On Tuesday, July 26th Immigration and Customs Enforcement put Andy Mathe on a Delta airplane out of Atlanta to South Africa. He was deported to the country his mom, grandmother and siblings left almost five years ago. As news came in on Tuesday evening, there were updates, tweets, and phone calls. None were enough to stop what the current administration seemed determined to do, deport this young man and separate him from his family here, especially his mother.

Now the rest of the family that remains in the US is preparing to meet the same fate as Andy. On August 2nd the Mathe family will check-in with ICE authorities under their order of supervision. The entire family’s plea to remain in the U.S. was rejected along with Andy’s. Whether the family will be detained and deported at the August 2nd visit remains to be seen, it seems like a very likely possibility given how things went down with Andy earlier this week.

Under the terms of the newly released memo by John Morton this family meets the requirement for discretion. Advocates hope the Obama administration; Rep. John Lewis and immigration authorities do not once again fail the Mathe-Karekezi family. It seems clear to me, as I feared and told people in the days following the release of the Morton memo, that the actual application of discretion would fall far from what advocates hope.

DREAM Activist is asking people to call Rep. John Lewis to act on behalf of the Mathe family members that remain in the United States.

1. Atlanta office: 404-659-0116
2. Washington D.C. office: 202-225-3801

Sample Script:

“Hi I was calling to ask that Rep. Lewis stop delaying action, Andy has already been deported and the rest of the family is next. Rep. Lewis needs to contact ICE directly and write a letter demanding the Mathe family not be deported.”

If you are in the Chicago area, there is a rally scheduled for this coming Tuesday in support of the family, organized by Immigrant Youth Justice League.