Outrageous Retaliation as a Removal Defense

Introduction

Epigraph

“Dear America,
You and your administration cause fear—fear through separation.
Instead of building trust with our people, do you prefer this racial tension?
Oppressed.
I live my life in frustration: private prisons, political funding, mass incarcera-tion, you make the connection.
I speak for the victims that pay for this scam: Vietnamese, Jamaican, African, Cambodian, Mexican, Salvadoran, on and on, together we stand.
We demand our respect. We want our dignity back.
Our roots run deep in this country, now that’s a true fact.”
—Jose Omar Bello Reyes, publicly reading from his poem “Dear America,” 36 hours before he was arrested by ICE.

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