Bring JC Home

If you have dined at Wild Fish over the past five years, you likely encountered the ebullient and welcoming JC, the front-of-house manager and server.

Juan Carlos Portillo Contreras, a native of El Salvador, has been in the US under an asylum claim for about 25 years.

Because JC returned to El Salvador for the burials of his parents, a judge revoked his original asylum claim and entered a deportation order, but JC successfully appealed it.

He currently is in the US under a new asylum claim: a dictator, Bukele, has come into power and there is no due process in El Salvador anymore.

With his new asylum claim in process, he was given a pink card which requires him to check in with ICE every couple of months. At his February check-in, he was told he didn’t need to worry because he would not be removed while he has an active asylum application in process.

When he went to his scheduled check-in meeting on June 4th, he was arrested point blank, with no opportunity to make any arrangements. His lawyer had accompanied him and protested that he had been “tricked.” She asked where he would be taken, and they refused to divulge that information. We couldn’t locate him for a couple of days, but we eventually found him in Los Angeles.

During the last 25 years, he married an American citizen and had 3 kids in the US. The oldest, his daughter, just graduated from nursing school last month. The two other boys live in Seaside. One has severe autism, and JC is his primary caretaker. His daughter wrote a beautiful letter on his behalf to say that no one else can manage her brother and his life would be extremely degraded in quality if he lost his father. That is perhaps the most harrowing aspect of this removal.

JC’s employer describes him as her right arm, saying, “He knows more about my business than I do.” He was a manager, but when business declined due to the destruction of the Pacific Grove parklet program, he took a second job at a restaurant in Castroville. He worked very long days to support his family. When dealing with adversity in life, he is determined to look on the bright side. As he often said to his employer at Wild Fish: “We got this! It’s gonna be fine! We can do anything!” Being a man of faith, he often says of misfortune, “Things happen for a reason.” And that is JC: superhuman resilience and a willingness to learn a lesson that will deepen your love of life.

We are grateful for the assistance of Watsonville Law Center and Supervisor Kate Daniels. JC’s attorney is working with the office of Congressman Jimmy Panetta to secure his release.

We anticipate funds to go primarily toward mortgage payments on JC’s home in Seaside, his bond upon release, and any needs that his family might have.