An appeal for political asylum
is scheduled to be deported on December 8. Aguilar-Lopez, who has lived and worked in the U.S. for five years and has family here, recently had his application for political asylum rejected--despite the fact that three family members in his native Honduras were killed.
Aguilar-Lopez says his family was targeted by an organized crime family because its store competed with one run by the crime family. A member of the organized crime group is now a local chief of police. Here, he appeals for help in stopping his deportation.
THERE'S PAIN and grief--especially because it's a close-knit, hardworking family of three brothers and two sisters, with a father who gave everything for the welfare of his family.
All of our problems began with the death of my uncle, Mario Morel López, a hard-working person with good principles. Ultimately, his life ended in emptiness when he was murdered at the store he owned while it was being robbed.
After all of this, we were followed by injustice and many problems. We started receiving threats from those individuals (members of a powerful local family and their gang) who killed my uncle, because they felt certain that our family would eventually seek revenge for his death. This was not true then, and it is not true now. Over time, we were confronted by many financial problems. Then we suffered the death of our other uncle José Alexis, which was supposedly an "accident."
My father Alfredo Aguilar, a man much loved and respected within our community, suffered from diabetes and had many problems, including stress from the threats. He made the decision to take his own life, and shot himself in the head with a pistol. After his death, it was an extremely difficult time.
I was raised with good values and principles, and decided to go ahead and continue searching for a brighter future.
I started my first job in a retail store as a sales assistant at the age of 22. Through hard work and diligence I was promoted to chauffeur, then to sales agent, and though it took a while, I was eventually promoted to sales manager.
During this troubled time (after losing my uncles and receiving continued threats to my family), and with all of the hard work and sacrifice it took to move up in the company, I welcomed my daughter, Magelith.
After her mother emigrated to the U.S. while pregnant, that's when I truly started to feel the love a parent feels for their child, and the meaning of the word "daddy." I was with her for 15 days, during which I fell in love with my beautiful daughter.
At around this time, two members of the same powerful local family responsible for the deaths of my two uncles (described as part of the original group of offenders), were murdered by unknown persons. The family members of these two individuals accused my brother Walter and I of killing them, out of revenge for the murder of my uncles.
Since then, my life took another turn when my family went into hiding and my brother Walter decided to stay with the only family that we had left--my mother, my younger brother and my two sisters.
I decided to emigrate to America out of fear for my own safety, not wanting to leave my daughter fatherless, and with the desire to help my family carry on.
On my first attempt, I was arrested in Mexico and deported, but I made a second attempt, suffering the worst nightmare of my life in the process.
In the beginning, life was very difficult for me in the U.S., because it was the first time I had experienced living away from my family, and being alone and very far from Honduras.
Eventually, in my hometown, a member of the family that we believe responsible for the killings of my relatives became the chief of police. Sadly, after that, in February 2010, my brother Walter was murdered by the police, under orders from that same chief, who continues to threaten us to this day. On the same occasion that Walter was murdered, my younger brother Olman was captured. He later proved his innocence and was set free, but now he remains in hiding, terrorized and fearing that he too will be hunted down and assassinated.
Around the same time, while driving in my car, I had the unfortunate experience of getting pulled over by the police, who then turned me over to immigration agents. In an attempt to remain in this country, and for fear of returning to my country, I applied for political asylum. My application was denied by the judge, due to the poor job (careless errors, incorrect dates, etc.) that the attorney I paid $5,000 to for help with my case did in filling out the paperwork.
This is not a complete account of my experience, because it's too long and painful to recall.
To the people who read or hear of my experience, and would like to help, please do so by signing a petition in my defense. Your help will be very important. I thank you all for your attention and support.
I have not lost my faith and my hope to stay in this country, as I continue to struggle for the welfare of my family and my daughter.
