In November of 2001, after witnessing a stabbing murder he willingly came forward to provide testimony. Another witness, also an immigrant, had fled the crime scene in fear and only Danny stepped forward.
Sigui became the key witness for the state of Rhode Island in a murder trial that ended on June 23, 2003, with a guilty verdict. Unbeknownst to him, over a year before the trial ended, representatives of the state’s Attorney General’s office had already turned Sigui over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who waited until the trial was over to arrest him.
Two days after the trial ended, on June 25, the DHS’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) arrested Sigui and ever since has been in jail while his attorney and family fight to stop his deportation.
Sigui was first sent to Boston’s Bristol County House of Corrections, a county jail. Then a few days ago, on September 25, he was transferred to a maximum-security prison in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with no reasons given. Although unconfirmed, Sigui had been placed in the same jail facility as the individual he had helped convict. Immigration officials, claiming overcrowding or that a fight ensued inside the county jail, then transferred Sigui to the Plymouth maximum-security prison.
Sigui has committed no crime, has not been charged or convicted of any crime, and is now jailed in a maximum-security prison. This is a travesty of justice!
Sigui must be released immediately and allowed to adjust his immigration status. His family is suffering immensely and immigrant and refugee communities will be further in endangered as long as this grave injustice is allowed to stand.
Danny Sigui’s case is a glaring example of why collaboration between immigration enforcement and state and local law enforcement is a danger to public safety and must stop at once.
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO TAKE TWO ACTIONS:
1. Please Telephone, Email, Write and Fax David Venturella and the Rhode Island Congressional delegation: Our messages and demands:
· Release Danny Sigui NOW, allowing him to adjust his immigration status and remain with his family and community.
· Danny Sigui did his civic duty and he must not be punished for it; he has committed no crime and is a hard-working father of three.
· Please ask for a response from them and remind them that his family and supporters will not accept anything less than his immediate release.
· Also, please send a copy of your message or communication with DHS and the Congressional delegation to: agarcia@nnirr.org or fax (510) 465-1885
DHS AGENT IN CHARGE OF DEPORTATIONS
David Venturella
Assistant Deputy Executive Associate Commissioner
Office of Detention and Removal
425 “I” Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20536
TEL (202) 514-8663
FAX (202) 353-9435
Email: david.venturella@dhs.gov
Contact Rhode Island’s Congressional Delegation:
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI 1st District)
407 Cannon House Office Building
U.S. House Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel (202) 225-3290
Fax (202) 225-3290
Rep. Kennedy’s Home Office: 249 Roosevelt Ave, STE 200, Pawtucket, RI 02860
Tel (401) 729-5600 Fax (401) 729-5608
Sen. Lincoln Chafee ®
141A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2921 phone
(202) 228-2853 fax
Chafee’s Home Office: 170 Westminster Street, Suite 1100, Providence, RI 02903
Tel (401) 453-5294 Fax (401) 453-5085
Sen. Jack Reed (D)
728 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4642 phone
(202) 224-4680 fax
Reed’s Home Office: 201 Hillside Road, Suite 200, Cranston, RI 02920-5602
Tel (401) 943-3100; Toll Free (RI only) (800) 284-4200, TDD (800) 745-5555
Fax (401) 464-6837
To report and document abuses and violations against immigrants and refugees, send an email to agarcia@nnirr.org or call (510) 465-1984 ext.305
