TACOMA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A local farmworker rights activist will be returning to Mexico after being detained by ICE since March of this year.
A lawyer for Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino told the Seattle Times that his client has chosen to leave the country by “voluntary departure” instead of applying for asylum.
Voluntary departure is similar to self-deportation, with some differences, and could allow Juarez Zeferino to return to the U.S. someday.
Lelo said in a statement read by supporters outside the NW Detention Center in Tacoma that he made the decision, in part, because he couldn’t stand the conditions inside. He’s been holding on in hopes of being released on bond but there’s no guarantee, and the Tacoma immigration court has been one of the toughest in the nation.
My Bellingham Now previously reported that Lelo was forcibly removed from his vehicle by ICE agents in late March while he was dropping off his partner at her workplace in Mount Vernon.
An immigration court date for Lelo was initially scheduled for November, but a judge on Monday, July 14 granted his request for voluntary departure.
His lawyer says Lelo could be in Mexico within the next week.
