Boy Pleads: ‘Don’t Deport My Dad’ After Essex County Jail Stay

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Jean Montrevil, a Haitian immigrant and father of four, passed through the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark last week. His stay was short: just two days. But the 49-year-old’s family says that his fateful layover in the Garden State was all part of a sequence of events that may lead to Montrevil’s deportation to Haiti.

Last week, Montrevil’s ex-wife, Jani Cauthen, said that ICE agents took Montrevil into custody outside his home in Far Rockaway, Queens, then transported him to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, which contracts to house federal ICE detainees.

After a two-day stay in Newark, Montrevil was then transported to the Krome Detention Center in Miami, Florida, his family said.

Montrevil has four children, ages 27, 19, 14 and 10. His 14-year-old son, Jahsiah, is "sickly" and underwent brain surgery three years ago to remove a brain tumor. If the 49-year-old is deported, his daughter, Janiah, won't be able to finish college, Cauthen told Patch.

Montrevil came to the U.S. from Haiti with a green card in 1986 at the age of 17.

• See related article: Father Of 4 Jailed In Essex County After ICE Arrest, Family Says

On Monday, Montrevil’s son, Jahsiah, posted a stirring plea to local authorities: please don’t deport my dad.

Read his full letter below, as posted to Change.org:

“Hi, I am Jahsiah. I am 14 years old. I am the son of the 49-year old Haitian immigrant Jean Montrevil. He came to the U.S. from Haiti with his twin sister, Rose Montrevil, in 1986, when he was only 17 years old.

“On January 3, 2018, my dad was detained outside of our house on his way to work. Later that day, he was sent to Essex County Jail in New Jersey. He remained there for two more days. On Friday, he was flown down to Krome Detention Center in Miami, Florida where he currently is. He has been struggling with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 2005 when he was first detained, 13 years ago.

“In February of 2002, my parents, Jean Montrevil and Jani Cauthen, met. On November 20, 2003, nine days after my dad's birthday and two days after my mom's, I was born. Even at a young age, I would protest for my father from Jericho Walks in blazing heat to traveling to Washington D.C. with my family so we could meet with government officials. One of my oldest memories is of when news reporters came to interview us at our house and when they asked me how I felt, since I was only four, I didn't know to feel because I was too young to understand how bad it was. I remember times when our community would come together to prepare for a rally and I would make posters trying my best to do all I could to show how bad everything was. He had to go to annual check-ins with ICE before every check-in I always try to spend as much time as possible with him and try not to think about the fact that it may be the last time I see him.

“My main goal in life is to do everything he wants me to do and make him proud. That's the main reason I try so hard to get into the best schools possible because he pushes me so hard. He has a community that loves him and a family that needs him. Being deported back to Haiti would mean him losing everything he has worked for. His family, job, and whole life is in the U.S. If he got deported, he would have to go through a process in which you must be interviewed by the Haitian government and a family member must come and sign you off. Since he has no family in Haiti, he would have to serve jail time in Haiti unless he could somehow pay them. It's sad how they try to make money off of deportees in Haiti. Haitian jails are dangerous and many people have died inside Haitian jails.

“So please help to release my father from detainment before it is too late, because no one should have to suffer the pain of losing a loved one to deportation. I am asking you to help as a son and an immigrant rights activist. If you were me and I was you, wouldn't you want me to help?”

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo: Jean and Jahsiah (Change.org, used with permission)