Jean & Jani

Country of Origin: Haiti

Currently Living in: Brooklyn, NY

SIGN THE PETITION TO FREE JEAN MONTREVIL!!

1/8/10: Article in New America Media (here)

More articles at the New Sanctuary Coalition blog.

1/5/10 Press Release: 8 Clergy Arrested to Stop Immigration Policies That Tear Families Apart: Supporters Escalate Protests Demanding Release of Immigrant Rights Leader 

New York, NY – At a rally attended by over a hundred people outside the Varick Street Immigrant Detention Center, eight clergy and two community leaders were arrested after stopping traffic for a half hour to prevent vans transporting new immigrant detainees to the center.  The participants called for the release of detained immigrant rights leader, and father of four US-born children, Jean Montrevil. They also demanded reform of draconian immigration laws separation of families.

The Rev. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church, where Montrevil’s family worships, stated: “I am being arrested because it is a moral outrage that our government would do this to such a great man and father. These immigration laws that destroy families contradict the values we should uphold as a society. They need to change now.”

Montrevil entered the U.S. from Haiti in 1986 as a legal permanent resident. Homeland Security is trying to de-legalize him for a 1989 drug conviction, for which Montrevil already served 11 years. He has kept a clean record ever since. Detained on December 30th during a routine check-in, Montrevil is now held in Pennsylvania’s York County Prison, where he has begun a hunger strike. “I am fasting side-by-side with nearly 60 others to take a stand against this horrific deportation and detention system that is tearing families apart,” he explains.

“Our son keeps calling Jean’s cell phone, hoping daddy will pick up.
He asks me, ‘Why are they pretending daddy is bad, so he will go back
to Haiti?’” says Mrs. Montrevil. “Jean made mistakes before we started
building a family together. Homeland Security wants to turn me into a
single mother.”Jean’s 6-year-old son Jahsiah also suffers from severe
asthma, which has been aggravated since his father’s detention.

A community leader, Montrevil became a national spokesperson for the Child Citizen Protection Act (H.R. 182), a House proposal that would bring due process into the deportation system by allowing immigration judges to consider the best interests of American children before deporting a parent. The proposal is part of Representative Luis Gutierrez’s recently introduced bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act (H.R. 4321). 

"Jean Montrevil's case is precisely why we need to see the provisions
of the Child Citizen Protection Act passed into law--ideally as part
of comprehensive immigration reform. We cannot continue to allow
inflexible deportation guidelines to separate families with U.S.
citizen children," said Congressman José E. Serrano. "I commend all
those fighting on Jean's behalf, and look forward to a successful
resolution of this sad case, and a day when there is more humaneness
in our nation's immigration laws."Montrevil has received support from many elected officials along with Serrano author of H.R. 182, including U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Nydia Velasquez, (all three are cosponsors of H.R. 4321); NY State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick; and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

In a letter supporting Montrevil’s request to ICE for deferred action, Rep. Velazquez writes, “My office believes that his deportation will be a disproportionate punishment to him, his family, and his community.”

At the rally, Grammy-award-winning recording artist Dan Zanes performed songs dedicated to the movement to keep immigrant families together, while political leaders including NY City Council Member Rosie Mendez, NY State Senator Thomas K. Duane, and a representative from U.S Representative Jose Serrano expressed their support.

Juan Carlos Ruiz de Dios, a Catholic leader, states: “To fan the winds of change, we are putting our bodies on the line—where our mouths, brains and energies have been for many years. Our demand is simple and reasonable: We ask Napolitano, as she works with Schumer, to include the very principle of judicial discretion and due process in the spirit of how they approach immigration reform.”

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On May 9, 2007, two of our families became the first in New York to seek sanctuary against their inhumane deportations. One of them was Jean & Jani. Jean escaped the violence and poverty of Haiti to live with his family in the United States in 1986. He entered with a greencard. He is married to Jani, an African American woman. The couple lives in Brooklyn with their young children, including a newborn. They are beloved community members who volunteer for elected officials and humanitarian causes. Jean supported his wife as she returned to school to finish her Bachelors. He runs a 30-year-old family business that employs youth in the community. He stands to lose his business and loved ones today because of an infraction he committed in 1989. If he is deported to Haiti, he faces torture and incarceration as a deportee. His wife fears his deportation, which would force her to go to the war-torn country and risk her children’s lives; or struggle in New York as a single mother. Jean and his family are receiving sanctuary from Judson Memorial Church and Riverside Church in Manhattan.

Following is the statement that Jani read at the launch of the New Sanctuary Movement at St. Paul of the Apostle Church in Manhattan:

My family and I are taking sanctuary because my husband made a mistake almost 20 years ago, and the immigration laws will never forgive him.

My name is Jani. I was born and raised in Brooklyn. I am a substitute teacher for the New York City public school system. I am also a registered voter.

My husband got a conviction when he was a teenager, back in 1989. He did his time. But here we are in 2007, trying to stay together. Deportation is hanging over us anyway. It is double jeopardy. Immigration won’t look at my husband. It is like they don’t believe in redemption or families.

I love my husband. He is family oriented, and law abiding. He is a good dad. He is a step dad to my daughter. He helped me get through college. I now have a bachelor’s degree. I could not have been in school if he wasn’t taking care of the kids and me. He made sacrifices to further my education. How could I support my children without him?

Jean manages his family business in Flatbush. It has been there for over 30 years. It has employed many people. We hire youth from the community. Jean also helps elected officials. While they were running for office last year, he lent his van service to the campaigns. He also volunteers with Families for Freedom. Two days before Christmas last year, he was bringing bags of donated toys to a holiday party for under-privileged children.

We can't go to Haiti. The country is in turmoil. It is a well-known fact that deportees are locked up in the national penitentiary there and tortured until someone can bribe their way out. People who come from the United States are the target of kidnappings. Immigration here might not think that my husband is an American. But in the eyes of Haitians, he definitely is. His life has already been threatened. We can't bring our children into so much danger.

Congresswoman Nidia Velasquez has given us a letter of support. She also co-sponsored the Child Citizen Protection Act, the bill that Congressman Serrano introduced that would help my children, Joe’s children, and other American kids who the system is not hearing right now.

I am an African-American woman. I know very well how words are used to treat people like they are not humans. The word “alien” is ruining the lives of immigrants and citizens. I could be turned into a single mother any day because of this immoral system.

I am happy that so many religious leaders are here with me. We need more of them, to stand with the immigrants and citizens struggling through deportation.

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