Hartford, CT – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today wrote to Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking reconsideration of the decision to deport Derby father Luis Barrios. Both Blumenthal and Murphy have repeatedly reached out to ICE officials and have received no information to justify the action 

“It does not appear that Mr. Barrios poses a threat to the integrity of the immigration system. Mr. Barrios has no aggravated felonies, felonies, or misdemeanors in the United States, is a productive and valued member of his community, and has four U.S. citizen children. Based on these factors, we respectfully ask that his request for prosecutorial discretion be granted,” the Senators wrote.

Full text of the letter is available here and copied below. 

May 1, 2017
Thomas D. Homan
Acting Director
Department of Homeland Security
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
500 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20536
 
Dear Director Homan:

We write on behalf of our constituent, Mr. Luis Barrios (A070 892 693; DOB: September 21, 1965), from Derby, Connecticut.  We have been informed that Mr. Barrios has been directed to return to Guatemala on May 4, which prompted our urgent request for the consideration of prosecutorial discretion in his case. Based on Mr. Barrios’s strong ties to the community, including four U.S. citizen children, his lack of an arrest record, and the credible threat of violence against him if he is forced to return to Guatemala, we believe prosecutorial discretion is warranted.

It is our understanding that Mr. Barrios entered the United States without inspection in 1992 after being warned to flee his home country because his father was being threatened. We have been told that multiple members of Mr. Barrios’s family have subsequently been killed, and he has reasonable fears of being targeted himself if he returns to Guatemala. 

Mr. Barrios has four children, ages 19, 16, and twin 11-year-olds, who are all U.S. citizens. We are informed that Mr. Barrios has been employed by Pease Septic for the past thirteen years and is a valued employee. Mr. Barrios owns his home and pays for his daughter’s tuition at the University of Bridgeport. Since his wife is unemployed, Mr. Barrios’s removal would leave his dependents without support, potentially posing a significant burden on the state. 

Mr. Barrios’s Motion to Reopen Order of Removal, filed on April 17, 2017, is currently pending with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). It is our understanding that a stay was also filed with the BIA and that ICE denied his request for a Stay of Removal on March 2, 2017, but that previous stay requests filed over the past five years have all been granted. We are unaware of any recent adverse events that should prompt ICE’s most recent denial.

Based on the information available to us, it does not appear that Mr. Barrios poses a threat to the integrity of the immigration system. According to the information that has been provided to us, Barrios has no aggravated felonies, felonies, or misdemeanors in the United States, is a productive and valued member of his community, and has four U.S. citizen children. Based on these factors, we respectfully ask that his request for prosecutorial discretion be granted.                                                              

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.  

Sincerely,

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