Fearing Deportation to El Salvador Mega Prison, Beloved Virginia Music Teacher Flees Trump’s America

Access online version of this press release HERE

Washington, DC – The Trump’s administration mass deportation agenda continues to ensnare integral members of American communities – including those here legally from whom this administration is stripping protections and instilling fear of deportation to an El Salvadorian mega prison.

As reported in The Washington Post, a beloved music teacher in Northern Virginia here legally after fleeing repression in Venezuela, Jesús Rodríguez, has made the painful decision to leave the country in fear of being sent to a detention center and separated from his six-year-old daughter. The fear that influenced Rodríguez’s decision is devastating his school community and is just one example of the broader harms of this administration’s anti-immigrant efforts.

According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

“This administration will have you believe that every immigrant in America is out to harm us, but that is far from the reality. The vast majority of immigrants are here because they believe in the best of America and they are here making meaningful contributions: whether providing care for an elderly patient or teaching our children, like Mr. Rodriguez.

It is a disservice to countless communities and our nation to push out people like Mr. Rodriguez, who has legal protections but who is so fearful of the Administration’s mass deportation efforts that they are choosing to uproot themselves again and flee again. This is the price we all pay from the administration’s obsessions with mass deportations and intention to drive out immigrants like Jesús by any means necessary.”

Find excerpts of Jesús’ story below: The Washington Post, “Fearing deportation, a beloved music teacher gives a final lesson”:

“Rodríguez, a Venezuelan national, was legally living and working in this D.C. suburb under a humanitarian parole program that the Trump administration announced would end early. Without a clear path to stay legally, he decided to leave the United States, worried he could end up inside a Salvadoran prison — separated from his wife and 6-year-old daughter — if he didn’t.

The departure of a beloved teacher at a Loudoun County school surrounded by cul-de-sac neighborhoods is just one example of how the policy changes and torrent of immigration arrests surging through the country are affecting people beyond those who face deportation and reverberating in the communities where they have become an integral presence.”

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“Rodríguez, who arrived in the U.S. in 2023, was among about 532,000 people who came to the country under a humanitarian parole program created under the Biden administration to give migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela a legal path to escape violence or political persecution. In March, the Trump administration moved to end the program for all participants as of April 24.”

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“Loudoun schools Superintendent Aaron Spence also rallied around Rodríguez’s cause, saying he represents the kind of educator the district is looking for, one who makes a lasting difference in students’ lives — and, in the process, helps build a strong school community.

“That’s why it is incredibly disheartening to learn that a respected and well-loved LCPS teacher is being forced to leave the country — not because of any wrongdoing, but as a result of a federal policy decision that overlooks the very real human impact on individuals and the communities they serve,” Spence said in a statement.”