Willard man faces deportation

A Willard man could be taken from his family and deported as soon as later this month if immigration officials can't be convinced to change their minds about forcing him to leave.Jesus Lara Lopez is a loving father with no criminal history, according to the advocacy group America's Voice, and his American children have been campaigning to stop his deportation, asking federal officials to let him stay with his family. "The Trump Administration, DHS Secretary John Kelly, and U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs must not ignore the pleas of these young children," said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America's Voice. "They have a right to want to grow up with their father by their side. Secretary Kelly has the power to stop this deportation. The only question is whether he's willing to use it."America's Voice is a nonprofit dedicated to enacting policy changes that will guarantee full labor, civil and political rights for immigrants and their families.Lara Lopez''s children — sons Eric, 14, Edwin, 11, Anuar, 9, and daughter Elsiy, 6 — have met with reporters and gone to congressional offices hoping to get help.They also launched a petition directed to Rep. Gibbs, R-Lakeville, whose 7th district includes the Willard area. In the petition, Lara Lopez's son Eric wrote: "I don't know what my future would be like without my dad. Please, Rep. Gibbs, do everything you can so my father can stay with us."The Lara family has appealed for help to U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, whose district includes the Willard area. Gibbs did not return calls Friday and his office has not issued any statements about Lara's situation. A messages left with Gibbs office was not returned Friday. Lara's pending deportation was reported about in a New York Times article last month. The Times reported he was pulled over on his way to a dentist appointment in 2008 but did not have a driver's license and was jailed. A sheriff's deputy contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deportation proceedings followed, culminating in a removal order in 2011.But Lara Lopez was granted a reprieve, the Times reported, because he was otherwise law-abiding. He was subsequently placed under an order of supervision with a work permit, requiring him to check in with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency annually.All that changed in January, however, when the Trump administration committed to deporting anyone in the country illegally with no exceptions, and that applied to immigrants like Lara.In March, when Lara Lopez went for his annual check-in with the ICE office in Cleveland he was fitted with an electronic tracking monitor to his ankle and ordered to make arrangements to leave the country. Migrant workers have been key to the agricultural labor pool for years, including in Willard and surrounding areas. The extreme work conditions dissuade local people from taking the jobs. "Without the Hispanic labor force, we wouldn't be able to grow crops," Ben Wiers, a third generation local farmer told the Times. "The Lara Lopez family is counting the days until they are separated," said Tramonte, the America's Voice deputy director.ICE officials gave Lara Lopez until July 18 to leave the country, or be deported.Read moreJesus Lara, a Willard man who faces possible deportation later this month under President Trump's stepped up immigration enforcement, with his wife Anahi, and their American-born children, from left to right, sons Eric, 14, Edwin, 11, Anuar, 9, and daughter Elsy, 6.