Marco Antonio Alfaro Garcia (El Salvador)
Apprehended: January 16, 2014
Interview: February 11, 2014
Determination: None
Marco Antonio Alfaro Garcia was born in El Salvador, and has lived in the United States since 2007.
In January 2014, he was arrested by local police and charged with driving under the influence. He was turned over to immigration authorities within hours, and informed that he would be sent back to El Salvador under a 2005 deportation order. Mr. Alfaro Garcia immediately told immigration officials he feared returning to El Salvador because he was twice brutally beaten by police, and feared retaliation because he had provided information on a criminal group to prosecutors.
On Feb. 11, 2014, Mr. Alfaro Garcia was finally interviewed by an asylum officer. More than two months later, Mr. Alfaro Garcia has yet to receive a reasonable fear determination. He remains detained at the Adelanto Detention Facility, located about 80 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
During Mr. Alfaro Garcia’s prolonged detention, his family has struggled financially. Prior to his detention, he was worked as a welder and was the sole breadwinner for his wife and children. Since then, his wife, who was pregnant and gave birth to a son, has tried to support her family working part time selling food. His two other U.S-citizen children, ages 4 and 3, cry daily, fearing they may never see their father again.
Nancy Bardalez Serpa (Peru)
Apprehended: February 2014
Interview: March 10, 2014
Determination: None
Nancy Bardelez Serpa was born in Peru, worked hard to receive a college degree and had established a stable life there. However, Ms. Bardalez Serpa was forced to leave Peru because a man associated with the Peruvian and Colombian cartels targeted her gender-based persecution.
She fled to the United States in July of 2012. Immigration agents apprehended Ms. Bardalez Serpa in Arizona. She was sent to an immigration detention center in Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Bardalez Serpa attempted to explain to immigration officials that she feared returning to her homeland. However, her plea was ignored and she was deported without a hearing.
She attempted to return to Peru and continue her life there. However, shortly after her return, her tormentor found her and began his persecution of her anew. Scared for her safety, Ms. Bardalez Serpa decided to seek protection in the U.S. again and attempted to enter in February of 2014. Once again, she was stopped by immigration officials and sent to a detention center in Eloy, Arizona. Ms. Bardalez Serpa was informed that she would be subject to automatic deportation because of her removal in July of 2012, but she again told officials she feared being returned to her homeland because of the harm she faces there.
In March 2014, nearly a month after she was first detained, she was finally provided a reasonable fear interview. Today, she remains detained in Arizona, awaiting a determination. She has become so distraught and depressed due to her indefinite detention, that she recently requested to withdraw her request for asylum in the United States. However, she has decided to pursue her claim. She has agreed to be a plaintiff in this lawsuit because she believes that individuals seeking protection in the United States do not deserve to be treated so unjustly.
Credy Madrid Calderon (Honduras)
Apprehended: March 3, 2014
Interview: None
Determination: None
Credy Madrid Calderon was born in Honduras. By the time he was 4, his father was dead and his mother had left for the United States in search of work. Without his parents, he endured physical, sexual and emotional abuse. He fled Honduras at the age of seventeen, and came to the United States, found work, got married and had children.
In June 2013, Mr. Madrid Calderon was stopped while driving without a license. He had no previous criminal convictions but learned he was subject to deportation due to a prior removal order issued years earlier, when he was a minor.
In September 2013, he was deported to Honduras. Shortly after he returned to his homeland he was extorted, beaten and threatened by a group of local men. Fearing for his life, Mr. Madrid Calderon fled the violence and attempted to reunite with his family in the United States.
On March 3, 2014, he was apprehended by immigration officials, and told he would be deported without an opportunity to appear before a judge because of his prior deportation order. He was eventually transferred to a South Texas detention center, where he submitted a request to officials stating he feared returning to Honduras.
He remains detained in a Richmond, California immigration jail. He has yet to receive a reasonable fear determination despite published reports that Honduras remains one of the most violent countries in the hemisphere.