ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rep. Joe Morelle spoke on the House Floor on Tuesday, calling for the release of a Rochester business owner who has been held in ICE custody for months.
Omar Ramos-Jimenez, originally from Mexico, is being held at the federal immigration detention center in Batavia. Court paperwork says Ramos-Jimenez has been living in the U.S. illegally for 21 years, since September 2004. Morelle spoke about his visit with Ramos-Jimenez at the detention center, calling him an upstanding member of the community.
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“He is not a danger to anyone. He is not a flight risk. He is a husband, a father, a neighbor, and as we spoke, he kept repeating the same words: ‘I just want to go home’,” Morelle said.
According to Morelle, ICE plans to transfer Ramos-Jimenez out of New York State. In February, a judge denied a petition to release Ramos-Jimenez from custody. His attorney filed a motion to appeal the denial.
According to his attorney, immigration agents took Ramos-Jimenez into custody after he went to the Buffalo ICE Field Office on Dec. 3 for a “routine check-in appointment.” He was ordered to do regular check-ins with ICE ever since being detained in 2013.
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