KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local man has lost his fight to stay in this country, and a group of pastors, who had been helping him in his fight, say they are heartbroken.
The group learned Josue Sandoval Perez was deported on Friday morning, the same day they held a rally in support of the Kansas City father’s cause. They had no idea as they held that rally, it was already too late. Andrew Kling with Communities Creating Opportunity, or CCO, said they had been told as of Friday that no decision had been made.
“Our hearts are breaking for Josue and his family,” said Kling. “Those kids lost their father on Friday and it didn’t need to happen.”
Kling said Sandoval’s two kids had plans to visit their father in detention on Saturday.
“They lost their family on Friday, they were misled about his whereabouts, and never got a chance to say goodbye,” said Kling.
Even worse, Kling says the family had no idea where INS had taken Sandoval.
“For a long agonizing night they didn’t know if he was alive or dead,” said Kling.
They do know now that he’s safe. But CCO calls this a moral tragedy, especially because Sandoval’s case is not unique. They say families are being ripped apart all the time, good people punished, American children like Sandoval’s left without a father.
“ICE made choices to not listen to the community in this case,” said Kling. “And we’re going to get to the bottom of that in the days ahead.”
Republicans like Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach have weighed in on this case arguing that it doesn’t matter if someone is a good person, if they broke the law, they must be deported.
