Mississippi immigrant's lawyers rush to stop deportation
Attorneys for an undocumented immigrant who was detained after speaking at a news conference are asking that she be brought before a judge and granted a hearing.
Daniela Vargas, 22, who has been in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Wednesday morning, shortly after speaking at a news conference in downtown Jackson, according to her attorney, Abby Peterson.
Vargas, who came to the United States from Argentina when she was 7 years old, is being treated as a "visa overstay" and therefore does not have the right to a bond or a hearing.
Her story quickly went national, and multiple groups have joined together to help fight her case.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Immigration Law Center, the law firm of Elmore & Peterson and the Law Office of William Most filed a habeas petition on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Alexandria Division, according to Michelle Lapointe, senior staff attorney at SPLC.
Lapointe said the attorneys were working collectively to seek an expedited hearing from a federal judge to delay and possibly stop Vargas' deportation.
"We're going to ask the court for this petition to be heard in an expedited fashion so we can get her out of detention and be able to fight her deportation," Lapointe said.
Lapointe said Vargas could face deportation "at any time."
When reached for comment Tuesday morning, ICE spokesman Thomas Byrd said there were "no new updates" in Vargas' case.
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Naomi Tsu, deputy legal director for the SPLC, said Vargas was an asset to the community in which she lived. Her detention served as a symbol to other immigrants not to speak out for fear of retaliation, Tsu said.
“Detaining Dany just minutes after she spoke publicly about immigrants’ rights appears to be nothing short of ICE retaliating against somebody who dared assert their First Amendment rights,” Tsu said in a release issued Monday. “Dany, an aspiring math teacher and active community member, is not a threat to her community. Her detention only serves to chill free speech and stoke fear throughout immigrant communities.”
Lapointe said, by picking Vargas up moments after she spoke out, ICE possibly violated Vargas' First Amendment right to free speech without retaliation.
"The law is clear," she said. "All people in the United States, including non-citizens, enjoy the rights to freedom of speech and expression. The First Amendment precludes law enforcement from retaliating against immigrants from speaking out."
Peterson said she hoped Vargas would soon be free from detention and could pursue her dreams of living and working in America.
“Daniela is an accomplished young woman who grew up in the United States and has devoted her time and efforts to her studies, her family, and her work,” she said. “ICE’s decision to pursue and apprehend Daniela following several news stories in which she spoke out about ICE enforcement evidences a clear abuse of discretion. We hope to soon secure the release of Daniela and remind everyone that ICE’s broadened enforcement authority will not curtail fundamental human rights.”
Contact Sarah Fowler at 601-961-7303 or sfowler@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook and Twitter .