Vigils are planned at two Bowling Green churches this week to demand the release of local teenager Ernesto Manuel-Andres. The recent high school graduate was arrested earlier this month by ICE agents along with his father at their apartment in Bowling Green.
Fugees Family, a nonprofit education group that supports refugees and immigrants in the Bowling Green area, has confirmed Ernesto has legal status to live in the U.S.
Christ Episcopal Church in Bowling Green is hosting a prayer vigil on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and Broadway United Methodist Church will hold a vigil on Thursday at 7 p.m. Fifteen leaders from multiple congregations in Bowling Green have signed a statement demanding Ernesto's release on moral, legal, and humanitarian grounds.
Steven Pankey, Rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Bowling Green, said he hopes the vigil continues to bring awareness of Ernesto’s imprisonment to the community.
"If his name isn't out there then he can just disappear into the ether", Pankey said. "But as long as his adoptive community in Bowling Green refuses to forget about him and refuses to stop saying his name. Then the government can't ignore us and ignore him."
Following his arrest over 200 protesters demonstrated to show their support and demand Ernesto's release. Following his arrest Manuel-Andres was moved from three different detention centers in five days delaying his legal team's ability to file documentation for his release. Immigration lawyers worked with Manuel-Andres to secure a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status earlier this year, a designation for youths who have faced neglect or abuse.
In a post on social media, Luma Mufleh, founder of Fugees Family, said the Department of Homeland Security has filed a motion to move the immigration case to LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana. Mufleh confirmed the motion was granted and a scheduled bond hearing would be delayed until his immigration lawyers could expedite the hearing.
