Update: On April 21, 2025, Alberto was granted bond and released from ICE detention. He has reunited with his wife and two children.
NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUIRED AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS!
On March 17, US immigration authorities detained Alberto, the father of a Venezuelan family of 4, separating him from his wife and two children. Despite the family having pending asylum applications, he was charged with “illegal” entry to the United States. The Trump administration has recently began using 8 U.S.C. 1325, the provision of immigration law that was the basis for the Trump administration’s family separation policy in its first term, to target individuals and families that have been in the United States for years, rather than recent arrivals at the US-Mexico border.
Amnesty International has called for an absolute ban on all deportations of individuals to Venezuela given that the country is experiencing a situation of massive human rights violations.
Call on the Trump administration to immediately release Alberto and cease the cruel practice of family separation.
- Send your message now!
- Send a letter to Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE
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Dear Mr. Lyons,
I urge you to immediately release Alberto (A# 246148371) back to his wife and two children. On March 27, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chantilly, VA, USA, unlawfully detained and separated him from his family, despite having a pending asylum claim. On March 20, 2025, he was ordered to be released by a federal judge on charges of “illegal” entry to the United States.
This is one of the first times that the United States has used 8 U.S.C. 1325, the provision of immigration law that was the basis for the Trump administration’s family separation policy in its first term, to target a family that has been in the United States for years, rather than recent arrivals at the US-Mexico border. Family separation was illegal then, and it is still illegal now.
This is a blatant and outrageous subversion of the law being used to target immigrants and separate families that have already built lives in the United States. Everyone has the right to seek asylum.
A father was ripped away from his wife and children and thrust into a system that inflicts violence and prolongs their suffering. Separating families causes long lasting trauma, particularly in children, can amount to torture, and is a flagrant breach of their human rights.
I urge you to immediately change course and release Alberto back to his family, and end the practice of family separation, family detention, mass detention, and deportations.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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