Juana Reyes was arrested last month for selling tamales without a permit in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Now she’s facing deportation back to Mexico, even though she’s been in the country for 20 years and she’s the sole provider for her two US citizen kids.
Sounds like something that would happen in Sheriff Joe’s Arizona, right? Wrong! This happened right in California’s capital, Sacramento.
There’s a clear solution to keep trivial arrests like this from putting people into deportation — it’s called the TRUST Act, and it is now on its way through the California legislature. We just need to make sure Gov. Jerry Brown signs it.
Juana was held in jail for 13 days, and her two kids, both US citizens, were put in foster care. Who knows what will happen to them if she’s deported?
California may not have a tough anti-immigrant law like Arizona or Alabama — but for Juana and her family, we might as well.
Last year, in California alone, 75,000 immigrants like Juana were deported after being arrested for traffic offenses, selling food without permits or other trivial violations, through a federal immigration program called “Secure Communities.”
You and I both know that California is better than this. We should not be rounding up immigrants in traffic stops or for the “crime” of trying to make a better life for their kids. That’s why we’re working to pass the TRUST Act, which would keep the so-called “Secure Communities” program in California from putting hardworking moms and dads on the fast-track to deportation.
Please join me in telling Gov. Brown that California can do better! It’s time we pass the TRUST Act.
