After fighting to be freed from behind bars for a crime they did not commit, Gabriel Solache and Arturo Reyes want out of the U.S. The two Mexican citizens made arrangements to return to their native country after serving 18 years out of life sentences for murder. Although this is not the typical story of two immigrants fighting to stay within U.S. borders, sometimes all you want is to go home.
Chicago PD gains a bad rep.
In December a judge discredited the testimony given by a former Chicago police detective during the separate trials.Solache and Reyes were eventually cleared of any criminal charges in the fatal stabbing that took place in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. Instead of releasing the two men, authorities handed them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Both men had entered the country illegally and upon ending one sentence began another. Even though Solache and Reyes indicated they were willing to leave the U.S., the men were immediately thrown into deportation proceedings.
Supporting victims of abuse
U-visas are unique visas reserved for victims of crime committed on U.S. soil. Nationally there are about 10,000 issued each year. The men are eligible to apply for U-visas based on reported abuse suffered at the hands of the Chicago Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Reyes filed a federal lawsuit that alleges Guevara repeatedly hit him and threatened him with the electric chair during a 40-hour interrogation. Solache claims Guevara tortured and beat him so severely that he now has permanent hearing loss in one ear. Additionally, he was kept in custody for days without a lawyer or access to anyone who spoke Spanish. The detective was the only one who would act as the inmate’s interpreter.
Neither man thought after experiencing almost two decades in jail that anything worse could happen. Even though they are free of criminal charges, the men still find themselves fighting for their freedom.
