Henry Javier Cruz Moreno was a law abiding, tax paying Honduran man living in Aurora, CO. He built a food pantry for the poor in his community, and stocked it regularly. He cared for, loved, and supported his chronically ill wife, whom he had been with for 20 years. He loved his step-daughter and her two daughters, helping to raise them. They were as close as you could imagine. He was an upstanding member of his community; he was a beloved and involved father. He ran a carpet cleaning business. He was a kind, peaceful member of society. Until he was taken.
Every morning for 20 years, Henry would walk his wife Priscilla out to her car and kiss her goodbye. ICE watched this morning routine for two weeks. When they picked him up in 2018 on the 12th of September, moments after his wife departed for work, they mocked him for it. There was a reason he was so dedicated to kissing her goodbye every day: 20 years ago, Henry and Priscilla had an argument that got out of hand. The police were called, and although the subsequent charge given to Henry was minor, according to Priscilla, they immediately knew they could not allow their relationship to remain the way it was. They felt it was rock bottom, but they did not want to give up. They joined a church, stopped drinking, and vowed to never go to bed angry. They put hard work into their marriage and they came out on the other side of this event as new people; Priscilla often says she cannot even remember the people they were back then. In the 19 years following that heated argument, Henry and Priscilla found a love for each other that is enviable. They built a beautiful life and helped their community together. All of that is being invalidated nineteen years later, simply on the basis that the current administration wants any and every illegal immigrant detained (as opposed to the previous administration’s approach of starting with recent, violent offenders). All of the hard work Henry and Priscilla put into their marriage and their lives has been ignored for the sake of an agenda. This is not a dangerous man, and to punish him as one after he has spent nearly two decades reforming himself and the community around him would be unjust.
Priscilla Cruz Moreno is about to turn 62 years old. She planned to retire after this birthday, due to chronic illness and stress. She has since begun liquidating her very small retirement to fight for her husband’s return. She currently can not afford a uterine biopsy to check for cancer, and she has lost her soulmate, her partner, her best friend, without knowing when she will see him again. She suffers daily from panic attacks- they all must. Farah, their daughter, has a brain tumor. She cannot afford to operate. She is close to having to sell her own home to help her mother stay above the water. She tells me, in the beginning, she fought the hardest. She was sure they would bring him home. Now, she struggles to open emails, expecting bad news. Farah’s two daughters are suffering from a deep depression after a loss they can’t comprehend. Priscilla and Farah have stressed that Henry had been an incredible emotional support to his 16 year old granddaughter who already struggled with depression and suicide. After a suicide attempt that resulted in hospitalization, Farah tells me her daughter didn’t sleep for 72 hours. That is, until Henry, her “Dappy”, rushed in. They slept together on the couch in the hospital room that night. He told her he loved her the whole time. They were a normal, loving family of five with a family business and a close knit community. Now they are struggling to make it through each day.
This is a letter written by Farah’s 16 year old, submitted to help substatiate the claim that Henry’s deportation would cause irreparable mental damage to his granddaughters.
This letter was ignored.
Henry’s conditions are deplorable. There are worms in his food, he has been mocked and taunted, and he is being denied his prescription medication and even simple over the counter products like Vick’s vapor rub, because “it is all in his head”. I didn’t have room to post the screenshots of Farah’s message to me, detailing Thanksgiving 2018, so I will quote her below instead.
“We visited Henry on Thanksgiving. They turn the phone off at the centers at 11pm on Thursday nights so people can’t call their families if they suspect they may deport in the middle of the night. We had been given a deportation order in 10/30 but were appealing it.
They don’t turn phones back on, on Fridays until all planes land because they don’t want anybody calling each others families to let them know they’re being deported. It kills my mom because Henry calls her like 5 times a day.
On Black Friday Henry finally called her at 4pm, his voice strained. He told her they woke him up at 2am and threw his clothes on his face. He was taken on 9/12/18 so he was wearing khaki shorts and a polo. It’s been 20 degrees and less in Colorado at night. We didn’t bring him other clothes because he wasn’t supposed to be deported.
He told them it was a mistake but they still forced him to gather what he had (pictures we sent him, letters from my girls and his commissary food). They shackled his feet and handcuffed him and kept him outside in a weird shed. He refused to sign the paperwork insisting our attorneys filed paperwork. They threatened saying he would be in trouble if he didn’t sign. He said “I’m not signing we are appealing.”
They left him out in the freezing cold, shackled and handcuffed for 8 hours while they “researched” where the appeal was. Not offering a jacket or blanket or anything.
Once they found it they said “oh oops. Ok..” then gave him back some scrubs and sent him to his cell.
He was sick for 2 weeks after.
It’s evil. They are evil people.”
This innocent family is in dire straits. Starting today, Friday, February 8th, 2019, Henry could be deported at any time. Their appeal was denied this week. They’ve filed an emergency stay of deportation appeal, but they don’t know what they will hear back.
Priscilla has provided me with the phone numbers and names of their state representatives and the Governor. Her lawyers have given her the green light to start making calls requesting Henry be granted a pardon. Making a brief phone call to government officials (whose numbers I will post at the bottom) and telling them that Henry Cruz Moreno, held at the Aurora ICE/GEO Detention Center in Colorodo, should be returned to live with his US citizen family who have applied for him to be pardoned, could make the difference these poor, lovely people need to bring home Henry. Calling representatives will only make a difference if enough voices are heard. Pardoning Henry for this case from 20 years ago is their Hail Mary. Without legislative support for his pardon, he could very well be sent to Honduras. If you don’t like making phone calls, please. Pass this on to someone who could call. Other ways to get involved? You could donate money, supplies, or care packages to the Cruz Moreno family. You could get in touch with me here, or Priscilla on twitter for information on how to write letters to Henry while he’s in holding.
These people are far from the only ones being affected right now by ICE’s cruelty. Priscilla often says she feels that they are here to showcase the inhumanity so many are enduring. Farah intends to write a book full of stories they’ve been told by others since Henry’s detainment. It is easy to feel like there is nothing you can do for people like Henry. It is easy to feel powerless when you do not know where to start with activism. But it is as simple as this: do good when you can. If you have time today to call on behalf of the Cruz Moreno family, if you have the spare cash right now to help them buy groceries, if you have the desire to offer words of encouragement to a man who has spent over 140 days away from his family.. please do that. They need help. They have been fighting an uphill battle for a long time, and they don’t know how much longer they have.
Donation link
Priscilla’s Twitter
Farah’s Twitter
Petition To Bring Henry Home **ONLY NEEDS 20 SIGNATURES**
Governor Jared Polis
303-866-2471
State Rep. Julie Gonzalez
303-866-4863
State Rep. Daniel Kagan
303-866-4846
if you don’t know what to say when you call the numbers above, here is a pastebin with a message you can use as a guideline or tweak to make your own. too long? you could call and just say “Henry Cruz Moreno, held in the Aurora ICE processing center, should be pardoned.” (though of course it would sound better to offer some reasons why- his service to his community, his family’s need for him, the length of time since the case he was brought in for)
Emphasize that his only mistake was two decades ago and that this punishment does not fit the crime. Urge them to listen to the people.
Please get involved. Please call. Please bring Henry Javier Cruz Moreno home safely.
