A group of Knoxville activists who oppose federal immigration enforcement claimed on Thursday that a man recently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after allegedly driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs, is actually member of the activist group who has illegally lived in the United States for two decades.
Allies of Knoxville’s Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN) claimed in a press release posted to Instagram that Alejandro Guizar Lozano, 32, who ICE reportedly stated was detained following his sentence of 11 months and 29 days for a DUI conviction, is actually a member of the activist group who was well known to its organizers.
“I have known Alejandro since he was 18. He came to the U.S. when he was about 12, and did all of his middle and high school here in Knoxville,” said De Ann Pendry, who the press release described as a founding member of the group.
While Pendry described Guizar Lozano as a “positive” “young person” with a “big heart,” who “helped organize young immigrants” while remaining “very focused on social justice,” WBIR reported that ICE described him as an illegal immigrant who was convicted of possessing crystal methamphetamine, in addition to the DUI offense, and was being held ahead in Nashville of additional legal proceedings.
State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) appeared to dispute ICE’s characterization of Guizar Lozano in a Thursday post to social media that called on the authority of Fred Rogers of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the deceased children’s television host who once gave his audience advice on how to remain positive during a crisis.
“Alejandro is not a ‘violent criminal.’ He is a young man who works to help people in our community access the services they need. He is an organizer,” wrote Johnson. “When Mr. Rogers says ‘look for the helpers,’ he was talking about Alejandro,” wrote Johnson, invoking the name of the children’s television personality.
“I’m sick of my government disappearing our community members violently and without due process.” Johnson wrote in the same post, “This lazy a** Congress is on vacation so they can avoid a vote on the Epstein files while our military are working without pay and standing in food lines. They can solve this problem by getting back to DC and actually doing the job of governing and write legislation to fix our immigration system.”
The Knoxville Democrats also claimed that Guizar Lozano was “unjustly detained” in their own post to social media, which also identified him as a former board member of the Nashville-based Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).
TIRRC recently sued to obtain the names of the nearly 200 illegal immigrants who were detained as the result of a joint operation between ICE and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) earlier this year.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
If Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) is so enamored with this illegal, she should go with him when he is deported to his HOME COUNTRY.
He has had at least two decades to correct the error of his ways by self-deporting. I suggest that he be put at the front of the forced deportation line because of his seniority.
Good. All the more reason to throw him out of the country! Are we supposed to hold him in high regard or feel extra sorry for him because he’s an “activist’? Liberal’s behavior towards people in our country ILLEGALLY is pathetic.
Local news in Knoxville are reporting that he was convicted of meth possession in February of this year. Obviously, he is an aspiring choirboy.