Herta: One Day to Deportation

by Dave Bennion

Published August 18, 2009 @ 01:30AM PT

[Urgent: Please click through here to fax ICE and ask them to defer Herta's deportation. Even if you have already signed the petition or called Senators, this what you can do right now to have an impact.]

Undocumented student Herta Llusho is facing deportation back to Albania after living in the United States since the age of 11.  She graduated from high school with a 4.05 GPA and is currently an engineering student at University of Detroit Mercy. Herta has volunteered in her community and is an active member of her church.

Herta's community has rallied around her cause, sponsoring a rally at Herta's church last night.  Channel 7 News in Detroit covered it here (video above).

I spoke to Herta's brother, Lirjon, on the phone last night after the rally. Lirjon is fighting hard to keep his family from being split up again. I asked him what message had been transmitted at the rally, and he talked about how the community had come together on short notice to express their support for Herta.  He spoke about his family's pastor, who spoke at the rally and quoted a verse from the Bible saying that what the lord requires of a person is that they do justice. Herta's pastor talked about the injustice of Herta's situation.

This is Herta's request (via Dreamactivist.org):

The Llusho family, along with the national organization DreamActivist.org, community groups, and legislators, are calling for the Department of Homeland Security to grant Herta a deferred action on her removal. This would allow her to remain in the country while she pursues her college education and the time for Congress to consider immigration reform, particularly the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act would allow immigrant students who were brought the to the US as children, such as Herta, to become permanent residents upon completing college or military service, thereby allowing these students to fulfill their potential and fully contribute the their communities.

Listen to Herta and Matias on KPFK radio Los Angeles (Aug. 17 at 8:00 p.m., starts at 3:10).

Read Herta's brother's first comment asking about her case on a post I wrote about the success of Dreamactivist and SEIU in stopping the deportation of Dream student Taha Mowla.  Because Lirjon reached out after seeing a case like his sister's, we were able to put him in touch with Dreamactivist students who are now working around the clock to publicize Herta's case and secure a stay of deportation from DHS.

The hope and optimism expressed by Herta, her fellow Dreamers, and Herta's community, stands in stark contrast to the angry opposition from people who don't believe Herta should have a chance to continue her education and contribute to her community here in the United States despite all her achievements.  Here are a couple of representative comments from the Channel 7 story:

Yeah here is just One Example. They don't slip thru the system . The System is not doing there JOB. I mean 8 years and this is just coming out. Send them Back. And Our Goverment needs to Be lookin in to how many more are there out there like these. And they wonder why 9/11 happend. Our goverment gives these People Visa's and forget about them they Live off or System and get free rides to School and so forth then they want to take us out. The heck with that Send them all BACK!

Sooo you mean... they have been here for 8 years and the MOM does not speak 1 word of English??? Send them back! Evidently the the political asylum was a ploy to stay their @sses here... Send them BACK!!! another illegal trying to manipulate the system...

Are comments like those the reason that mainstream media outlets often refrain from covering stories like Herta's?  Kyle wonders why DHS is not following its stated objectives of transparency and accountability by refusing to comment to those media outlets who are asking for information from the government:

It looks to me as if traditional media outlets have not been much more successful than I have been, as DHS has not commented for stories on Detroit Public Radio, in the Detroit Free Press, or in the Detroit News.  DHS is a government agency.  It should be accountable and transparent to the people of the United States.  Instead ICE is just as opaque as it was during the Bush administration.  This despite the fact that Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI) have both written letters in support of Herta, and over thirty media outlets, large and small, have written about Herta's case.

Kyle also asks that we take these actions:

1: Call LaSal Austin, director of the local DHS in Michigan, at 313-259-8562. Demand that he take legislators' leads and take immediate action to defer the deportation of Herta Llusho.

2: Call John Morton, Director of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), at the live comment line (i.e. a human being will pick up and take your message) at 202-732-3000 . Let the person know you are calling to leave a message of support for Herta Llusho.  Be very polite and when the operator says s/he is ready to take down the message let them know why you want Herta to stay in the community, tell the person you would appreciate it if they would let the local Field director, either Mr. Austin or Vincent Clausen know that you are asking for them to defer action on Herta's deportation tomorrow, Wednesday August 19th.

Don't wait! Take action before it is too late for Herta and her family!