FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2019
AFA CONTACT: Taylor Garland, press@afacwa.org, 202-550-5520
MESA AIRLINES CONTACT: Brian Gillman, media@mesa-air.com, 602-685-4051
Flight Attendant Union and Mesa Airlines Seek Release of Selene Saavedra Roman
Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2019) — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) and Mesa Airlines are calling on the Administration and the Department of Homeland Security to immediately review the case of DREAMer Selene Saavedra Roman, release her from detention, and drop all charges against her after she was detained during while working as a certified flight attendant.
“We are deeply sorry Selene and her husband have had to endure this situation. It is patently unfair for someone to be detained for six weeks over something that is nothing more than an administrative error and a misunderstanding,” said Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. “We are doing everything in our power to ask the administration to release Selene, and drop all charges stemming from this horrible situation.”
“Our union is mobilizing and we will not stop fighting until Selene is returned home and all charges dropped,” said Sara Nelson, AFA President. “We will fight with every tool at our disposal until justice is done, Selene is reunited with her husband and cleared of these outrageous charges.”
Selene came to the United States as an undocumented child from Peru at 3 years old. She grew up in Texas, graduated from Texas A&M, attained legal status under Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA), and married a U.S. citizen. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have already granted her I-130 Petition, which puts her on the path to lawful permanent residency.
Despite the fact that she is lawfully in this country with the ability to work and has a pathway to permanent residence, Selene has been held since February by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a privately-run detention facility in Conroe, Texas. She is threatened with deportation to Peru, a country she has never known.
“She has followed the rules, paid taxes, and is currently in process to citizenship,” said Nelson. “The United States is her country and we need to bring her home.”
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The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 73 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.
About Mesa Air Group, Inc. – Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Mesa Air Group is the commercial aviation holding company of Mesa Airlines, a regional air carrier providing scheduled passenger service to 121 cities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas. As of February 28, 2019, Mesa operated a fleet of 145 aircraft with approximately 605 daily departures and 3,400 employees. Mesa operates all of its flights as either American Eagle or United Express flights pursuant to the terms of capacity purchase agreements entered into with American Airlines, Inc. and United Airlines, Inc.
