One Child Left Behind By Obama's Executive Action

    ATLANTA, GA, November 24, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- One little boy doesn't it know it yet, but he's been left out of the monumental executive decision on immigration made last week.

Two-year-old Iter Pariel Velazquez-Velasquez is one of many thousands of "border children" left behind in last week's executive decision made by President Obama, even though he termed the situation a "humanitarian crisis."

The "border children" include unaccompanied infants and toddlers who entered the U.S. last year with hopes of a new life in America; thousands were detained trying to cross the south-western American border after migrating from across Central America, fleeing persecution and hopes of a better life. They are being held in crowded detention centers, including makeshift warehouses, while US officials struggle to hold deportation hearings fast enough. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, over 52,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended since October. Even though a "humanitarian crisis," thousands have been sent back to life threatening conditions.

Young Iter's deportation hearing is set for 1 p.m. November 25th at the Atlanta Immigration Court, but he now lives in Chicago and will be traveling by Greyhound bus, sick with a burning fever, to get there. Iter is one of estimated 52,000 plus border children who arrived here this past May, many without their parents. At two-years-old, he likely has no idea exactly how he made such a journey to America and how close to death he has come to get here. For now, his immediate and unbeknownst battle is not fleeing troubled-ridden Honduras, but fighting to have his deportation moved to his new home in Chicago. Iter seeks safe haven and will request political asylum from Gang-infested Honduras. He will file his asylum application along with his mother, who traveled on an inflatable raft to make it to America. "We want to be free from free from hunger, free from death," says the boy's guardian. "Our journey and struggle is not over," she says.

The family moved to Chicago and are members of a well-known sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, headed by Pastor Emma Lozano of Adalberto United Methodist Church. The boy is scheduled to appear before Immigration Judge Earle B. Wilson in Atlanta Georgia Tuesday, and his journey on a Greyhound bus also is remarkable. This time the boy has an entourage - Pastor Emma Lozano, LULAC and an attorney will be in his corner making the trip to Atlanta to support the boy.

Julie Contreras, Illinois LULAC Immigration Affairs Committee Chair and spokesperson for Iter, says the trip the boy now is making to Atlanta from Chicago is equally ominous. "You have a two-year old child, with a burning fever, traveling on a greyhound bus from Chicago to Atlanta, to appear at his immigration hearing. Who says these children don't show up for Court? Who says they aren't fighting for their lives to stay lawfully in America? This is Iter's 'Freedom Ride'. The boy and his guardians are complying with the law, even though his trip from Chicago to Atlanta and back, in his condition, will be unbearable."

Since the President's November 20th announcement does not include the recent "border children" like young Iter, he and his mother must win their asylum case or face return to Honduras. "It's unfortunate that the President's announcement, while it certainly will keep millions of families together, will not keep the Velasquez family intact," says Christopher W. Helt, the boy's attorney. "There's no guarantee that young Iter's long journey is over, and that he won't be put on a plane to a place the State Department has called (in 2012) the murder capital of the world."

Helt believes in baby steps for the child: "We will take each day one day at a time. First we want Iter to have his case heard in his new home, Chicago. Then we will pursue the child's asylum claim. Otherwise, it will be in Atlanta if the judge refuses to transfer venue...." I am unsure how the boy will travel to Atlanta again but I can tell you the boy is a 'Superboy'. You may see him again in his little vest and tie at the Atlanta immigration court, I don't know. If he had to come to court on an inflatable raft, like he did to get to America, he would. That's because he and his guardian know the importance of having his day in Court. He just wants a fair opportunity to present his asylum case."

Helt, while acknowledging the new Executive Order doesn't protect his client still believes the boy will be allowed to stay in the U.S.: "If President Obama's executive decision doesn't protect my young client from returning to Honduras, we believe U.S. asylum law will."

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