Free Manuel Duran
Journalist Manuel Duran was arrested for doing his job: For exercising his First Amendment rights.
He now he faces deportation from the United States.
The 42-year-old Salvadoran immigrant was live-streaming demonstrators in Memphis protesting immigration detention and enforcement policies on Tuesday when he was wrongfully detained.
Duran’s status as an undocumented immigrant complicated his release from Shelby County jail, but prosecutors eventually dropped the charges.
Unfortunately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting in court to seize him.
He will likely be booted out of what has become his home unless ICE releases him. The federal agency should free him because Duran should never have been arrested.
It is a difficult case, exposing a broken immigration system that makes it hard for undocumented residents who want to contribute to their communities but cannot earn their legal status.
There are 11 million people in this nation who are living in the shadows because of their legal status.
Not Duran. He has been a voice for his community and has documented the good and the bad.
He started in Memphis in 2008 on La Voz 1240 radio, where he was co-anchor of a morning radio show and a newscaster on “Minuto 60.”
He was news director and co-anchor at Ambiente 1030 radio station until 2017. Now, he owns Memphis Noticias, a local news source for the Latino community.
He has interviewed local officials such as Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell.
He also has been at risk for deportation for some time.
An ICE spokesman said an immigration judge ordered Duran be deported in 2007 for failing to make a scheduled court date. That was 11 years ago, during the George W. Bush presidency.
The Trump Administration has begun a purge of undocumented men, women and children – some who have lived peacefully for decades in America.
They have worked at jobs – not stolen them – and they have also paid taxes without receiving benefits like Medicare or Social Security.
There should be a solution to fix the system and allow immigrants like Duran a path to experience and enjoy the American Dream and contribute to the nation’s success.
Congress has failed numerous times over the years to do so. This year, shamefully, Congress abandoned an effort to provide a permanent solution to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that President Trump ended. Without a solution, 800,000 people – including 9,300 Tennesseans – who are working or going to school will be at risk of being deported.
Regarding Duran, the Constitution does not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens when it comes to exercising First Amendment freedoms.
He was exercising the right of freedom of the press to hold government accountable, and he was wrongfully punished for it.
Journalists like Duran should not be arrested for doing their jobs. ICE should free him so he can continue fearlessly reporting on his community.