More of Our Mission

Maybe prison reform was destined for me. Back in 2017 when I was extradited from Panama and imprisoned at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami, I was placed in a pod of over one hundred men. We were mostly black and brown men with the exception of the trash orderly, who was the only white/Caucasian man in the whole pod. A week later a white father and son would come in and then Joey, my cell mate, who was of Italian heritage.

Miami is a mostly Latino community and there are a lot of men of color from the islands, and I understand why the pod would have more men of color, but to just have just one white person in the whole place seemed ludicrous.

When released later that year, I investigated and read Michell Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. As a Latino man and an ex-convict, I always thought that the risk factors from our commodity were mainly to blame for the incarceration of many of us. It never crossed my mind that there would be systemic inequalities that landed more poor people in prison.

The thought of advocacy crossed my mind six year ago when was released. I wanted to tell my story: how I was given the maximum sentence despite being a first-time offender, how I was sent to maximum security institution despite being non-violent, how I was deported despite being a citizen since before joining the Air Force and vowing to die for this country, how I was imprisoned again for leaving the district of supervision when US Immigration had ordered me deported, etc.

I didn't advocate six years ago because life, obligations and priorities got in the way. I had to make money. I'm forever grateful I have a job in trucking that not only gives me time to think about what's important in life but allows me to put my son through college.

Prison reform is important in my life. Fighting for those unjustly deported from this country is important in my life. I have been impacted by both prison and immigration.

My mission is to get involved and advocate through my writing. This blog is but my first action towards my mission.