Free Manny, student leader and scholar being deported help

Manuel “Manny” Francisco Torres-Manny Torres was taken from his home for immediate deportation back to Peru, on December 4th at 6:30 am. -Manny is now being held at Mira Loma detention center in Lancaster, Ca. Manny is scheduled be deported in three to five weeks time. -The Torres family consists of his Father Jose Torres, his Mother Maria Torres, and his younger brother Eduardo “Eddie” Torres. The family came to the United States in 1988. Manny was six years old at the time. They were granted political asylum due to civil war in Peru along with Manny’s father being threatened by extremists because of his government job. Manny and his family lived here legally until 1996 when they were given an order of deportation. Manny’s family never received warning of the order. Manny’s father went to a lawyer that took $7,500 of his money and claimed that he would get the family the proper paperwork. The lawyer then disappeared and when this order came about it was delivered to the lawyer’s office not the Torres’s house. During this time there was a motion to reopen the case and since it was pending there was an automatic stay of deportation. While Manny had no idea what was going on his family also thought everything was okay. Eventually the motion and its appeal were denied so the stay went away. After this Manny’s father went to another lawyer that filed an application for late amnesty. This was a bogus attempt made by the last lawyer and she left Manny’s father believing that everything was okay. Manny’s family continued to believe that they were living here legally and lived as though they were legal. While Manny was supposed to be deported to Peru he has lived here for 19 years and has managed to obtain a social security card, license, has renewed and had in his possession his work authorization card, and has paid taxes. -Now 25 Manuel (Manny) Francisco Torres has been a productive and loved member of his community. At Pasadena City College Manny maintained a 3.9 grade point average. At PCC Manny was a member of Leadership Pasadena where he sought to bring about awareness and pro-activity to various concerns and needs in the community through events and social activities. From 2003-2004 Manny was elected Vice President to the Associated Student Board as well as Student Trustee. For the year of 2003-2004 he was awarded the Earl W. Holder Outstanding Student Leadership Award. This award is only given to one student per year. In 2004 Manny was also awarded the PCC President’s Choice Scholarship. Manny earned his Associates degree in Science and Art from Pasadena City College, and then transferred to the University of California at Santa Barbara. AT UCSB Manny pursued the study of Political Science and Education, and earned a Bachelors degree in both disciplines. He finished his degree in 2006 in one and half years instead of two. From 204-2006 Manny was a member of Toast Masters International where he was involved in pubic speaking and gave speeches to crowds reaching up to 1,000 people. In 2006 Manny received the UC Santa Barbara Leadership Program Scholarship. This scholarship was given to a full-time student who had to complete a 13 unit requirement, show leadership involvement in the school and have at least one activity that exhibits great task management skills and the ability to handle responsibility while in charge of other students. After college Manny worked at the Morrison Law Group where he was a legal assistant as well as manager. Manny worked at the Morrison Law Group in downtown Los Angeles from June 2006-July 2007. Manny resigned from his job so he could dedicate his time to his studies. In September of 2007, Manny completed the LSAT receiving a score of 160 finishing in the top percentile. After completing the LSAT Manny began working for the Curtis Green and Furman law firm which focuses on health care law. He had plans to start law school in the fall of 2008 with hopes of applying to Pepperdine or Southwestern Universities. Manny hopes as a lawyer he can fight for children with special needs. -While attending college in Santa Barbara Manny traveled to Pasadena every weekend to work at Ability First on Del Mar Blvd. Manny worked at Ability First from February 2002 – August 2005. As an employee at Ability First, Manny worked with children with special needs like autism and cerebral palsy. On weekend nights Manny was employed independently by the Geher Family to work with their non verbal autistic son Dylan. Manny began this work in 2004 and continued to work with Dylan until he was detained. Manny encouraged appropriate behavior with Dylan and would do things like dine at restaurants, make purchases, socialize, and interact with the general public. The following groups were created on Manny’s behalf in order to keep his friends and family informed on the status of his situation and to draw attention to his plight.

Myspace group – http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupProfile&groupID=106873285&Mytoken=1C7B8345-D7CB-4A07-AA2553060AEAB2C079160731

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17561360182

Please contact if you have any questions or seek additional information. You can reach by email at lfitch315@yahoo.com, or by telephone at 805-796-7980