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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2015)
QR code for Portland Observer Online ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLIV Number 44 No Place to Call Home ‘Peace Officer’ Documentary A housing crisis with no clear answers A former sheriff investigates police tactics See Local News, page 3 See Metro, page 9 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • October 14, 2015 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity photo by o livia o livia /t he p ortland o bserver Elsa Mengis of Portland (left) fights to keep her adult son from being deported out of the country because of his immigration status, drawing support from a family friend, Sonya Damtew, in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. Mother fights for son to stay in the United States by o livia o livia t he p ortland o bserver One Portland family is doing everything it can to keep their adult son, a nearly life- long Portland resident, from being deport- ed to a war-torn country in Africa because of his immigration status. Thomas Amanuel, 38, was just a one year old child when he left Eritrea with his mother, Elsa Mengis, right before a mili- tary coup deposed the country’s emperor. The family lived hidden for three years before coming to the United States, and Detention Limbo when they arrived here they were not fa- miliar with the process of fully naturaliz- ing. Years later, Amanuel said he had no idea he was undocumented, and today he has spent almost four years in immigra- tion detention, while his elderly mother and community fight for him to stay in the United States. Before being locked up, Amanuel was the main caretaker for his elderly moth- er, who is a U.S. citizen. The caring rela- tionship has drawn the support of Caring Across Generations, an organization that has gathered over 5,000 signatures in sup- port of stopping his deportation. On Wednesday, the group, along with supporters from Portland’s Center for In- tercultural Organizing, delivered their signatures to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, down- town, holding signs and raising their voic- es in hopes that they could keep him from being deported. If deported, Amanuel could be sent back to a country he does not know, and which has no record of him due to the political instability and changing regimes. At this point, he is housed at an immi- gration detention center in Bakersfield, Calif., where he awaits the next step. It is unclear where things might go, since the government cannot immediately de- C ontinued on p age 8