Jayapal Introduces Orlin’s Law Calling For The Protection Of Children Of Immigrants

U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, is introducing Orlin’s Law, legislation named for Orlin Hernandez Reyes. Three-year-old Orlin was murdered after his mother was deported and he was sent to live with a violent uncle, despite his mother’s request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that her son be deported with her. As Jayapal introduces the legislation, she is also demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Acting Director David Venturella as children continue to be separated from their parents.

“Orlin was violently assaulted and killed after ICE took him from his mother — an immigrant with no criminal record who was picked up on her way to work. There are no words to express the outrage and heartbreak that we should all feel for this three-year-old boy,” said Jayapal. “There will never be justice for his family, because we cannot bring Orlin back. We can, though, in his memory demand that this never happen again, and ensure that the children of immigrants and immigrant families are protected and kept together.”

“I begged them not to take me without my son,” Wendy Hernandez Reyes, mother of Orlin Hernandez Reyes. “I told the officers Orlin was just a baby, that I would go wherever they sent me, as long as he came too. They didn’t listen. Just weeks later, Orlin was gone. No child should die alone because no one stopped to ask what would happen to them after their mother was taken away. I’m supporting Orlin’s Law because I don’t want another parent to endure the pain I have suffered. Nothing will bring Orlin back, but I hope his story can help save another child’s life.”

The legislation is endorsed by the ACLU; Acacia Center for Justice; All Our Kin; Amnesty International USA; …Women’s Refugee Commission; … and Wisconsin Head Start Association.