individuals in removal proceedings, not just American citizens. In this case, she said none of the due process was given to Jerez-Hernandez.
"What it says is that you get an opportunity to present your defense," Sherman said. "That is not being provided in these cases, and one of the concerns that I have is this is just a first step. We rely on due process throughout the justice system in all kinds of cases, not just immigration cases.
What we are seeing in these cases is that people are not having an opportunity to exercise their due process rights." Sherman explained that under U.S.
law if the Department of Homeland Security decides to send someone to a country other than their home country, that person must have an opportunity to contest the decision and express any fears of removal to that country. Jerez-Hernandez also did not have that opportunity to contest being sent to El Salvador and according to Jaffe, likely would not have contested being sent to his home country of Venezuela. "That did not happen in any of these cases, to my knowledge," Jaffe said.
Sherman expressed her frustration with the lack of due process or explanation as to why Jerez-Hernandez was sent to El Salvador. "It is really hard to sit in court and to see the government simply not provide any information to judges about the whereabouts of people who are in the government's custody, and it is also really hard to watch judges fail to ask questions," she said..
