Daniel came to the US when he was 7. He has lived in the US for the past 25 years. He was a DACA holder until his permit expired 60 days after reapplying for the renewal. As a result, his work permit and drivers license expired as well. He has a pending application for DACA and also a petition for permanent residency from his mother. But while waiting for his DACA renewal, Daniel was detained. He was transported to the Orlando detention center and then later to Alligator Alcatraz. While in Alligator Alcatraz his family only spoke to him once a week for over 2 months. He was denied access to his attorney and family.

He was assaulted, starved, and denied drinking water and medical care. His first attorney scammed Daniel's family out of $10,000 and eventually dropped his case. After 2 months in Alligator Alcatraz, Daniel was transferred to Broward transitional center where he has been for the last 2 months. Since being detained, Daniel has been dealing with extreme anxiety and night terrors after witnessing the brutality occurring there, so he made the difficult decision to self deport as he could no longer stand the mental abuse while in detention. ICE denied him deportation because he didn’t have a removal order. It took a new attorney petitioning a court and obtaining a removal order for ICE to agree to deport Daniel.

As a result, Daniel will be sent to El Salvador, a country where he has no meaningful ties. He will be forced to start his life over, leaving behind 2 kids in the US. We are holding this GoFundMe to help cover the costs of temporary living expenses for Daniel in El Salvador until he can find a permanent place to live and a job.

(Daniel’s face is blurred because he is still in ICE custody and his family is worried about his safety. We are posting a photo for authenticity.)