08/27/2025
“Junior, juon likao in Majōl eo ej jokwe ilo Northwest Arkansas, raar kōrọọl e ñan Majōl ālkin an kalbuuj jimettan iiō ilo jikin kalbuuj eo an ICE ilo Lousiana im iḷọk wōt ñan Guantanamo. ICE rein raar kalbuuji im bar kadiwōje ilo 2021 eo ke eaar jino jerbal ilo George’s eo ilo Springdale. Ak ilo February 2025 eo, rein jān ICE raar bar bōke im kalbuuji. Kiiō ej pād ilo Majuro.
Junior eaar jiroñ ḷọk Chikin Melele wāwein im jekjek in jikin kalbuuj kein eaar ba bwe rej jet jikin ko eḷap aer nana. Ilo Guantanamo, raar kōṃṃan ñane “āinwōt juon terrorist”. Policeman rein raar likūti iloan worwor ko rej pād iuṃwin al im det ilo iien an kakkije. Jet iaan men ko rar waḷọk ñane eaar jab maroñ kōnono kaki. Men eo eḷap an kōnono kake ej kōn ewi joñan an būroṃōj kōn ajri ro nejin im baaṃle eo an.
Junior ejjeḷọk an baaṃle ilo Majuro. Eaar ba: “ro neju, lellap eo jino, leddik ro jeiu im jatu, laddik eo jatu, aunty ro aō, uncle ro aō, im leddik eo jera—aolep repād Amedka.” Eaar kajjitōk ewōr ke an bar maroñ ñan leloñ tak abṇōṇō (case) in an ilo an pād ilo Marshall Islands. Eaar ba, “eḷap aō kōnaan bwe in jeplaak ḷọk ippān ajri ro neju im kōrā eo jera, jouj.”
Rein jeran im ri jerbal rein ṃōttan ilo Arkansas raar kwaḷọk im kōmeḷeḷe kōn mour in an Junior eḷap an oktak jān meḷeḷe ko an ICE. Ilo jikin jerbal eo an George’s, menija ro raar ba ej juon eo eḷap an kate im kūttare ilo jerbal. Eaar barāinwōt erom juon Lead im lale 6 ri jerbal ro raar pād iuṃwin kabbe eo an. Ro ṃōttan raar ba eḷap an akwe jabdewōt armej.
Bwebwenato in an Junior ejjab jeṇoḷọk. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, juon likao in El Salvador, eaar bar waḷọk jekjek in ñane im raar jilkin ḷọk ñan juon iaan jikin kalbuuj ko reḷḷap eo eaar bar diwōj ak ālkin rein jān ICE raar bar kalbuuji. Likao in eaar kwaḷọk ñan rein rej jipañe bwe ilo an ememlokjen kōn baaṃle eo an eaar juon men in kōkajoor e: “Anij enaaj bōktok ekajet jiṃwe ñan aolep ro rej eñtaan.”
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“Junior”, a Marshallese man living in Northwest Arkansas, was sent to Majuro after spending more than half of a year in ICE detention in Louisiana and then Guantanamo. He was detained by ICE before but released in 2021 when he started working for George’s in Springdale. But in February 2025, he was again taken into ICE custody. He is currently in Majuro.
Junior told Chikin Melele that conditions in detention were very bad. In Guantánamo, he was treated “the same as the terrorists.” Guards moved him into cages under the hot sun whenever he tried to rest. Some things he refuses to talk about. What he talks about most is how much he misses his children and family.
Junior does not have family in Majuro. He said: “All my kids, my mom, my sisters, my brother, my aunty, my uncle, and my girlfriend—they are all in America.” He asked if he still has a chance to fight his case from the Marshall Islands. “I really want to come back now with my kids and my girlfriend, please,” he said.
Friends and coworkers in Arkansas describe a different man than ICE. At George’s, his workplace, managers said he was a hard worker who became a Lead and supervised six employees. Friends said he had a iakwe for everyone.
Junior’s story is not unique. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant from El Salvador, was wrongfully deported from Maryland to a mega-prison and brought back to the US to face new charges in Kentucky. He is currently in an ICE facility in Virginia. He told supporters that family memories gave him strength: “God will bring justice to all of the injustice we are suffering.”
Ri Majōl ro emālim aer jokwe im amṇak ilo Amedka ekkar ñan kwon im karōk ko iuṃwin Compact of Free Association eo. Mekarta ak elmọkot ko rekāāl an immigration eṃōj aer kōḷapḷọk im kapidodoik ḷọk...
