A family has been deported to Honduras, in violation of the government’s legal protections for asylum seekers. Greisy Mejia, 29, came to the United States with her nine-year-old daughter and infant son fleeing for her life. Upon their arrival, they were kidnapped and held for ransom. Rather than allow her to apply for relief from deportation, immigration agents detained Greisy and her children and deported them to Honduras.

Add your name to petition the government for the safe return of Greisy and her children to the United States. She is now applying to return to the country, based on her status as a victim of human trafficking. Read the background on Greisy's case – along with a statement that she sent from Honduras – and sign the petition today.

All additional comments will be shared with Greisy, so please add any messages of support that you would like her to see. And if you live in Vermont and would like to be added to Migrant Justice's "Rapid Response" network to receive texts to respond to future immigration arrests, please provide your cell phone number and opt in to receive messages.

Background

“When the ICE agents told me that they were going to deport us to Honduras, my world flipped upside down again. I cried, begging them to just send me back, to let my children stay in Vermont where it’s safe. It didn’t matter what happened to me, just that my children were protected. But no one listened to me.”

Late last year – following extortion and threats from organized crime – Greisy and her family fled Honduras to seek asylum in the United States. When she arrived at the border, she was detained. Though Greisy told Border Patrol agents that she feared for her life, she was not allowed to apply for asylum. Instead, she and her children were deported.

Knowing that staying in Honduras could be a death sentence, Greisy again attempted to come to the U.S earlier this year. Because they had denied her the opportunity to request asylum the first time, Greisy decided not to turn herself into Border Patrol again; instead, she crossed the border, hoping to join her family in Vermont.

Because of their vulnerable position, Greisy and her children were kidnapped as soon as they made it across. The kidnappers held them for weeks, abused them, and demanded $9,000 ransom from her family. Greisy and her children were finally able to escape and reach a police officer in Uvalde, Texas.

Following their escape from the kidnappers, Greisy was once more handed over to Border Patrol. She was given an ankle monitor, put under an order of supervision, and allowed to travel to Vermont. Upon arriving in Vermont, Greisy connected with Migrant Justice and was in the process of applying for asylum and for a special visa available to victims of human trafficking.

After several routine appointments with ICE, Greisy was asked to return to their office in St. Albans, VT with her two kids. ICE agents knew that she would be filing a petition to request to remain in the U.S. and implied that they might remove her ankle monitor.

On July 9th, Greisy and her two kids reported to the ICE office. They remained in the waiting room for six hours, held without food, under the pretense that ICE would consider Greisy’s petition for relief. When agents finally appeared, they arrested Greisy, her nine-year-old daughter, and infant son.

The family’s attorneys attempted to file an emergency application for a “Stay of Removal” to stop their deportation, but ICE would not accept the application at its Vermont office. Instead, the agency put the family on a plane to Honduras, where they arrived the following day. ICE carried out this deportation despite protections guaranteeing individuals who express fear of persecution in their country of origin an interview with an asylum officer.

Greisy is now working with her attorneys at the Center for Justice Reform of Vermont Law and Graduate School and the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project to find a way for her and her kids to return to the United States. Given the family’s experience as victims of human trafficking, the government has the authority to permit Greisy and her children legal entry to the country. Please show your support for her return!

Unable to return to her hometown because of the threats against her life, Greisy and her kids are now staying at a hotel. From the hotel room, she wrote this statement:

When the ICE agents told me that they were going to deport us to Honduras, my world flipped upside down again. I cried, begging them to just send me back, to let my children stay in Vermont where it’s safe. It didn’t matter what happened to me, just that my children were protected. But no one listened to me.

Since ICE left us at the airport in Honduras, I’ve been stuck in a hotel with my two small children. We can’t leave because I’m afraid that the people who threatened our lives know that we’re in Honduras again. I haven’t slept since we were sent back. I wake up at 3am thinking that someone is knocking on the door of the hotel room. I hold my children tight and dream of running far from this place, but we have nowhere to go.

As a mother, I feel so powerless. I’m heartbroken listening to my daughter cry because she wants to go back to school, because she wants to go outside and play. My baby cries all day. They cry because they want to be with their dad.

I can't stand this nightmare anymore. I want to turn myself over to the people that want to kill my family just so that they’ll let my children be happy and free. I just want my children to have a life where they don’t have to be afraid of anything. I pray that God gives us the opportunity to return to where my children can run in the backyard, where I can take them to the park without being afraid of what might happen to them.

If something happens to us, I just want to thank everyone who has supported my family. God bless you for everything you gave us since we arrived in Vermont, and the support you continue to show now that we’re back in Honduras. And thank you to my husband who has always fought for us. We love you so much. God bless you all.