Samidoun Palestinian Prison Solidarity Network joins the important call for action from the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) on the case of Amer Othman Adi, Palestinian community leader, currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Cleveland. We urgently support this call to action and join in the demand for the immediate release of beloved community leader and family man Amer Adi!
Amer Adi, a Palestinian American small business owner and a community leader in Youngstown, Ohio, has been targeted relentlessly for decades by US immigration agencies on the basis of false allegations of a “sham marriage.” After a decade of legal and political struggle, he was forced to a “voluntary” deportation to Amman, Jordan, despite his 30-year marriage to a U.S. citizen and four U.S. citizen daughters. However, due to community pressure and the involvement of Adi’s member of Congress – Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio – he was granted a last-minute stay of deportation, allowing Amer to stay in the country. January 6 was declared “Amer Othman Adi Day” in Youngstown and the Palestinian community and supporters of justice packed the Arab American Community Center for a celebration on that day.
On 16 January, Amer Adi was suddenly seized and detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) when he reported for a scheduled meeting at the immigration office in Cleveland. He is currently being held in detention and has launched a hunger strike to demand his freedom.
“Adi is originally from Beit Safafa, a town in occupied East Jerusalem. In 1948, his family fled the Zionist militias of a fledgling Israeli state, becoming refugees during the Nakba. In 1979 at the age of nineteen, Adi left Jordan for the United States on a visa,” Mondoweiss noted.
Amer is a long time Palestinian activist and organizer with USPCN who has been battling the US broken immigration system for decades, he was granted a deportation stay 2 weeks ago and was ripped away from his loved ones and detained this morning by ICE while attending a scheduled meeting.
TAKE ACTION – UPDATED WITH FULL ACTION FROM USPCN:
Here is a list of ways to take ACTION and DEMAND that ICE must #FreeAmerNOW:
1. Call the regional ICE director throughout the day.
2. Email the regional ICE director.
In addition to an endless stream of calls, we can also apply pressure via messaging Rebecca Adducci’s email at [email protected]
EMAIL SCRIPT:
Dear Ms. Adducci,
My name is ___________, and I am requesting that ICE release Amer Othman Adi, immigration number A024-278-369. Adi was detained January 16th at his appointment in the Cleveland ICE office. He is a husband, father, successful businessman, and cherished community leader who has been a great asset to the United States for almost 40 years. He makes this country a better place. I respectfully ask you to release him from detention and grant him a new stay of removal.
Thank you,
[Your Signature, City, State]
3. SIGN this petition and share!
4. SHARE this action alert on social media and listserves.
As you call, share this alert and tweet and post about the case. Please use the hashtag #FreeAmerNOW to highlight his case and encourage others to take action to free Amer!
