Milwaukee Man Facing Deportation May Have Been Framed By Prior Assailant

Letter sent to ICE threatening President Donald Trump. Screenshot from DHS press release.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Wednesday a Mexican immigrant living in Milwaukee threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump.

“Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,” Noem said in a statement.

Family, attorneys and local immigration advocates say the man, Ramon Morales Reyes, didn’t issue the threat and that it would have been impossible for him to do so.

New evidence and reporting by CNN suggest federal immigration agents were duped by someone seeking to frame Morales Reyes.

The threat was made in a letter, written in English, and sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Morales Reyes’ family told Voces that he does not have much formal education and cannot read or write in Spanish, let alone English, said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, during a press conference Friday.

“This statement framed Morales-Reyes as a threat to national security and circulated on right-wing media… this false claim has now had a consequence that the family feels that their lives are being threatened because of the comments made against them on social media” said  “They want his name cleared.

A recent report by CNN quotes federal law enforcement officials who say the government has evidence Morales did not threaten the president. That includes a handwriting test showing he likely could not have written the letter.

DHS claims an ICE agent received the letter on May 21 and arrested Morales Reyes the next day. The letter says: “I think it is time Donald J. Trump get what he has coming to him. I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 to shoot your precious president in is [sic] head — I will see him at one of his big ralleys.”

It appears federal immigration agents may have been duped by someone attempting to frame Morales Reyes and have him deported so that he could not testify in a local criminal case, according law enforcement sources in the CNN report.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Altenburg told Urban Milwaukee the origin of the letter is being investigated and the office will determine “if criminal charges are appropriate.” A Senior DHS official said that “the investigation into the threat is ongoing,” and that Morales-Reyes will remain in custody.

More than a year ago, Morales Reyes was the victim of assault and armed robbery, said his attorney Kime Abduli. He was cooperating with the state as the primary victim in the case and applying for a U-visa, which is a visa provided to crime victims who are cooperating with the government.

“[A U-visa] provides temporary legal residence and a path to legal residency,” Neumann-Ortiz explained.

Voces called the press conference Friday at the request of his family to publicly call for DHS to clear his name, investigate who sent the threat and protect the family from any threats of violence.

“Every minute that passes without DHS issuing a correction to this serious allegation represents a real threat and danger to the family,” Neumann-Ortiz said. “Additionally, it may be interfering with his due process rights regarding his pending new visa application and deportation bond hearing.”

Morales Reyes works as a dishwasher and has three children who were born in the U.S., Abduli said. “He’s a very humble person, very quiet, soft spoken, hard working.”

DHS claimed Morales Reyes had traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico nine times between 1998 and 2005, and that he was previously arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges.

“We know that allegedly, he may have been booked for something, maybe in the 90s, but we don’t have any information about conviction or anything further,” Abduli said.

Now that he’s been detained by DHS, the federal government is taking action to deport him. A removal hearing at federal immigration court in Chicago has been scheduled, said Cain Oulahan, an immigration attorney who will represent Morales Reyes in that case. The charging documents for his removal hearing only allege that Morales Reyes is in the U.S. states without legal status, Oulahan said.

“So the first thing that we’re going to be focused on is trying to get his release from custody,” Oulahan said.

That means requesting a bond hearing from the court before his removal hearing. “We imagine and expect DHS to be vigorously opposing that, so we’ll be ready for that, and it will be up to the judge to decide,” Oulahan said.

Regardless of his immigration status, Morales Reyes is entitled to due process under the constitution, Oulahan said. “He has the right to his day in court, and he’s going to get that fortunately.”

Noem Uses Case To Attack Press, Rival Politicians, Former FBI Director

Noem attempted to connect the assassination threat to the previous assassination attempts on Trump, blame rival politicians and use the case to amplify the narrative spreading through right-wing media that former director of the FBI, James Comey, called for Trump’s assassination.

“This threat comes not even a year after President Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania and less than two weeks after former FBI Director Comey called for the President’s assassination,” Noem said in the statement. “All politicians and members of the media should take notice of these repeated attempts on President Trump’s life and tone down their rhetoric. I will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of President Trump.”

Comey posted a photo with “8647” spelled out in shells on a beach. In common parlance, “86” refers to refusing service to or throwing someone out of a bar or restaurant. Trump is the 47th president. Comey has denied that the post in any way advocated assassination or violence.