In one of his first public statements since being deported in February, immigrant rights activist Eduardo Samaniego wrote about the support he received from his friends and of the difficulties of the time he spent in prison, also stating he has appealed his deportation with the State Department.
“I don’t wish to anyone what occurred to me during the hours the days and months I spent in jail,” he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, Sept. 17. “But I have always been a lucky boy sure of who I am and I know I have a bright life ahead as soon as I hit the ground up running… and while I realize that today it’s tremendously hard, make no mistake, I am doing my absolute best to come at this challenge swinging.”
Samaniego spent more than 100 days in jail and reportedly endured solitary confinement before agreeing to what Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents term “voluntary departure,” — even though it was agreed to after the duress of extended imprisonment.
See an interview Samaniego did with the Valley Advocate in 2018 here.
He came to the United States more than a decade ago at the age of 16, and lived in Georgia before graduating high school as student president. He was denied the ability to go to the University of Georgia in Athens, and came to the Pioneer Valley in 2014 as a student at Hampshire College. In this area, he fought for immigrant rights locally, in Boston, and in Washington D.C., at one point walking 250 miles for the cause.
On Facebook Tuesday, Samaniego announced he has gotten a room in the Colonia Roma district of Mexico City, and thanked his friends for their continued support since his deportation.
“It is incredible to know that I touched so so many hearts and in turn your love has kept me going, kept me courageous, and kept me strong during what has to be one of if not the biggest catastrophes to hit my yet short life,” he wrote.
Samaniego wrote that he went to his family in his hometown of San Lorenzo in Mexico after being deported, and said he continues to draw inspiration from them. At the same time, he decried the immigration system that forced him back to Mexico.
He also said he has been bullied as a result of his identity as a bisexual man.
“I had made a home in the United States of America,” he wrote. “I had made long life friendships and everyday I miss the families who so humbly open their homes when I had nowhere to go…. I’m still caged in an unfair and broken immigration system that crosses borders.”
He added that he has filed an appeal to the State Department against his deportation.
“I am committed to fighting to come back to continue fighting for undocumented immigrant rights, criminal justice reform, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and all of our [sic] in the United States,” he wrote.
Dave Eisenstadter can be reached at deisen@valleyadvocate.com.
