Veterans group calls for release of Phoenix Army vet by immigration agents
Veterans group calls for release of Phoenix Army vet by immigration agents
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'I have to be his voice': Wife of US veteran detained by ICE speaks
Tanisha Hartwell-Parris of Phoenix talks about her husband being detained by ICE. Marlon Parris is a military veteran but had a criminal conviction.
Marlon Parris, an Iraq War veteran, is facing deportation after being detained by ICE despite legally residing in the U.S. for over 20 years.
Common Defense, a veterans' organization, has launched a petition and is urging the government to protection veterans from deportation.
A national veterans group is calling for the release of an Iraq War veteran who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside his Laveen neighborhood.
Marlon Parris faces deportation after ICE agents detained him on Jan. 22 while he was driving to an ATM. He is being held at a private prison facility in Florence in ICE custody.
Parris had been in the country legally for more than 20 years and served three deployments in the Army.
He and his wife, Tanisha Hartwell-Parris, believe he was targeted as part of President Donald Trump's increased immigration enforcement efforts, which include a focus on people convicted of crimes. Parris, in 2011, pled guilty to a nonviolent felony drug charge and served five years in prison. Before he was released, ICE agents visited Parris in prison, telling him that due to his service to the country and the nonviolent nature of his conviction, they would not seek to deport him.
Upon learning Parris' story, Common Defense, a grassroots veterans advocacy organization, launched a petition calling for his release.
"Veterans who have raised their right hand to serve this country, regardless of what we sent them to do, regardless of where they originated from, do not ever deserve to be tossed away," said Jojo Sweatt, a Marine Corps veteran and organizing director for Common Defense. "They deserve citizenship here in the United States, and they deserve to be protected, honored and respected and allocated all the resources that they need based on anything that they've been suffering from because of that commitment and sacrifice to service."
Sweatt said Common Defense was calling for the release of Parris from custody and the return of his green card. She also said President Trump should sign an executive order protecting service members from deportation and repatriate any deported veterans.
"If this administration really does care about equity in the military and honoring the service of those who make that sacrifice, then they need to all be brought home, and they need to all be given their legal status," she said.
Michael Chappell, a U.S. Navy veteran who lives in Tucson, said he believed the Trump administration was unjustly targeting Parris.
"When you get home from service, you expect that your government, your country, is going to take care of you," he said. "And this is the farthest thing from that."
Chappell now serves as a program director for Veteran Engagement & Trail Stewardship at the Arizona Trial Association, where veterans can take part in trail restoration and engage in therapeutic recovery with their fellow service members.
He said veterans face significant challenges when trying to reenter society.
"I'm hoping he's able to keep it together because I'm sure this experience has done nothing to help his PTSD," Chapell said.
Parris' wife said he has a pending bond hearing, at which point she hopes he can be released on his own recognizance.
An online ICE portal shows a hearing scheduled for Parris on Feb. 27 in an immigration court in Florence.
Sweatt said Common Defense had contacted political leaders and tried to get them to support Parris' release. She worries that his case is not unique and was encouraging friends and family members of deported veterans to contact Common Defense for assistance.
"There's likely more Marlons out there that have been affected," she said.
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