I recently posted about the impending deportation of Julio Maldonado and Denis Calderon after being falsely prosecuted for defending themselves against a racially-motivated attack. I recently received the below email from Dave Bennion of Citizen Orange which he received from the families.

Join me tomorrow at a community meeting and rally for Julio and Denis!

Date and Time: Sunday, October 4, 3:30 p.m.
Location: Houston Community Center, 2029 South 8th Street (8th & Snyder, South Philadelphia)

I am emailing about the case of Julio Maldonado and Denis Calderon, two cousins from Peru who were attacked for racial reasons, wrongfully convicted in Philadelphia, and now stand on the brink of deportation from their U.S. citizen families. We will be holding a rally/community meeting one week from today to raise awareness about Julio and Denis’s case.

Julio finished his federal prison sentence on September 12. ICE attempted to deport him last week–we don’t know why it didn’t happen, this information came indirectly through backchannels since DHS is not telling the family much. There is currently no legal impediment to Julio’s deportation. That is why it is urgent that Governor Rendell take action on the pending pardon and that DHS exercise its discretion to stop the deportation until a decision on the pardon can be reached.

Seth Williams (Dem candidate for Philadelphia District Attorney) has still not accounted for his role in this injustice as the prosecutor on the case who ran an incomplete, biased prosecution. These are among the topics we’ll be discussing at the meeting, along with the role of Philadelphia law enforcement in breaking up immigrant families today–this was a problem in 1996 when Julio and Denis were attacked and it is even more of a problem today.