AMHERST — After spending over a month in a holding cell in Greenfield, a 12-year resident of Amherst was deported to his native El Salvador on Wednesday.
Jose Alfredo Ramirez Arias, 38, was a chef at Bistro 63 and the Monkey Bar since 2004, when he fled violence in El Salvador — a nation with one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Ramirez Arias, an undocumented immigrant, was placed in “removal proceedings” after being convicted for drunk driving in 2012.
“He is an ICE enforcement priority as a result of a 2012 DUI conviction in Massachusetts,” Shawn Neudauer, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the Gazette.
Ramirez Arias was not available for comment, though there was no shortage of community members writing letters, obtained by the Gazette, asking ICE to exercise discretion in their prosecution of the case. “I’ve never had any issues with Alfredo and liquor before, which is why his mistake was so out of character,” wrote Monkey Bar owner Rasif Rafiq in a letter to state and federal officials. “I even wonder if maybe his mistake was exacerbated by his inexperience with alcohol.”
According to Rafiq’s letter, Ramirez Arias was working as head chef when Rafiq bought the restaurant.
Rafiq and other community members who wrote to ICE described Ramirez Arias as a “family man.” The deportation separates Ramirez Arias from his wife and four children, ages 5 to 15, who attend Amherst public schools.
Peg Thibbitts, who taught Ramirez Arias English at the Center for New Americans, wrote a letter to ICE requesting they grant his stay of removal.
She wrote: “When we talked in class about how free community services were paid for through various taxes, he made an appointment with our advisor to make sure he was paying the correct amount of taxes. He is not someone who shirks his responsibilities.”
The outpouring of support, said attorney Diana Castañeda, spurred inquiries from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Jim McGovern. The inquiries, McGovern’s office confirmed, requested that “every full and fair consideration be extended.”
“We must do more to unify families, strengthen communities, and help fix our broken immigration system,” said McGovern in an emailed statement to the Gazette. “This is a powerful reminder that every day we put off fixing our broken immigration system, more families are put at risk.”
Pesha Black, who also taught Ramirez Arias at the Center for New Americans, told the Gazette that the man being deported — whom she described as an involved father and a community leader — stands as an example how immigration policies need work.
“I think this is just one of those clear cases,” she said. “When we think about the broken immigration system, this is sort of a human face of that.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.