Ernesto Manuel Andres, the 18-year old who was arrested by ICE agents, returned to his home in Bowling Green Wednesday, a day after he was released from a federal detention center in Louisiana.
Manuel-Andres had been held in Monroe, Louisiana, and given a $1,500 bond by an immigration judge at a hearing Monday. Lawyers with the Department of Homeland Security said they would appeal the decision, meaning Manuel-Andres would be detained for 30 more days.
But DHS lawyers didn't meet paperwork deadlines to file the appeal, and an immigrant rights group helping Manuel-Andres, called Fugees Family, posted bond Tuesday night.
Manuel-Andres was driven back to southern Kentucky Wednesday and welcomed by community members at Teranga Academy, where he graduated high school shortly before his arrest. More than 100 people showed up to support Manuel-Andres, with many people holding signs, cheering, and chanting his name when he arrived. After a tearful reunion with family members and close friends, Manuel-Andres thanked the crowd for their support during his detention.
"Thank you for being here and thank you for praying for me to get out in Louisiana and supporting when these things happen to me," Manuel-Andres said. "I'm happy to be in my house again in Kentucky."
Manuel-Andres and his father were arrested by ICE agents in Bowling Green on June 4. After being moved to separate detention centers in Kentucky he was sent to the Louisiana detention center. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security filed a Motion to Change Venue, which moved Manuel Andres' case from Indianapolis to Monroe, Louisiana.
Immigration lawyers with Fugees Family worked with Manuel-Andres to secure a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status earlier this year, a designation for youths who have faced neglect or abuse and confirmed Manuel-Andres is in the U.S. legally under “Deferred Action” from the DHS, which legally protects him from deportation.
Representatives from Fugees Family say Manuel-Andres will remain free as long as he attends future court hearings.
Bowling Green City Commissioner Carlos Bailey attended the community event and said he was inspired by the outpouring of support from members, but disappointed in what Ernesto had to endure.
"What you see today is what I love, it's the best of us, it's not really a political party and it's not red or blue, it's just basically trying to do the right thing," Bailey said. "You gave him deferred action and to take it away I feel like is just so wrong. He showed his paperwork and that's basically what got him locked up which is sad."
After Manuel-Andres was arrested earlier this month, multiple rallies with hundreds of attendees have been held in Bowling Green. Over 200 people attended a rally in Bowling Green demanding his release, and about 100 rally attendees showed up to another protest held at the Bowling Green office of U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie. A pair of interfaith prayer vigils were held at two Bowling Green churches.
The drama surrounding the arrest, detention, and release on bond of Manuel-Andres is playing out in the context of the wider national debate over President Trump’s widespread crackdown on immigration.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a brutal prison in El Salvador in March, was brought back to the U.S. where he’s standing trial on charges of human smuggling at a federal court in Nashville.
President Trump ordered National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this month to contain protests against ICE raids in the nation’s second-largest city.
On Monday, a 55-year-old U.S. Army veteran from South Korea, who earned a Purple Heart after being shot while serving in 1989, self-deported after being told he would be detained and forcibly deported if he didn’t leave the country.
