Release Sought for Eight 'Dreamers' Detained at US-Mexico Border Lisa Turner Selman - The Associated Press
go to original July 24, 2013

Luis Leon, second from left, shouts out as he lines up with fellow activists to attempt to enter the Unites States through the Morley Gate Port of Entry from Nogales, Sonora, into Nogales, Ariz. on Monday, July 22, 2013. U.S. authorities have detained eight activists who asked to be allowed to re-enter the United States from Mexico on humanitarian grounds in a protest against American immigration policies. (Arizona Daily StarMamta Popat)

PHOENIX — A lawyer is seeking the release of eight protesters who were detained by U.S. authorities at a southern Arizona border crossing when they tried to re-enter the country from Mexico.

The eight young people, who were born in Mexico but were brought to America illegally when they were children, tried to re-enter the U.S. at the Nogales port of entry in southern Arizona on Monday to protest immigration policies.

Tucson attorney Margo Cowan said Tuesday that immigration officers in the U.S. turned down her clients' request for "humanitarian parole" that would temporarily allow them to come into the country, so she is now seeking asylum.

Cowan said she would seek her clients' release from a Pinal County immigration detention center while their asylum applications are being litigated. "They certainly can't be considered a flight risk because they asked the U.S. to admit them," Cowan said.

The group tried to re-enter the U.S. as a way to draw attention to the huge jump in deportations carried out under the Obama administration, and to reaffirm their attachment to the country where they were raised. They wore graduation caps and gowns to show they are productive members of society and want the country to open its doors to them.

Read the rest at The Associated Press

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!