Outside immigration court in downtown Chicago Wednesday morning, demonstrators demanded the release of an undocumented Mexican father from Milwaukee who was detained by immigration authorities after being falsely accused of sending death threats to President Donald Trump.
Ramon Morales Reyes, 54, appeared virtually before a Chicago immigration judge Wednesday following his arrest in Milwaukee on May 21. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had announced the arrest, which occurred after he dropped his child off at school, saying Morales Reyes had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would then “self-deport” to Mexico.
The announcement, which the White House also posted on its social media accounts, contained an image of the letter as well as a photo of Morales Reyes. The letter, written with blue ink and in English, threatened to kill Trump for “messing with Mexicans.”
But the claim started to unravel as investigators talked to Morales Reyes, who doesn’t speak English fluently, and obtained a handwriting sample from him that was different from the handwriting in the letters, according to court documents.
On Wednesday, Morales Reyes’ family said it has faced public shaming and received multiple death threats on social media since Noem publicly condemned him. The family is urging the Department of Homeland Security to retract its initial statement and instead name the man who allegedly framed Morales Reyes to get him deported.
“My dad didn’t deserve to be framed for something he never did, especially after it was already known that he didn’t write the letter. They (DHS) knew that after investigating him,” Morales Reyes’ daughter said in a phone interview with the Tribune. She asked that her name be withheld because of the ongoing threats to her and her family.
On Monday, prosecutors said in a criminal complaint that Demetric D. Scott was behind the letter sent to state and federal officials with the return address and name of Ramón Morales Reyes. Scott is now facing charges accusing him of forging the letter with the goal of having Morales Reyes deported in order to keep him from testifying against Scott in a 2023 assault case.
Morales Reyes is listed as a victim in the case involving Scott, who is awaiting trial in Milwaukee County Jail on armed robbery and aggravated battery charges.
In a statement to the Tribune, a senior DHS official said Morales Reyes is “no longer under investigation for threats against the President.” The official did not say whether the agency would retract its statement.
Meanwhile, Morales Reyes “will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings as he is in the country illegally with previous arrests for felony hit and run, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier,” the official said in an email statement.
His hearing in Chicago was postponed to next week, with the judge requesting more time to review late court filings.
Cain Oulahan, Morales Reyes’ lawyer, said his client has been in the country without authorization since 1986, and the felony and other arrests under his name are from 1996, “when he was young.”
Morales Reyes’ daughter said her father has since then dedicated his life to work for his family, buying a home and paying their taxes in Milwaukee. He is a father of three and grandfather of two children, in what’s now a mixed-status family with U.S-born kids.
Law enforcement officers listened to several calls Scott made from the jail in which he talked about letters that needed to be mailed and a plan to get someone picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement so Scott’s trial could get dismissed, according to the criminal complaint. He also admitted to police that he wrote the letters, documents said.
Scott was charged Monday with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail-jumping. A court commissioner set a $30,000 cash bail during his initial court appearance Tuesday and scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 10.
Oulahan said immigration agents arrested Morales with an administrative warrant that did not mention the alleged letter. He was also arrested despite having a pending application for a U visa, which is for people in the country illegally who become victims of serious crimes, his attorney said.
A group of advocates traveled to Chicago from Milwaukee Wednesday in support of Morales Reyes and his family. They hoped to attend the public court hearing even though it was virtual.
“We want to let everyone know that he and his family are not alone,” said Christine Neumann, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to immigrants and low-income workers.
For now, their goal is to get Morales Reyes out on bond. He is an older adult, facing several health problems that have been exacerbated by the false and serious accusations, Neumann said.
As the family waits for the case to be processed, their only plea is for DHS to guarantee the safety of Morales Reyes and his family, she said.
“All people deserve dignity, respect, safety, including Ramon Morales Reyes,” said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “But Trump and DHS are doubling down on harmful enforcement measures, and in the process keeping people like Ramon away from his family and community.”
The Associated Press contributed
