Eric Martin San Juan said his dad died after ICE deported him to Mexico, leaving his family without its “backbone”
GoFundMe
NEED TO KNOW
- Paulino Martin San Pedro died of pneumonia after ICE detained him in Oregon and deported him to Mexico in November, according to his son, Eric Martin San Juan
- “No one deserves this, no one deserves to be tortured, no one deserves to be taken away from their families, not knowing you’ll ever see them again, and then truly never seeing them again,” Martin San Juan said
- A GoFundMe — set up to help his family cover funeral expenses and navigate life without him — has raised over $50,000 of its $70,000 goal, so far, as of Feb. 22
A family in Oregon is mourning their father, who they say died of pneumonia after he was detained and deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Beaverton resident Eric Martin San Juan said that ICE detained his 53-year-old dad, Paulino Martin San Pedro, in Oregon in November and deported him to Mexico, where he hadn’t been in over three decades — and where he he died of pneumonia, according to Portland outlet KPTV.
KGW-TV, another local outlet, reported he died on Monday, Feb. 16.
PEOPLE reached out to an ICE spokesperson for comment on Sunday, Feb. 22, but did not receive an immediate response.
Martin San Juan told KPTV that he blames ICE for his father’s death and that he believes the outcome of his dad’s illness would have been different if he had been able to stay in the United States.
“I think if we fought it here, he would have had a better chance of being with his family, having me, having his day one support system versus going home to a place you haven’t been in 30 years,” the grieving son told the FOX affiliate.
“I thoroughly blame ICE,” he added, “I blame our government because there is a better way to do all of this besides shipping people away.”
“The day my dad was taken, I felt like my dad had died, that’s how extreme it felt," he continued, adding that ICE “threw my dad out like an animal, and now I have no dad.”
The grieving son fought to get his father back to Beaverton after his November detainment — to no avail.
“No one deserves this, no one deserves to be tortured, no one deserves to be taken away from their families, not knowing you’ll ever see them again, and then truly never seeing them again,” he told KPTV.
GoFundMe
In February, Martin San Juan and his family went to Mexico to say goodbye.
The family, which plans on holding a vigil at home, has launched a GoFundMe to help cover the funeral expenses for Martin San Pedro, who the fundraiser describes as “the backbone of our family” and “the man who did everything for us.”
“He showed up for everyone, gave without hesitation, and loved deeply,” states the fundraiser, which has raised over $50,000 of its $70,000 goal.
Martin San Juan told KPTV that ICE “left a 20-year-old girl without a father going to school, they left two sons who just wanted to spend time with their dad, my children aren’t going to have a grandpa, my sister doesn’t have anyone to walk her down the aisle.”
“I’ve put myself in financial risk, my mother, my brother, and at the end of the day, it still wasn’t good enough,” he told the outlet of his attempts to get his father back to Oregon. “These are the things that happen when your father is taken away, your mother, it doesn’t matter who it is, this is the reality.”
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And the impact of the late Oregon father, who Martin San Juan said “really built me up to be the best version of myself,” remains — even as his family mourns him.
“Right now, we are choosing to celebrate my dad for who he is and the life he lived. I am heartbroken, but we will get through this together, just like he taught us to,” the GoFundMe states. “Thank you for helping us honor him and get through this impossible moment.”
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