On March 3, Max Villatoro, a Mennonite pastor in Iowa, a husband, and a father to four US citizen children, was arrested as part of the US government’s “Operation Cross Check.” This nationwide, five-day operation targeted immigrants whom Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said “pose the greatest risk to our public safety.” It was the sixth such operation since 2011.
As a result of the March operation, which resulted in the arrest of 2059 immigrants, “communities around the country are safer,” Mayorkas asserted. The government provided a half-dozen examples of individuals apprehended who had committed serious crimes.
Villatoro was an unauthorized immigrant from Honduras who had apparently been living in the US for two decades. According to news reports, he was arrested on the basis of two convictions from over 15 years ago – one for buying false identification to obtain a driver’s license, and another for driving under the influence.
Villatoro’s sudden arrest resulted in an enormous outpouring of support from hundreds of local pastors, community members, and a US congressman.
But last Friday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Villatoro had been deported to Honduras.
When President Barack Obama announced executive actions meant to provide a temporary reprieve from deportation for millions of unauthorized immigrants, he declared that his administration was focused on deporting “felons, not families.” But Villatoro’s story makes clear how misleading this formulation is. Despite his criminal record, it’s hard to see how deporting Villatoro makes his community – or the country – any safer.
Sadly, Villatoro’s is not an isolated case. Over the years, I have met countless “criminal aliens” whose US citizen families have suffered grievously because their loved ones were deported and barred from returning to the US, often after minor or old offenses and regardless of strong evidence of rehabilitation. Rather than keeping families together, the Obama administration’s deportation strategy has actively torn families apart because of its failure to distinguish between non-citizens who actually pose a threat to public safety and immigrants like Villatoro.
Human Rights Watch has long advocated for amendments to abusive immigration laws that apply a one-size-fits-all approach to non-citizens with criminal convictions, with little individualized consideration of the person and the impact deportation would have on their family. Until Congress acts, Obama can and should protect families by exercising discretion in favor of immigrants like Villatoro, who truly deserved a second chance.
