Thousands of Montgomery County residents have begun a campaign to prevent the impending deportation of 19-year-old Montgomery College student Jorge Steven Acuna to Colombia.
Acuna immigrated to the United States with his father, Jorge, and his mother, Blanca, at age 8. Though the family sought political asylum, they were denied. They ignored the order to leave and have been since been living in the country illegally. The three are currently being held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Now nearly 4,000 people have signed a petition asking for Acuna’s release. The campaign has created a Facebook page to raise awareness and has attracted the support of the entire Montgomery County Council, who issued a statement urging the White House and Department of Homeland Security to release Acuna and to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Acuna was an honor student at Northwest High School and is a semester away from graduating from Montgomery College, according to the Council’s statement. He aspires to be a surgeon, an online video says.
The council referenced a similar case in Florida in which a Miami high school valedictorian’s deportation was deferred for two years. “We encourage ICE to use the same good judgment again, this time in the case of the Acuña Family.”
