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Uriel sits at Wake County jail with an ICE hold
In Uriel’s criminal record, you will find a DWI and several traffic violations. He had been charged with assault, but it was dismissed by the person who brought the charge forward. Some of the traffic violations haven’t been resolved because he didn’t have the money to pay off court costs, so they are pending cases. Not being able to obtain a driver license due to his immigration status also doesn’t help.
This does not merit deportation. ICE thinks his misdemeanors say more about him than being a good father and providing for his sisters. ICE thinks a DWI says more about Uriel than the fact that he’s a loving father to his 2-year old baby boy Julian. How will ICE explain to Julian when he’s older that his father’s minor slip-ups, no different than those of documented residents, justified taking his father away?
Uriel Alberto is a 24-year-old with dreams and aspirations—with flaws and virtues—who faces good times and bad like all of us. His life hasn’t been without obstacles; as a matter of fact, Uriel was forced to grow up quicker than most when his father left his family. He had to provide for his siblings and his mother. Soon after taking on those responsibilities, he faced the reality, like many of us, of being undocumented after graduating from high school.
“My name is Uriel Alberto. I’m undocumented, unafraid, unashamed..”
Earning an athletic scholarship to run track could’ve turned the tables for him. His coaches saw his potential. Yet, when he did earn one, he had to turn it down because of his status. But Uriel did not give up. He persevered until he was able to enroll in college. He attended Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk. He even made it to the Dean’s list. Yes, the Dean’s list. This same person who sits on a chair in a jumpsuit in the picture above.
Uriel should not be under an ICE hold right now, and to deport him would be un-American. He’s in there for revealing his immigration status in an unwelcoming place: our state legislature. Uriel stepped up to the plate. He isn’t hiding. He is facing up to his life, mistakes and all. He stood up for us, and we stand with him.
Ask for the day off! We need your support in Charlotte on Thursday at 8:30 am for Uriel’s immigration bond hearing. More details to come. RSVP to the Facebook event here.
ICE will have to prove that a misdemeanor is worth tearing a family apart! #FreeUriel
Also, SIGN the petition for Uriel! If you can, consider making a donation for his bond. Thank you.
SIGN THE PETITION
Check out pictures from last night’s Vigil for Uriel outside of Wake County jail where he is on hunger strike. Uriel stopped eating last Friday. Your help is still needed to release Uriel. Keep checking in for further updates and action alerts. Thank you for your support!
ICE thinks his misdemeanors say more about him than being a good father and providing for his sisters. #FreeUriel
ICE isn’t making anyone safer by taking a father away from his son. #FreeUriel
Documented and undocumented, students, poets, and teachers support Uriel. #FreeUriel
ICE has to prove that deporting Uriel is worth tearing a family apart. #FreeUriel
Uriel has gone without food for a whole week now. ICE has refused to drop the hold. Uriel needs your support now more than ever. We need to see you at the Vigil for Uriel this evening. It starts at 6:30 pm in front of the Wake County jail.
SIGN the online petition.
Photo courtesy of La Conexion
Undocumented youth across NC are dropping the fear and taking a stand. We’re coming out about our immigration status because our communities are under attack. This is what Uriel did last Wednesday. He stood up for us and we will stand up for him until he is released. You see, it’s tough to be in that jailhouse. So we need your support, not just in words, but in action. Join us this evening at 6:30 pm in front of Wake County jail. The address is 330 South Salisbury Street in Raleigh. Members of the triad-based immigrant youth group El Cambio will be there. Giovanna, Silvia, and Eric, youth who have also refused to eat until Uriel is released, will be present at this vigil. They too need your support at this time.
If you can’t make it tonight, but want to support, consider making a donation for Uriel’s bond here.
Remember to SIGN and share the online petition, as well.
Thank you for your support!
SIGN the online petition!
It’s been 155 hours since Uriel decided to stop eating as he sits in Wake County jail with an ICE detainer. The national immigration office has stated it will not drop the hold on Uriel. But, Uriel is not alone. His friends are joining him and have decided to give up food until Uriel is out of the claws of the immigration enforcement machine. Last Wednesday, in an act of courage to come out of the shadows, Uriel and the rest of the #Raleigh3 stood up against anti-immigrant legislators spewing language of hate and discussing what anti-immigrant bill to pass next. As undocumented youth, one would assume we’d be terrified and staying in the shadows, without a single spark of hope. But you see, this is not the case. Following Wednesday’s act of courage inside the NC legislature by our brave #Raleigh3, undocumented youth have decided to come out about their status. Realizing that remaining in the shadows is no longer acceptable as our undocumented community continues to be criminalized and marginalized, undocumented youth are redefining our value as human beings and it will no longer be determined by a social security number. Uriel, who still remains detained at Wake County jail, is proof of this. He isn’t sitting back and mourning his detention. He is remaining strong and has given up food inside the jail to send out a message that, although detained, he will continue to take a stand. Outside or inside detention, we will organize and we will fight back.
