The Case of Jean Montrevil

Think about a child who has to live in fear every day that her parents and her siblings will be sent away—back to a dangerous country where her father could be shot and the rest of the family sent into exile. And the child herself could be left alone, because alone among her family she is the only U.S. citizen.

That child was my mother. But soon, this could also be the children of community activist Jean Montrevil. He may be going home to Haiti. Problem: His home is actually in the United States.

Montrevil’s story starts in 1986, when he came legally to this country as a teenager with his family. His father died, his family was in disarray, and he made some bad choices. He ended up with a drug conviction, and served an eleven-year sentence.

He was supposed to be deported, but at the time, Haiti was refusing all deportees. Montrevil was released and remained in the United States.

He started a new life: got married, became the father of four children, and was a leader in the Haitian community in New York City. His activist work extends to Families for Freedom, an immigration rights group, and the New Sanctuary Movement, also a group advocating for changes in immigration laws. He’s also done work for a variety of charities. He ran his own business. In other words, his contributions to his community are extensive and his ties to the United States are deeply rooted.

And it wasn’t like Montrevil tried to hide from immigration authorities. He did regular check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. They knew all about his history and his current situation. And right before New Year’s Eve, during one of those routine check-ins, ICE officers, with no explanation, suddenly arrested him.

The Kafka-esque scenario, the one so feared by my mother growing up, began. Montrevil’s children were deprived of their father, their questions unanswered. No one would tell his wife anything, which is often standard procedure during these arrests. Later, she discovered he’d been taken to a jail in Pennsylvania, where she cannot visit him. It can be impossible to find out any information at all: detention facility locations are often kept secret.

A week later, there is still no definite word on Montrevil’s fate, although a statement has been made saying that in cases like Montrevil’s, deportation is automatic. Montrevil was referred to as an “aggravated felon with a significant criminal record.” In point of fact, ICE has the discretion to simply ignore status anomalies of people who are living peacefully and productively within the United States. Clearly they’d done that with Montrevil for years. Since he’d already done time for his adolescent drug conviction, this begs the question: was Montrevil’s sudden arrest triggered by his activist activities?

Consider that his deportation is not even supported by the Haitian government itself. Haiti’s president, Rene Garcia Preval, has asked that the United States give temporary protected status to all Haitians in the U.S. This has been done in the past for other nationals from war-torn countries or those who have escaped oppressive regimes, and Haiti is suffering from political and economic upheaval. But President. Obama has remained silent in response.

In fact, Obama’s silence on this whole issue is deeply troubling. He ran on a platform that included immigration reform, gaining a lot of voter support as a result. Early in 2009, he promised to move forward with plans with changes to laws that were first introduced under Clinton and further tightened during the Bush regime. But now he’s retreated from his original timetable. White House sources imply that the health care bill and the economy have delayed attention to immigration reform.

But what could be more important than ensuring that people who play valuable roles in our communities can’t be spirited away without explanation or appeal?

And what could be more important to our country’s future than making sure that the children of all families live with the same security—so that they can grow up whole and undamaged and make their own contributions to our shared life together?