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February 17th, 2018 
Awake Goy Texas High Schoolers Walk Out To Protest ICE Detaining Of Student
Above Photo: Neon Tommy/ Flickr
Dennis Rivera-Sarmiento, 19, was arrested following an altercation at Stephen F. Austin Senior High School. He could be deported.
Students at Austin HS walk out in protest of student who was detained by ICE #FreeDennis @abc13houston pic.twitter.com/84oOHxxG34
— Mayra Moreno ABC13 (@MayraABC13) February 14, 2018
HOUSTON, TX — Dozens of high schoolers in Houston walked out of class on Wednesday in support of a classmate who was living in the United States illegally and was detained by federal immigration authorities following a fight at school. Dennis Rivera-Sarmiento, a 19-year-old student at Stephen F. Austin Senior High School in the Greater Eastwood neighborhood, was arrested on Jan. 30 on a charge he assaulted a student.
Court documents allege Rivera-Sarmiento struck a female in the head with his fist, KTRK-TV reported.
But the immigrant advocacy organization United We Dream says Rivera-Sarmiento was defending himself against bullies who were making fun of him over his immigration status. The group says the bullies even threw bottles at him.
“Things escalated and he found himself in an altercation with one of the bullies,” the group said in a petition seeking his release.
School district police arrested Rivera-Sarmiento on assault charges, which the district attorney filed, and he was moved to the Harris County Jail.
“Dennis was eligible for, and paid, a $2,000 bond, but instead of being released to his family, the Sheriff’s Department handed him over to ICE,” the advocacy organization said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Rivera-Sarmiento was never told his rights and information he gave alerted ICE that he was at the jail, the group said.
Deportation officers lodged an immigration detainer with the jail for Rivera-Sarmiento and ICE took custody of him that day, spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa told Patch in an email.
In March 2013, Rivera-Sarmiento was given an expedited order of removal and was freed on an order of supervision, Zamarripa said.
Expedited removals happen when an immigrant is denied entry into the United States and is “usually physically removed, usually from a U.S. port of entry,” an ICE official said. Some people are allowed to stay in the country for awhile though under a supervision order. They have to regularly report to ICE.
“This gives the alien time to prepare for their departure from the United States,” ICE said.
Rivera-Sarmiento last reported to ICE in October 2013, Zamarripa says. He never contacted ICE after that and was supposed to leave the country by March 5, 2014.
An ICE official said the agency continues to focus on people who “pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.”
Rivera-Sarmiento was accepted to both Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Lamar University and planned to study computer science. If deported, he will be sent to Honduras, which immigration advocates described as a place of “extreme violence and insecurity.” He will also not be able to graduate in May or attend college this fall.
“The outrageous reality is that too many systems have failed Dennis and many other immigrant youth,” the group said.
The group added: “Teachers, students, friends and Dennis’ family are outraged. It is time to take action and help Dennis’ deportation be stopped!”
Source Article from https://popularresistance.org/texas-high-schoolers-walk-out-to-protest-ice-detaining-of-student/
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