|
 |
 |
 |
|
 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
By GILLIAN GAYNAIR, The Associated Press
SILVER SPRING, Md. - As soon as Luis Eduardo Delgado was handcuffed, a federal agent made the situation clear to him.
Delgado, 35, speaking through a translator, said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer told him he had no rights. It was June 30, and agents had just arrested Delgado and 45 others who worked for an Annapolis painting company on administrative immigration violations.
While the Mexican national was in jail, he wondered how he was going to pay his $2,500 bond.
Then the unexpected happened: Someone offered to bail Delgado out - if he could also contribute to the cost.
"It seemed like a dream, not possible," Delgado said. But with the help of friends and his church, he scraped together his share of the bond.
The man behind the bond offer was Robert Hildreth, a 57-year-old Boston financier who on Monday officially debuted his National Immigrant Bond Fund and launched a fundraising campaign during a news conference at Casa de Maryland, a statewide immigrant advocacy group in Silver Spring. Casa helped Delgado and others use the bond fund, which was formally established about three months ago.
Illegal immigrants who are arrested in raids and do not have any outstanding criminal violations can apply to the bond fund for help. Churches, legal organizations or groups such as Casa help connect detainees with the fund. The fund provides half the bail money and the arrested immigrants must pony up the rest.
The fund aims to ensure that immigrants have access to the court system. Advocates say immigrants are too often sent directly into deportation proceedings without an opportunity to argue their case. They say the fund is also a way to build public opposition to raids, keep families together and bring another voice into the debate for immigration reform.
A New York-based nonprofit, Public Interest Projects, oversees the fund, which is supported by several national advocacy groups and religious leaders, including three Catholic bishops.
Organizers aim to raise $500,000, said Hildreth, owner of International Bank Services, Inc., which buys and sells loans worldwide.
So far, the fund has helped bail out about 100 people, he said. Their bonds ranged from $1,500 to $38,000.
After the raid at the Annapolis Painting Services company, the fund contributed $40,000 to help 10 people, who provided $48,000.
But Ira Mehlman, a spokesman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, called it a risky undertaking.
"There really ought to be some reconsideration about how people are bonded out in immigration cases," Mehlman said, "because there's a high number of people who don't show up for their hearing."
However, Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum in Washington and a member of the fund's committee, said last week that the chance of someone absconding is eliminated, "because they have their money invested in their freedom as well."
Hildreth began his initiative in 2007 after hearing reports of immigrants being shipped to a detention center in Texas following a federal raid of a factory in New Bedford, Mass.
"Clearly it was to facilitate getting them out of the country as soon as possible. I thought that was wrong," he said by telephone last week. "I believed that they deserved their day in court."
Hildreth contacted Greater Boston Legal Services, which provides legal help to low-income people, and offered to help with bond money if the detainees could also contribute something.
His motivation was rooted in a long love affair with Latin America and his pro-immigrant stance.
Hildreth studied Spanish in Mexico as a college student and later worked as an economist with the International Monetary Fund in Bolivia. Over the years, he has given millions to establish an endowed chair in Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University and to found immigrant education programs and citizenship classes in Lynn, Mass.
Hildreth said he gave $130,000 to the families of nearly 40 New Bedford detainees, who pitched in $100,000.
He's contributed hundreds of thousands more to people arrested in four other workplace raids this year.
On Monday, Delgado had a chance to meet Hildreth for the first time.
Delgado recalled how, while in jail, he thought, "I hope that somebody is going to listen to us. I hope that somebody is going to help," he said through a translator. "And here we have Rob."
Hildreth reached out to hug Delgado, rested his head on his shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut.
