[DONOR MATCH] Thanks to an anonymous donor, donations will be matched! *up to $5k until 11/16

Our neighbor Omar Ramos Jimenez (Papa Omar) has been in ICE detention since the first week of December, when ICE required him to check-in in person and lied about why. He’s lived in Rochester for decades and is a community leader who lends a helping hand to his neighbors. We have a chance to support him and his family. Rochester has already turned out for Papa Omar and his family with over 250 people showing up to an emergency rally to demand his release in under 24 hours. There, legislators, community groups, and Omar’s beloved neighbors raised our voices to say: “Free Omar. Free them all!” Can you be part of the community that continues to support Omar and his family?

Omar and his family’s needs include:

Even on the inside, Papa Omar is still thinking about community! He is connecting the people around him with resources outside. His neighborly spirit follows him, in his Rochester neighborhood or in detention. Papa Omar has asked that additional funds from this fundraiser be donated to Justice for Migrant Families’ Commissary Fund for people inside the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia.

What you can do

Background

Omar is a prominent Rochester community member, longtime business owner, and loving father. He was unlawfully detained after being called in for a supposed check-in at ICE’s Buffalo office. His family is left reeling with the traumatic experience of their loved one being ripped away. Omar must be freed and reunited with his family.

Omar Ramos Jimenez, 50, is originally from Mexico and has lived in Rochester since 2004. Throughout his tenure in Rochester, Omar has been a business owner. He and his family operated two restaurants, first at the Public Market and then in the South Wedge. He now owns a landscaping and snow removal company. Omar’s neighbors have described him as “Someone who shows up, checks in, and supports the entire neighborhood. To be a good citizen is to be a good neighbor, and he's the definition."

ICE contacted Omar on a Monday and told him he needed a new phone app installed for reporting to ICE, and it needed to be done in-person at the agency’s Buffalo Field Office. Two days later, at his appointment, ICE quickly detained Omar and other people who had come as they were asked. Omar had complied with every one of his check-ins and court dates for the past decade plus he had been under ICE supervision. ICE uses dirty tricks to take people away from their families. What happened to Omar is cruel, but not unique. The community quickly rallied.

At the rally and press conference hosted on December 5, here is what some of the speakers had to say about Omar:

“From shoveling his elderly neighbors’ driveways to running small businesses that have served the community for years, Omar gives back to the Rochester community every single day. He embodies what makes Rochester great through his generosity, service, and the deep, decades-long ties he has formed with the people who call this city home. Omar’s unlawful detention is another example of the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on longstanding immigrant neighbors. Despite following every legal process required of him and contributing to Rochester’s economy and local fabric, he was still targeted under the administration’s cruel and arbitrary deportation agenda. This should have never happened. Omar has shown up for his community, and now it is time for all of us to show up for him. We demand that ICE immediately release Omar and reunite him with his family, where he belongs,” said Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition.

“The detention of Omar Ramos during a scheduled immigration check-in is yet another example of the targeted, unlawful deportations happening around the country. In New York, we know that our strength comes from welcoming and protecting our immigrant neighbors, yet right now, many families in our community are living in fear when they should be building their futures. I stand with the New York Immigration Coalition and my colleagues to demand the immediate release of Omar Ramos. He and all our immigrant neighbors deserve dignity, due process, and especially to feel safe when following the required legal process asked of them. Our nation is more prosperous, fairer, and stronger when we choose to protect, not target, those who call it home,” said New York State Assembly member Sarah Clark, District 136.

As a friend and neighbor of the family we appreciate all help with what you can as we work to free Omar!

*The family is directly linked as transfer recipients of the funds, all proceeds will be used to support expenses outlined above.