Support Petition for Jenny's Stay of Deportation

To:  Immigration and Customs Enforcement

We, the undersigned, support the request for a stay of removal for Jenny Aguilar in order to not separate her from her three U.S. citizen children while her request for relief under the Violence Against Women Act is being adjudicated.

Jenny came to the United States at the age of 17, leaving behind the turmoil that gripped Central America during the late 80’s and early 90’s. She has been here for 18 years, marrying a U.S. Permanent Resident and raising her beautiful family here. All three of Jenny's minor children were born in Florida. Jenny gained legal status in the United States after Hurricane Mitch ravaged Honduras in the late 1990’s.

Jenny, a survivor of domestic violence, is a hard-working entrepreneur who founded her own trucking company to support her children. She has received virtually no support from her husband but has instead endured a violent and abusive relationship, and her petition for protection under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is currently pending. Unfortunately, during the course of one of the many physical attacks by her husband, he was injured, and Jenny was prosecuted. As a result, she was stripped of her legal status in the United States.

Two weeks ago, Jenny was apprehended at her family home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She has been placed under electronic monitoring, and been told to buy a plane ticket to depart from the United States by October 8, 2009. Her children, ages 15, 11 and 2, are now faced with the prospect of either following their mother to the current chaos in Honduras, or being divided from their mother and potentially entering the Florida foster care system.

Nobody wins here. It is for this reason that we support Jenny’s request to temporarily stay her removal to allow her domestic violence petition to be decided.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Support Petition for Jenny's Stay of Deportation Petition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created by South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice and written by Erin Marth (erinmarth@sfiwj.org).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.