What: Rally and delivery of over 500 signatures asking David Deweese, Supervising Officer at the Customs Enforcement (ICE) Immigration Office to Stop the Deportation of Angel Bustos

When: November 14, 2014 - 10am

Where: Customs Enforcement (ICE) Immigration Office - Leveque Tower - 50 W. Broad St., Suite 306 - Columbus, Ohio 43215

Who: April Withrow; wife of Angel Bustos, family members, people of faith, friends and allies

Columbus, Ohio- As the nation waits on President Obama to unveil his “Ten Point Plan” for overhauling the U.S. Immigration policy via executive action which may suspend deportations for millions: one family in Columbus may be broken apart soon.

When Ángel Bustos arrived at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Columbus on October 27, he never imagined may never see his wife and son again. Ángel was accustomed to weekly meetings with ICE while his petition to remain in the US was being processed. David Deweese, supervising ICE officer for the Columbus field office, denied Ángel’s petition.

Ángel was arrested and has been in detention for over two weeks. Today Ángel is fighting to stay with family and asking Deweese to exercise prosecutorial discretion to make this happen.

Ángel came to the U.S. in 2004 to earn money to support his parents and siblings. He has no criminal record and poses no threat to public or national security. The DHS’s frequent deportation of low-level offenders, undocumented minors, and breadwinners for U.S. citizens has rallied immigrant rights activists and organizers asking to “Stop The Deportations”.

“My only thought is to be with my son, I want to go back to playing fútbol with Christian in the park near our apartment, and I make sure that Christian takes his medicine”, stated Angel from the Morrow County Correctional Facility. Time with his father is important for Christian whose ADHD requires the patience that Ángel is eager to provide.

April, Ángel’s wife, became a single mother and had to move back in with her mother in order to share the responsibilities of caring for Christian while also working a full-time job. “It’s important for the Department of Homeland Security to consider my unique and severe hardships. I can’t bear to think how my world would be turned upside down if I lost him to deportation. Our son Christian and I both need him here.” she said.

The Central Ohio Worker Center has been assisting and supporting the Bustos Rodriguez family and working to keep the family together. “The President needs to take action immediately and stop separating families across this country. In Columbus, Ohio, this is real. I’m tired of families being broken apart”, said Ruben Castilla Herrera, Immigrant Rights Organizer and spokesperson for the Central Ohio Worker Center.