In the words of Ohioans who were deported
The National Immigrant Justice Center is featuring three Ohioans in its “Chance To Come Home” national campaign.
Goura Ndiaye, deported from Columbus to Mauritania
“It’s not a small thing to be in a country for almost twenty years, and build your life, and one day—stop. It’s a long way to learn English, go to school at night, go to work, get the experience, and one day they say stop, you don’t have it anymore. You have to leave. The day ICE told me that, it was the end of the world for me.”
Tina Hamdi, deported from Dayton to Morocco
“I would do anything to be able to be a mom to my kids. Literally. There’s nothing I won’t do for that. I am missing out on a lot, [things] that I never thought I would miss out on. I feel the distance between them, I don’t want to feel that. I just want to hug them.”
Ibrahima Keita, deported from Cincinnati to Mali
“I cry a lot. I think about my two kids. Sometimes I can’t even talk about it because it makes me sad. I worked hard for everything I got. Very hard.… I lost everything…. I’m a family man. I take care of my wife, my two boys, I work every day: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, seven days [a week]. I just want to take care of my two kids.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty and other members of Congress sent a letter to the Biden administration urging them to create a way for people like Goura, Ibrahima, and Tina to come home. The call is supported by organizations like Cleveland Jobs With Justice, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Cincinnati-Hamilton Co. Public Library, and Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
Said Lynn Tramonte, Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance: “Goura, Ibrahima, and Tina lived in the U.S. for an average of 27 years! Ohio is their home. They belong here with their children—not thousands of miles away, unable to do anything to help back home. The permanency of deportation must be undone. The Biden administration must use its authority to mend the holes in families created by the Trump administration. Reuniting a mother or a father with their children is not controversial. It is an act of love.”