DETROIT—Families of immigrants facing
deportation gathered Wednesday along with immigration advocates and faith
leaders to express their frustration and to call out Detroit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field director,
Rebecca Adducci.

The supporters of the rally argue that Adducci is destroying
families and ignoring the directions of Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, which oversees ICE. Local Arab and Latino Americans rallied together
for immigration reform.

This action highlighted two
prominent Detroit-area deportation cases; those of Ever Cornejo and Alvero
Lopez. Both men are productive community members with American families
including children. Cornjero has two boys and two girls, and Alvero is a single
father with a pair of daughters. The action of deportation would devastate each
family and leave one family with children orphaned and vulnerable.

“We
are here fighting for the Detroit ICE Director to stop playing politics and
follow the guidelines from Secretary of Homeland Security to save these
families,” said Rev. Jack Egglston of
Southeast Michigan Synod. “The director should realize that there are
children at risk here. If these individuals are deported, families will be
broken up and children will become orphans. It is inhumane to create that
situation for anyone.”

The rally comes after immigration
activists celebrated a ruling from a federal judge granting an injunction in
the deportation case of Jose Adolfo Zaldana. Michigan
United has been fighting to prevent Jose Adolfo’s deportation to El Salvador
where he could lose his life. Family members of Adolfo say that he’s only one
of many and that Adducci needs to step up and stop endangering families.

“We are not
the only family suffering this injustice. Rebecca Adducci is putting the lives
hundreds of hardworking immigrant parents and American children at risk,” said U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, Rene Moreno.
“Our families are contributing greatly to the community. Even from detention,
Jose Adolfo asks us to help other detainees whom cannot afford to pay for a
phone call to their family. There are thousands of good people, like Jose
Adolfo, unfairly detained and punished for being a good Christian. Adducci
cannot ignore us, our families cannot afford it.”