We have less than three weeks to stop Mucktaru’s deportation, help us in demanding that ICE Officer Cesar Cipirian STOP Mucktaru's deportation and release him!

Mucktaru Kemokai has been living in the United States as a permanent resident for 21 years. He is a father, son and loving brother. In 2000, Mucktaru fled from Sierra Leone, where he had been kidnapped, tortured, and enslaved as a political prisoner for 6 years, to join his surviving family members in the US. As the teenage son of a Sierra Leonean politician, Mucktaru was kidnapped, forced into political imprisonment and tortured from 1994-2000. Since arriving in the US, Muctkaru has been an active member of his community while also addressing his mental health needs and taking the necessary steps to heal from the trauma that he experienced during his enslavement as a child. 

A few years ago, Mucktaru was arrested and charged with armed robbery even though no weapon was found on his person. He was held for over a year in jail before he got to see a judge, and ultimately was released with time served and probation. Because he was given time served, he is legally considered to have plead guilty to the offense, which can be used to justify his deportation. However, Mucktaru has maintained his innocence from the beginning and did not understand the legal consequences of agreeing to be released on  time served. Mucktaru was never given the opportunity to prove his innocence at trial like he wanted and is entitled to. Mucktaru’s interaction with the criminal legal system should not be a determining factor in his case for a number of reasons. One of the most substantial reasons being that the presiding criminal court judge determined that Mucktaru had served his time and so should not be unjustly punished again. In February, even though an Immigration Judge determined that Mucktaru had been persecuted and enslaved in his home country and thus met qualifications for asylum, he was found to be ineligible because of his ambiguous prior charge. The Board of Immigration Appeals has recently sided with the Immigration Judge in denying Mucktaru asylum. 

Deporting Mucktaru back to Sierra Leone is a death sentence, not only because Mucktaru has no family, friends or support system there, but because of the threat of additional persecution evidenced by his past as a political prisoner and victim of child torture.

We need your help in demanding that ICE Officer Cesar Cipirian release Mucktaru so that he can return safely to his family and community!