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A Colombian congresswoman whose conservative celebration is carefully aligned with the right-wing ideologies of US President Donald Trump says her son was detained final month by ICE brokers amid the US crackdown on immigration.
Ángela Vergara says she determined to go public with the case final week in half as a result of her son has not but been allowed to return to Colombia regardless of having requested voluntary departure, but in addition to boost consciousness in regards to the harsh situations Colombian immigrants are dealing with in the US.
The case has sparked a debate on-line, with critics questioning why Vergara, a member of a celebration that always backs Trump, got here out in protection of immigrants solely after her son’s detention.
Vergara has pushed again in opposition to the criticism, insisting that she has by no means supported immigration insurance policies that she says violate human rights.
“This isn’t a political issue; it’s really a human rights issue,” she informed NCS. “Being a conservative politician doesn’t mean I agree with human rights violations in Colombia or anywhere else in the world.”
Vergara says her son Rafael, 23, has been locked up for greater than 20 days on the River Correctional Detention Center in Louisiana, in what she describes as “inhumane conditions.” She says he’s being held together with plenty of Colombians ready for a repatriation flight house.
“He told me that he was with 70 people in a cell, that they had gone 12 hours the day before without drinking water, (and) everyone was sick,” Vergara recounted to NCS.
The congresswoman stated Rafael had been detained by ICE brokers after a routine inspection whereas driving a industrial cargo truck in Louisiana.
She insists Rafael has been dwelling in the US legally with a piece allow and paying into social safety. She says he utilized for asylum a 12 months after arriving in 2022 and was awaiting an asylum listening to scheduled for 2028.
NCS has reached out to the US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, for extra info.
After studying of her son’s arrest, Vergara stated the household requested his voluntary return to Colombia, considering it will be the quickest option to resolve the matter. But greater than 20 days after his arrest, she says her son stays in detention.
She attributes the delay to a “bottleneck” in the repatriation course of that has left 1000’s of Colombians stranded in the US ready for a restricted variety of flights.
Colombia signed an settlement earlier this month to renew repatriation flights from the US. Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio stated that roughly one flight per week can be carried out over the subsequent few months.
Vergara says she has requested the Colombian authorities to expedite transfers and enhance the frequency of humanitarian flights.
Vergara’s Conservative Party maintains many positions which might be extra aligned with the American proper than with Colombia’s left-wing authorities led by President Gustavo Petro and has typically expressed help for the Republican Party in the US.
In 2024, the Colombian Conservatives “celebrated” the electoral victories of Trump and his fellow Republicans in the House and Senate.
Last 12 months, when the Trump administration decertified Colombia as a companion in the struggle in opposition to drug trafficking, the celebration condemned, not Trump, however Colombia’s president for criticizing the US chief. It issued a press release pledging to help the US drug combating measures.
In September, after the killing of distinguished US conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Vergara expressed condolences and help for the activist, saying, “His departure represents a loss for those of us who firmly defend life, family, and freedom.”
Still, regardless of sharing some views with the American proper, Vergara insists she doesn’t help inhumane immigration insurance policies.
“I have always demanded due process and humane treatment for Colombians, both inside and outside the country,” she not too long ago wrote on X.
Vergara says her conversative leanings have precipitated folks to make false assumptions about her.
This week, she denied being a member of the group “Latinas for Trump,” as many individuals on-line have alleged. She additionally denied that she celebrated the deportations of Latinos or referred to as for a US invasion of Colombia.
On Tuesday, social media customers and a few information shops shared a video of a lady dancing in a MAGA hat, whom they incorrectly recognized as Vergara.
The video was additionally shared by Petro, who later took down his publish after Vergara denied it was her in it.
In his publish, Petro had additionally addressed the detention of Vergara’s son and requested the Colombian Embassy in Washington to supply him with consular help: “No matter the paradox, the Colombian embassy in the US must help this Colombian congresswoman to recover her son.”
NCS has reached out to the Colombian presidency for touch upon the matter.
Vergara informed NCS she thought it was constructive that Petro addressed the problem however insisted that he wants to reply to her request for humanitarian flights.