This is Anderson Peraza, a 10-year-old student at East Baltimore’s Hampstead Hill Academy. On March 9, Anderson’s dad Jesus Peraza dropped him off at school like he did every day. On his way back home, Jesus was stopped by Immigration Control Enforcement (ICE) agents to be deported to Honduras, a country he fled ten years earlier.
Jesus Peraza has no criminal record. For 10 years, he lived in Baltimore, working and raising a family. He applied for asylum, saying he feared for his life after witnessing a murder, but his application was rejected.
Like Mr. Peraza, many Baltimore residents may have feasible claims to stay in the United States; however, those claims are likely to fail without access to legal representation. Help us protect families by donating to OSI-Baltimore’s Safe City Baltimore immigrant education and defense fund, created in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs (MIMA) and several community groups.
According to a report issued by ICE, the number of “non-criminal” arrests between January 22nd and April 29th increased 150% compared to the same time period in 2016.
The goal of this campaign is to raise $500,000 to educate immigrant communities about their rights and increase access to legal services for immigrants with viable claims to remain in the United States.
Thanks to generous donations, we are 60% of the way toward our goal, but in order to respond to the needs of our local immigrant communities, we need more generous donors to contribute.
For more information or to make a donation, please visit https://www.osibaltimore.org/safecitybaltimore/