Cristina Alberto, Uriel’s sister
Uriel’s older sister, Cristina, has also refused to eat until she sees her brother released: ”My brother helped me go to school, without him I wouldn’t have been able to make the decision to go to college.”
El Cambio member Eric Martinez has also refused to eat until Uriel is released.
Continue calling Washington DC ICE at (202) 732-3000 on behalf of Uriel. When you call, say this:
“Hi, I was calling to ask that ICE drop the hold on Uriel Alberto (A#089-828-718). According to president Obama, he should not be facing deportation because he is Dream Act eligible. He is the father of a US citizen child and sole caretaker of his sisters. He stood up for his community and should be back home with his family. Please drop the ICE hold immediately. Thank you.”
If you haven’t yet, SIGN the online petition and ask your friends to sign it as well.
Thank you for your support!
Video by Josh Davis (undocumentary.tumblr.com)
Last week, we brought a group of high school youth to the Immigration Committee meeting at the NC Legislature when undocumented youth, including Uriel Alberto, stood up declaring themselves undocumented and unafraid. Most of them had never seen someone declare their status publicly, let alone in front of such a hostile crowd. When Uriel stood up and said, “My name is Uriel Alberto. I am undocumented and I am unafraid. I refuse to be bullied and intimidated by this committee and choose to empower my community” he truly did just that-Uriel empowered the youth that were in that meeting with him, and countless others who have seen the videos, read the blogs, articles, and everything that has happened since.
One of the youth present that day was Jaime, or “Li’l James” as we lovingly call him, a freshman at Carrboro High School. Jaime was incredibly moved by Uriel’s strength and resilience and decided to write a poem about what it meant to be undocumented in the committee meeting that day. He reflected on Uriel’s continued detention and hunger strike. He presented it at a local open mic presented by The Sacrificial Poets, an event that usually draws a big crowd.
Originally, Jaime was going to present his poem with another youth. And when she said she was unsure and nervous about it, Jaime encouraged her by telling her a story about going to an amusement park with his friends. He had never been on a roller coaster before and was terrified ahead of time, but he forced himself to do it. His mind changed once he was on the roller coaster and having the time of his life. Jaime told his friend, “I bet it’ll be like that, super scary before hand, but in the end it’ll feel awesome!” On the way to the open mic event, Jaime was nervous about not only coming out publicly for the first time, but also about reading a poem in front of a large crowd. I told him his own roller coaster story and he shot back at me, “that’s my story, you can’t use it on me!”
Jaime’s poem (as you can see above) was a big hit and he walked off that night with the biggest smile I’ve seen. As we were walking out, I asked him if it was like his roller coaster story and he said it was. Jaime feels so happy that he did it, and finished his poem by passing out flyers asking the audience to take action for Uriel. I’ll ask you to do the same, on behalf of Li’l James. Sign the petition and call ICE ( (202.732.3000).
Uriel took action in order to empower his peers, like Jaime. Now let’s empower ourselves to take action for Uriel.
Join Jaime, the hunger strikers from Winston-Salem, and our community this Friday in front of the Wake County Jail as we hold a vigil for Uriel. And for more empowering spoken word, go see Poetic Portraits of A Revolution at the Carrboro ArtsCenter this Thursday, Saturday or Sunday. A group of us went last Friday after a press conference for Uriel, and we left feeling rejuvenated and motivated to keep fighting.
It’s been well over 100 hours now since Uriel Alberto started a hunger strike inside the Wake County jail where he is being held with an ICE detainer. Continue making those calls to Washington DC ICE at (202) 732-3000. Tell them this:
“Hi, I was calling to ask that ICE drop the hold on Uriel Alberto (A#089-828-718). According to president Obama, he should not be facing deportation because he is Dream Act eligible. He is the father of a US citizen child and sole caretaker of his sisters. He stood up for his community and should be back home with his family. Please drop the ICE hold NOW!”
Silvia Rodriguez, El Cambio
In the meantime, members of the triad-based youth organization, El Cambio, are on hunger strike in solidarity with Uriel. Along with Giovanna Hurtado, Silvia Rodriguez has also stated she will refuse to eat until Uriel is released.
