Nelson Avila-Lopez, an immigrant from Honduras who
moved to Los Angeles at age
16, died last month in a fire in a prison in Honduras after
being illegally deported. He was 20 years-old by the time Immigration Customs
and Enforcement (ICE) got their hands on him.
Avila-Lopez, like many immigrants, came to the U.S in search
of a better life. For years, gangs in Honduras had
been harassing him to join and in order to escape the harassment he crossed the
border into the United States. Upon
arrival though, the thugs of ICE began harassing him instead due to his
‘illegal’ status.
His lawyer, working on making sure Avila-Lopez was not
deported back into an environment where he was not safe, was able to get a
judge to grant a stay. That is, his deportation was postponed in order to have
his case further reviewed. However, that promise was broken in October when
Avila-Lopez was taken from his home to an ICE detention center and deported.
Upon arrival in Honduras after
being deported, Avila-Lopez was arrested immediately and placed in a Honduran
prison under suspicion of gang activity. A fire erupted in the prison, killing
360 inmates, including wrongfully deported Avila-Lopez. The U.S.
government and ICE are to blame for his death.
Avila-Lopez left Honduras to
escape danger, to pursue a better life, but the United
States government has once again
proven that the ‘American dream’ is nothing but a farce, especially for poor
Latino immigrants.
According to the LA Times, in the five months between
October 2011 and March 2012, at least six ICE detainees died while in custody
due to poor detention center conditions and poor treatment. The U.S government
is responsible for their deaths along with Avila-Lopez.
The ongoing war on immigrants and record deportations of
over a million people in just the last few years has opened up a new market for
the private prison industry and it is booming. Contracts for new detention
centers are being won by some of the giants in the private prison industry and
the profitability of the deportation process is sure to have an impact on the
growing number of families torn apart in coming years who will be expected to
fill the new facilities.
As long as the system of capitalism thrives in
the United
States,
there will always be racist laws that divide the working class. As long as the
system of capitalism remains, the ruling class will find a way to turn a profit
on the misery of the poorest workers. This is why the Party for Socialism and
Liberation demands an end to all deportations, full rights for immigrants, and
the reunion of families destroyed in the war on
immigrants while also building the movement for socialism to replace the
exploitative system of capitalism.
