Julio Rodriguez, a stalwart comrade of ours from Los Angeles, has been held in prison since Saturday under threat of immediate deportation. We will not let another one of our brothers be kidnapped from us by the racist state!
Julio is an anarchist youth organizer with the Youth Justice Coalition and RiseUp LA, radical groups that run out of Chuco’s Justice Center in Inglewood, CA. He is a student at Free LA High School at Chuco’s where he is studying to get his GED. Julio is prominent in the LA punk scene, organizing and promoting DIY shows, and encouraging the politicization and education of kids in the scene.
This past Saturday, Julio was hosting a Cinco de Mayo party at his house. When he noticed that someone had stolen his laptop, he shut down the party and told everyone they needed to leave, but a group of them refused. Julio knocked on the side of their car to get them to leave, but rather than drive away, the group called 911. The Sherriff’s deputies arrived and arrested Julio for vandalism. He was taken to Men’s Central Jail where he is currently detained. Julio’s family posted bail for him on Sunday, but ICE put an immigration hold on him and will not allow him to be released until the hold is resolved. If the immigration hold is not dropped, Julio will be transferred to an ICE detention facility and then be deported to Mexico, where he has not lived since his infancy.
Just this past week on May 1st Julio was marching next to us in the streets waving the red and black. Now after being taken in by the cops on bogus charges he is being held captive with his future hanging in the balance. His friends and comrades across LA have been mobilizing to organize his support and get him out. We’re asking everyone to begin by taking the simple steps of calling ICE and signing a petition on his behalf to encourage ICE to do the easy thing and let him out.
Please sign this petition for Julio:
http://action.dreamactivist.org/california/julio/
Please call these ICE numbers and encourage others to call:
1. Call ICE National
John Morton, Director National Headquarters
(202) 732-3000
2. Office of Principal Legal Advisor
Debra Workeneh, Acting Chief Counsel
(213) 894-2805
3. Enforcement and Removal Operations
Los Angeles Field Office
Phone: (213) 830-7911
4. Office of Professional Responsibility
ICE Office of Professional Responsibility
Assistant Special Agent in Charge-Los Angeles
(562) 980-3170
5. A branch of homeland security that deals with removals
ERO: 213-830-7911
Sample Script: “I am calling to urge ICE to lift the immigration hold on Julio Rodriguez (case # 205-311-867) so he can be released from Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles County, California. Julio is 22 years old and has been living in the U.S. from a young age. He is DREAM Act eligible and a valued member of his community. Release Julio from Men’s Central Jail.”
We will do everything we can here in Los Angeles to make sure that Julio goes free!
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