Uriel has gone over 100 hours without food at the Wake County jail. He stood up for us last Wednesday at a House Committee meeting where anti-immigrant legislators discussed which anti-immigrant law to pass next. You see, this committee wants North Carolina to become the next Alabama. They have already put us on that path by introducing legislation that could ban us from stepping foot into a college or university. Uriel is at Wake County jail at this very moment because he raised his voice and refused to remain in the shadows. Continue making the calls to DC ICE at (202) 732-3000. We cannot stop until he is released.
Sample script:
“Hi, I was calling to ask that ICE drop the hold on Uriel Alberto (A#089-828-718). According to president Obama, he should not be facing deportation because he is Dream Act eligible. He is the father of a US citizen child and sole caretaker of his sisters. He stood up for his community and should be back home with his family. Please drop the ICE hold NOW!”
Thank you for your support!
P.S. Don’t forget to SIGN the petition. Thank you.
Friends, Family, and Allies:
Uriel Alberto has gone on hunger strike inside the Wake County jail. ICE has refused to drop the hold up to this point. Yet, Cynthia Martinez and Estephania Mijangos were released on Thursday after their ICE holds were dropped. Uriel should also be released. He was arrested for speaking out to expose the anti-immigrant agenda of the house select committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy of which 8 of its 12 members are primary sponsors of anti-immigrant bills introduced right here in our home state of North Carolina. He has communicated that he will refuse to eat until ICE drops the hold and he is released. It has been over 96 hours since he started the strike. But, you see, Uriel is not alone.
Giovanna Hurtado
Here in North Carolina, as in across the country, undocumented youth believe no one fights alone. Uriel came out “Undocumented and Unafraid” for his community, for us. And we will do the same for him. Member of the triad-based undocumented youth organization, El Cambio - Giovanna Hurtado - declared she too will refuse to eat until Uriel is released. She announced her decision to stand in solidarity with Uriel at last night’s vigil for Uriel in Winston Salem. Along with Giovanna, other El Cambio members including Wooten Gough, Weslyn Gough, Keren Salim, Mustafa Abdullah, and Silvia Rodriguez announced they too refuse to eat until Uriel is released.
You too can stand in solidarity with Uriel! Make sure to keep calling DC ICE at (202) 732-3000.
Sample script: “Hi, I was calling to ask that ICE drop the hold on Uriel Alberto (A#089-828-718). According to president Obama, he should not be facing deportation because he is Dream Act eligible. He is the father of a US citizen child and sole caretaker of his sisters. He stood up for his community and should be back home with his family. Please drop the ICE hold NOW!”
Make sure to sign the petition asking ICE to release Uriel. Sign, share, and repost on your facebook wall.
Thank you for your support!
Call ICE Now!
Call DC ICE Now! Tell ICE to drop the hold on Uriel Alberto (A# 089-828-718).
Washington DC ICE: (202) 732-3000
Sample script: ”Hi, I was calling to ask that ICE drop the hold on Uriel Alberto (A#089-828-718). According to president Obama, he should not be facing deportation because he is Dream Act eligible. He is the father of a US citizen child and sole caretaker of his sisters. He stood up for his community and should be back home with his family. Please drop the ICE hold NOW!”
Four other ways to stand up for Uriel:
SIGN the petition asking ICE to drop the hold on Uriel.
Share this with 5 other friends.
Write a message of support to thank Uriel for taking a stand for us here.
Attend tonight’s vigil in Winston-Salem from 7pm to 10pm. Find out more about it by clicking here.
Thank you for your support!
Today, Estephania Mijangos, Cynthia Martinez, & Uriel Alberto rose their voices for our undocumented immigrant community. We need your help to get them out of detention and your calls are extremely important to make this happen. Like Senators Durbin and Reid often do, please ask our own representatives and senators to take action and intervene on their behalf and ask them to drop their ICE holds.
Photo courtesy of La Conexion
Cynthia Martinez: A#200-203-134, Estephania Mijangos: A#05-213-502, Uriel Alberto: A#089-828-718
Call Sen. Kay Hagan: (202) 224-6342
Call Rep. Brad Miller: (202) 225-3032
Call Rep. David Price: (202) 225-1784
Script: “Hello, My name is__________, and I am calling on behalf of_________, with an A-Number____________. I am asking that, like Senators Reid and Durbin often do, __________ (insert Senator/Representative) intervene on their behalf and ask ICE to drop the hold immediately. Thank you.”
Please check back in for further updates and ways to help us get the #Raleigh3 released immediately!
