Jose & Josue: Stranded and Seeking Hope

Jose and Josue are 20- and 19-year-old brothers from El Salvador. They came to the United States with their mother in 2016 when they were only 10 and 11 years old. They spent almost half their lives here, speak fluent English and have no criminal record.

Their father abandoned them both when they were toddlers. They fled El Salvador due to the rampant gang violence that pervaded throughout their country. In 2018, an Immigration Judge in the United States denied their asylum case. They have an 8-year old brother with a profound disability, Moebius Syndrome, who is suffering because of their absence.

On March 14, 2025, complying with the law, Jose and Josue went to report to ICE, where they were then apprehended. The brothers explained to ICE that they had a pending case in the New York Family Court, and they were eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. ICE still decided to detain them and denied them access to their own Family Court hearing. The Family Court Judge still granted their case, and they filed Form I-360 Petitions for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.

We filed a Motion to Reopen and Motion for Emergency Stay with the Board of Immigration Appeals. The emergency stay was denied and they are scheduled for removal this Friday, May 9.

We requested the brothers’ release from detention so that Josue could attend his high school graduation but three days later, on May 2, 2025, ICE transferred them to the Alexandria Staging Facility and scheduled their removal. They were subjected to multiple due process violations and inhumane conditions.

They were shackled by their wrists and their ankles like criminals for 16 consecutive hours. Josue’s shackles were very tight and caused compression marks, pain and insomnia. He asked for his ankle restraints to be loosened and the ICE officer refused. They were denied bathroom breaks on a very prolonged flight with 2 layovers. From the early morning of May 2, 2025 until the afternoon of May 6, 2025, more than four days, they were denied any change of clothes, socks or underwear. We were told by an ICE officer that they “don’t do change of clothes” there but due to ongoing complaints a supervisor relented and stated that their clothes would be laundered. They have been subjected to extremely cold conditions in the ICE Facility.

Jose and Josue Trejo Lopez were deported this morning, May 7, 2025, without any prior notice to their attorney or family—shortly after ICE denied their administrative stay of removal (Form I-246), despite earlier assurances that removal would not occur before Friday, May 9.

This deportation—executed in silence and against assurances—raises grave concerns about due process, transparency, and human dignity.

Jose and Josue have been removed to a country where they have absolutely no family - immediately or extended, they have no place to live, no one to call or ask for help.

The online community has been great in raising their voices and signing in support of the Petition to halt the Trejo brothers' deportation. Now we must rely on you once more to help us gather funds to provide to help with Jose and Josue's relocation expenses.