URGENT: 2 Suicide Attempts Later Yanellie Needs You

dreamy14 · 01-27-2012, 06:15 AM

via DreamActivist.org

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If you haven’t already, meet Yanelli, she is an amazing 22 year old DREAMer from Ohio. For the last nine months, Yanelli has been detained in Butler County jail. During this time she has suffered from severe depression, to the point where she has attempted to kill herself two times already. Her calls for help have gone unanswered and she is set to be deported on Tuesday,¬ January 31st.

ICE don’t deport Yanelli. She needs help; she needs to be with her family.

We cannot afford to wait. For ten years we have been forced to wait for the Dream Act, and as a result, we have lost many Dream Act students to suicide. In November, we lost Joaquin Luna, an 18 year old Dreamer from Texas, who thought he too had no future. Joaquin took his own life because he was suffering and now Yanelli is also suffering. Last fall while many of you were beginning your school semester Yanelli was begging to be released to the point where, when denied, she attempted to take her life for the second time. Yanelli needs help; will you help us make sure she gets that help?

Take action: We lost Joaquin Luna, now let’s make sure we do not lose Yanelli Hernandez!

Yanelli’s circumstances are a bit different than the normal Dream Act case you hear about. She came here all by herself when she was just 13. She never had the opportunity to go to school because, at the age of 15, she began working at a factory in order to help put food on her family’s table. While detained, Yanelli has started taking classes and is hoping to start on her GED soon. She dreams of one day becoming a veterinarian.

Do not deport DREAMer Yanelli - Sign to demand her immediate release

How did she land here? For several years now Yanelli has been battling with depression. Without proper support she made the mistake of turning towards alcohol; she began self medicating to the point where, last spring, she found herself charged with a DUI. Yanelli needs help. She recognizes that she did not handle things the right way and she is willing to admit that. However, she will not get any help if she is deported back to Mexico where she has no one to help her.

As a community we are responsible to each other, especially those most vulnerable. Right now Yanelli needs support, she needs to be taken care of, regardless of what she may have done. That is why this Monday dozens of groups across the country will be hosting vigils to show that we are standing in solidarity with Yanelli and that we ask that her deportation immediately be stopped.

If you are part of an organization please sign onto this letter ASAP!

We already have events planned in Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York City, Detroit, Tallahassee, Raleigh, Harrisonberg, San Francisco, Birmingham and Cincinnati. If you can host a vigil in your city please reply to this email and we'll get in touch with you.

We have until Tuesday to stop this deportation and possibly save Yanelli's life, are you with us?

Mohammad Abdollahi
DreamActivist.org

dreamy14 · 02-01-2012, 06:52 PM

Unfortunately, Yanelli was deported yesterday. Here's an update from DreamActivist.org:

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Well things did not turn out as we had hoped, yesterday Yanelli was deported back to Mexico. We've been in touch with Yanelli and, even though she was deported, it does not mean our work ends. We'll continue to work with her to see what support she needs and, if she decides to come back, we'll help her with that too. Our community is too important to allow any of us to be lost in this fight.

Send a message of support to Yanelli and her family.

We want to take a moment to recognize and thank you for all of the work you and your friends were a part of in the last few days. In just three days, as a group we made over 4,000 calls, we gathered over 7,000 petition signatures and, most importantly, we got the message across that, regardless of your challenges, you are not in this alone.

Yesterday, in honor of Yanelli, we launched a new effort called UndocuHealth.org. In doing this work and just being a part of this struggle we recognize that many of us go through so much and so much of that time we are not able to share it with anyone. It builds up and eventually comes out in one form or another. Many of us suffer from depression. Many of us have attempted to take our own life at one point or another. Many of us suffer or suffered at one point through something and UndocuHealth.org is our stab at trying to create a community around our struggle and to help each of us recognize that we are not alone.

Remember Joaquin Luna? Well his family really stepped up and went all out to try to also help Yanelli. Their main motivation is just to make sure their son's tragedy helps others. Join us as we thank them and others for their support of Yanelli. They joined us in helping launch the first ever National Undocumented Mental Health day. We hope you'll join us and share your testimoy or just read along.

No one fights alone, join us at UndocuHealth

Much love,

Mohammad
DreamActivist.org

P.S. On Twitter? Send this message to others who helped Yanelli: @SenatorReid @SenatorDurbin @SenatorMenendez Thank you for your leadership & help to save Yanelli @dreamact

shimmy · 02-02-2012, 11:30 AM

It saddens me to read about this. I hope Yanelli tries to be strong and is able to get the help and support she needs. I will definitely be checking out UndocuHealth. It's obvious from reading some posts in these forums that many of us deal with some form of depression some short term and others long term. It's great to have a site that addresses this.

dreamy14 · 02-02-2012, 09:44 PM

^^

I agree. With all the hatred out there that are geared towards us, a support like this is amazing.

They need you!

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URGENT: 2 Suicide Attempts Later Yanellie Needs You