Contact: jessica@pangealegal.org
Date: February 28, 2022
For immediate release
Enrique Is Free!
After a combined 18+ years of incarceration and ICE detention, Pangea client, Enrique Cristobal Meneses, is finally home!!!
While incarcerated at Soledad State Prison, Enrique transformed himself into a powerful and steadfast community leader. There, he earned the equivalent of a master’s degree in drug and alcohol counseling through the Offender Mentor Certification Program. With this certification, he taught courses on anger management, thinking errors, grief counseling, and denial management. He was also formative in co-founding National Crimes Victims’ Rights Week at Soledad, which is an annual event focusing on restorative justice. Enrique is remarkable, and his countless achievements cannot be adequately summarized in one update!
On November 10, 2020, California Governor, Gavin Newsom, rightfully commuted Enrique’s sentence. However, on the day Enrique was set to be released, ICE arrested him. Soon after, Pangea attorney, Jessica Yamane Moraga, stepped in to take on Enrique’s representation in his bond proceedings. Together, they compiled one of the most robust release packages, in no small part because Enrique’s name preceded him and organizations were jumping at the opportunity to bring him on board as staff post-release. Enrique’s bond was ultimately denied because the Immigration Judge fixated on Enrique’s 2005 attempted murder conviction, while ignoring all of the evidence of rehabilitation – including the commutation by Governor Newsom.
Jessica challenged the judge’s decision all the way to Northern District Court of Appeals. Unsurprisingly, the system failed Enrique once again, denying his freedom. Pero, la lucha continuó!!! On February 11th, Centro Legal De La Raza’s attorneys, Priya Patel and Susan Beaty, successfully litigated Enrique’s case for long-term relief under the Convention Against Torture before the Immigration Court …. And we WON! Enrique is now Free and home with his family with job offers to begin work as a restorative justice counselor.
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